Senior Programs Officer, Student & Academic Innovation

About the role

Ashesi University's Center for Entrepreneurship runs a student entrepreneurship pathway and academic innovation support. The Senior Programs Officer leads the delivery and performance of this work, managing the student pathway from engagement and program entry through validation, development, funding, progression and handoff, and building an active student entrepreneurship and innovation community. The role reports to the Assistant Director, Operations.

Key responsibilities

• Lead implementation of student entrepreneurship and innovation programs in line with strategy, frameworks, budgets and annual priorities, and manage the full program cycle from sourcing and applications to delivery, review and close-out.
• Build sustained engagement with entrepreneurship and innovation across campus, working with the Entrepreneurship Committee of the Ashesi Student Council and the Center's communications team, and create entry points and community activities.
• Mobilize student and alumni founders, faculty, mentors, technical experts and other contributors to strengthen the student entrepreneurship experience.
• Assess students and teams against their stage, evidence and readiness, match them to mentors, coaches, specialists, facilities, funding and other resources, and manage grants and structured support so each award is tied to a clear question, test, milestone or objective.
• Identify students ready for deeper venture-building, technical development, commercialization, incubation or research, and coordinate handoffs, documenting and following through on progression and funding decisions.
• Build relationships with faculty, academic departments and research teams, establish mechanisms to identify promising research, capstones, prototypes and technical projects, and coordinate support for their application, commercialization or venture potential.
• Maintain complete records of participants, projects, referrals, grants and outcomes, monitor pathway performance, and prepare program updates, performance summaries and reports for management, institutional, partner and donor purposes.

Required profile

• Strong program ownership, entrepreneurial judgment, relationship and community management, and execution discipline.
• Ability to make sound support and progression decisions based on evidence and readiness.