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 350 fellows across the United States, who have launched more than 275 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
Activate is seeking a sharp, relationship-driven Senior Investment Manager to help first-time hard-tech entrepreneurs raise the capital they need to scale breakthrough science into real-world impact. The Senior Investment Manager will apply capital fluency, coaching instinct, and operational discipline to provide ongoing high quality support while designing new tools and services.
Reporting to the VP of Commercialization, and seated in the Pathways Department, the Senior Investment Manager supports the financing of early stage companies by working closely with Activate entrepreneurs, our network of investors, and other members of the Pathways Department. They will also own the operations of Activate’s internal investment fund and support the adaptation of flexible resources for fellows.
A successful Senior Investment Manager is comfortable coaching a founder through a raise, building scalable tools, or helping members of our Investor network identify companies that fit their thesis.
Primary Responsibilities
Deliver High Quality Investment Services to the Activate Community
- Act as a strategic advisor to Activate Fellows, supporting their development of tailored capital strategies across venture, philanthropic, government, and hybrid pathways. Give candid, actionable advice that builds entrepreneurs' own judgment.
- Serve as a trusted translator of VC priorities and incentive structures for first-time entrepreneurs.
- Balance high-touch individual support with designing systems that scale this support across Activate's growing community.
- Support recurring programming, including cohort launches, working with cross-functional teams.
- Collaborate with the fellowship teams to develop written guides, frameworks, capital journey case studies, and learning assets for fellows and alumni.
Curate and Grow Capital Networks
- Deepen Activate's relationships with investors and funders, across the capital stack, by offering high-context insights into fellow pipelines, needs, and emerging technologies.
- Actively manage and enhance Activate's capital network database, ensuring up-to-date intelligence that enables high-fidelity matching of startups to funders.
- Represent Activate externally, establishing Activate as a trusted, high-signal source of investable opportunities.
- Design and execute investment events: Investor Days, salons, capital roundtables, curated 1:1s, and investor onboarding.
- Turn company funding data into insight, using analytics to make internal and external recommendations.
Shape the Next Evolution of Capital Support
- Spot problems in the fellow or investor experience, and design, trial, and iterate on new solutions - ultimately delivering more structured, transparent, and scalable services.
- Build on successes from the venture model of investment support to provide guidance across the full spectrum of commercialization pathways with similar quality.
- Lead research and development of additional vehicles or partnerships to help entrepreneurs access early, flexible capital.
The Ideal Candidate...
- Is deeply aligned with Activate's mission and values, including a commitment to deploying scientific breakthroughs for durable social good.
- Brings 5+ years of experience across capital programs, early stage startups, or entrepreneurial support organizations, with fluency in investor models and incentives.
- Demonstrates exceptional program management skills, capable of navigating complex, cross-functional workstreams with structure, clarity, and follow-through.
- Is energized by ambiguity, comfortable making decisions independently, and able to prioritize among projects according to impact.
- Thrives in relationship-rich roles, is able to quickly build trust and is eager to invest significant time building relationships with entrepreneurs and ecosystem partners.
- Has strong communication skills can synthesize complex ideas adapted to their audience - whether summarizing a technical breakthrough to an investor or helping a scientist understand the key incentives of investors.
- Brings a systems mindset—able to spot patterns, codify best practices, and contribute to scalable solutions without losing sight of individual needs.
- Is highly numerate, comfortable with financial tracking, database management, and using data to guide decisions.
- Has a strong sense of ownership, humility, and accountability—and is energized by a team culture rooted in service, trust, and experimentation.
About the Role
This is a full-time position with a competitive annual salary of $125,000 and 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.
This role is open to US-based candidates near any of our hubs; Bay Area (CA), Boston (MA), New York (NY), or Houston (TX) or willing to relocate and requires up to 25% travel.
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.
Skills Required
- 5+ years of experience across capital programs, early stage startups, or entrepreneurial support organizations
- Fluency in investor models and incentives (venture, philanthropic, government, hybrid pathways)
- Exceptional program management skills and ability to navigate cross-functional workstreams
- Strong relationship-building skills and experience working with investors and founders
- Strong written and verbal communication skills; able to synthesize complex ideas for varied audiences
- Highly numerate; comfortable with financial tracking, database management, and using data to guide decisions
- Systems mindset: able to spot patterns, codify best practices, and design scalable solutions
- Comfortable making independent decisions, prioritizing projects, and operating in ambiguous environments
What We Do
We empower scientists to reinvent the world by bringing their research to market. Founded in 2015, Activate is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that empowers scientists to reinvent the world by bringing their research to market to address climate change and other global challenges. Activate works between government and the private sector, transforming scientists into high-impact entrepreneurs through a fellowship that guides them along every step of the journey. The Activate Fellowship provides two years of funding and connects fellows with the resources, knowledge, and networks they need to succeed. The fellowship does not take equity in fellows' startups. Activate's entrepreneurial fellowship model originated at Cyclotron Road, a division of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and founding Activate partner. Today, Activate supports 20-30 new Activate Fellows each year in with plans to expand to 100 new fellows, across the United States, each year. For more information, go to Activate.org.
