Talent Incubator Manager

We are seeking an organized, proactive, and people-oriented Talent Incubator Manager to build, operate, and continuously improve our company's technology apprenticeship program. This role is accountable for the apprentice experience from demand planning and recruiting through onboarding, ongoing mentorship, project execution, semester-end presentations, and  completion. 

The program supports university students and recent graduates seeking practical experience working on real-world software, technology, and AI-related projects. The successful candidate will create a structured, engaging, and measurable program that helps apprentices develop professional skills, contribute meaningful business value, and prepare for successful technology careers. 

This is a hands-on program leadership role that combines program management, recruiting coordination, communications, process development, mentorship, and cross-functional collaboration. The ideal candidate is an excellent communicator and presenter who enjoys working with emerging talent, writing, building repeatable processes, solving problems, and creating a program that improves with every semester. 

This position is based in our Houston, Texas office and requires working on-site five days per week. 

Key Responsibilities 

Apprentice Program Strategy & Planning 

• Own the end-to-end apprenticeship program, including its structure, operating model, schedules, processes, and continuous improvement. 

• Develop semester-based demand plans in collaboration with technology and business leaders to identify upcoming projects, required skills, apprentice capacity, and staffing needs. 

• Coordinate project assignments, mentor availability, team capacity, and program timelines. 

• Establish program goals, success metrics, performance measures, and feedback mechanisms. 

• Maintain a forward-looking pipeline of projects that provide meaningful learning opportunities and measurable business outcomes. 

Recruiting & Workforce Coordination 

• Partner with recruiters, universities, social media, hiring managers, and technology leaders to plan and support apprentice recruiting. 

• Lead the definition of candidate profiles, role requirements, selection criteria, and recruiting timelines. 

• Coordinate candidate evaluations, interviews, communications, and selection activities. 

• Manage recruiting forecasts and align candidate availability with semester start dates and project demand. 

• Help develop a consistent, professional candidate experience that attracts high-quality emerging technology talent. 

Onboarding & Apprentice Development 

• Design and manage a structured onboarding experience, including program orientation, tools and access, documentation, expectations, and project introductions. 

• Establish clear expectations for attendance, communication, deliverables, professional conduct, and project participation. 

• Help apprentices understand company processes, team structures, project objectives, and available support resources. 

• Provide ongoing guidance, coaching, and mentorship to help apprentices develop technical, professional, and workplace skills. 

• Identify opportunities for additional training, peer learning, knowledge sharing, and career development. 

Program Operations & Status Management 

• Organize and facilitate regular apprentice status meetings, team check-ins, and program-wide discussions. 

• Track project progress, milestones, deliverables, risks, dependencies, and individual development goals. 

• Identify and remove blockers by coordinating with project leads, mentors, IT, recruiting, and other stakeholders. 

• Follow up on commitments, document decisions, communicate changes, and ensure issues receive timely resolution. 

• Maintain a clear view of program health, apprentice engagement, project outcomes, and upcoming deadlines. 

Semester Summit & Presentations 

• Plan and organize the semester-end Apprentice Summit, where apprentices present their projects, accomplishments, lessons learned, and business impact. 

• Establish presentation requirements, timelines, templates, evaluation criteria, and preparation milestones. 

• Mentor apprentices on presentation development, storytelling, technical explanations, demonstrations, public speaking, and executive communication. 

• Coordinate presenters, mentors, leadership attendees, logistics, rehearsal sessions,  event agendas and materials. 

• Produce a professional, engaging summit that showcases apprentice achievements and demonstrates the value of the program to company leadership. 

Documentation, Processes & Continuous Improvement 

• Create, maintain, and continuously improve program documentation, operating procedures, templates, checklists, calendars, and knowledge resources. 

• Standardize repeatable processes for recruiting, onboarding, project assignment, status reporting, performance feedback, presentations, and off-boarding. 

• Collect and analyze feedback through surveys, interviews, retrospectives, and stakeholder discussions. 

• Translate feedback into actionable improvements and track their implementation and effectiveness. 

• Maintain program records, dashboards, reporting materials, and historical information to support planning and decision-making. 

• Identify opportunities to simplify administrative work, improve communication, and introduce technology or automation into program operations. 

Stakeholder Communication & Reporting 

• Build strong working relationships with technology leaders, project managers, mentors, recruiters, university contacts, and apprentices. 

• Provide regular updates to leadership on program status, recruiting pipeline, staffing demand, project progress, risks, and outcomes. 

• Prepare clear written communications, presentations, meeting summaries, and recommendations for different audiences. 

• Facilitate collaboration between apprentices and project teams to ensure expectations remain aligned and issues are addressed quickly. 

• Promote a culture of accountability, continuous learning, professional development, and knowledge sharing. 

Required Qualifications 

• Experience coordinating or managing programs, projects, training initiatives, workforce development, recruiting operations, or similar activities. 

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to create clear, well-organized documentation. 

• Strong presentation and facilitation skills, including the ability to prepare materials and guide individuals through effective presentations. 

• Demonstrated organizational skills and the ability to manage multiple activities, schedules, stakeholders, and deadlines simultaneously. 

• Ability to develop processes, establish structure, identify inefficiencies, and implement practical improvements. 

• Strong interpersonal skills, with the ability to mentor, motivate, coach, and support individuals at different experience levels. 

• A proactive approach to problem-solving, identifying risks, resolving issues, and removing blockers. 

• Strong follow-through, attention to detail, and accountability for program outcomes. 

• Ability to work on-site in our Houston, Texas office five days per week. 

Preferred Qualifications 

• Experience working in a software development, IT, technology, data, or AI-focused organization. 

• A college degree in Computer Science, Technology, Digital Arts, or related degree would be ideal.  

• Familiarity with Computer Science degree programs, university recruiting, early-career talent development, or technical apprenticeship programs. 

• Experience supporting software development teams, technical projects, product development, or Agile delivery practices. 

• Familiarity with project management, collaboration, documentation, and reporting tools such as Azure DevOps, Wiki tools, Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, or similar platforms. 

• Experience developing workforce demand plans, capacity plans, program metrics, surveys, and feedback-driven improvement initiatives. 

• Experience organizing presentations, showcase events, project demonstrations, or leadership review sessions.