About Activate
Activate is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to turning scientific discoveries into real-world impact. Through partnerships with government, philanthropy, universities, and industry, Activate builds the cross-sector ecosystem that drives hard tech innovation—equipping scientists and engineers with world-class resources, training, and community to bring their work from discovery to deployment.
Since 2015, Activate's flagship fellowship has supported nearly 300 fellows across the United States, who have launched more than 230 companies and secured over $5.5 billion in follow-on funding. Now expanding beyond its flagship program, Activate is reaching scientists and engineers at more stages of their entrepreneurial journey across the world—multiplying the pathways from innovation to commercialization. Learn more at Activate.org.
Position Summary
One of Activate’s core advantages is our ability to identify exceptional scientific founders at an early stage of their impact. As our first-ever Head of Scientific Founder Discovery & Insights you will be responsible for transforming that advantage into a data-driven, continuously improving system that generates exceptional cohorts, meaningful frontier insight, and new product offerings.
This is a product and systems-building role at the intersection of science, data, and operations - not a traditional recruiting function. Your work will shape how Activate identifies fellowship talent, understands the frontier of hard-tech innovation, and improves how Activate and its partners make decisions about emerging science and scientific founders.
Primary Responsibilities
Build and Run Activate’s Fellow Talent Engine
- Own the System: Design and continuously improve the end-to-end fellow selection system, ensuring a rigorous, fair, and high-credibility experience for all applicants
- Strategic Sourcing: Proactively attract exceptional scientific talent for Activate’s programs, integrating our impact goals and specific scientific focus areas into a cohesive evaluation strategy
- Maintain Integrity: Ensure the selection process remains independent and credible while collaborating with the Development team on sponsor cultivation and fellow matching
Translate Pipeline Data into Insight and Strategy
- Capture Signal: Evolve our systems to capture “reviewer signals” and founder trajectories, transforming application data into insights on emerging science and innovation trends
- Shape the Narrative: Articulate a compelling, data-backed view of what each cohort reveals about the frontier of hard tech
- Inform Impact: Partner with leadership and the internal Pathways team to leverage these insights to shape Activate’s impact strategy
Productize the Pipeline
- Scale through Systems: Design the tools, workflows, and data systems that allow selection to scale. Collaborate with the Data team to ensure long-term scalability and data integrity
- Innovate Offerings: Explore and launch new products, conduct customer discovery, and test potential applications of pipeline intelligence, including reports, datasets, partnerships, and decision-support tools, to evaluate where Activate can create meaningful value for the ecosystem over time
- Leverage AI and new technologies to improve quality, speed, and experience
The Ideal Candidate…
We are looking for a builder who has designed and scaled complex systems—ideally at the intersection of data, operations, and user experience.
- Product & Systems Thinking: You have product experience turning ambiguous raw material into structured systems, workflows, or offerings that create measurable value. You know how to automate and simplify complex processes while meeting the needs of multiple diverse internal and external customers.
- Execution & Ownership: You have a track record of owning ambiguous, high-stakes problems from inception to delivery and delivering results
- Data & Insight Orientation: You can translate messy data into structured insights. You understand best practices for data integrity and are comfortable generating meaning from both modest, boutique datasets and large-scale information
- Scientific Curiosity: You possess a deep comfort engaging with technical communities and complex technologies. While domain expertise in every field isn't required, advanced training in science, engineering or a related field is a significant plus
- Stakeholder Leadership: You lead through influence, navigating complex trade-offs with clarity and empathy. You can align diverse internal teams - from Fellowship operations to Data and Development - toward a shared vision
- Mission-Driven Builder: Deep commitment to further developing Activate’s impact through science
About the Role
This is a full-time position with a competitive starting salary of $150,000 with a generous benefits package that includes professional development, $2,000 in annual wellness funds, flexible paid time off, healthcare coverage for employees and dependents, with 90–100% of premiums covered, and the opportunity to join a retirement plan with a 3% match beginning after 3 months at Activate.
The role is open to U.S.-based candidates. Remote work is available from any state where Activate operates or at any of our hubs; Bay Area (CA), Boston (MA), New York (NY), or Houston (TX).
Encouraging Applications from All Backgrounds
We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating a welcoming workplace for all employees. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to age, race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran, or disability status. We will not tolerate discrimination or harassment based on any of these characteristics. Activate Global, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
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