Tech Nation Programme Manager - Early Stage

About Founders Forum & Tech Nation

Founders Forum Group is an event-powered community and family of businesses supporting innovative entrepreneurs at every stage of their journeys. Founded in 2005, our invite-only forums unite founders, investors, corporate and government leaders to tackle era-defining questions in iconic locations across the globe.

Since 2019, Founders Forum has partnered with Informa Tech to celebrate the strength and diversity of UK tech through London Tech Week. 

Fuelled by the connections and ideas forged at our flagship events, Founders Forum businesses support the needs of today’s founders via networking, education, professional services, investment and charitable giving.

In 2023, Founders Forum acquired Tech Nation to further our mission to empower tech entrepreneurs and scale innovative startups.

Tech Nation is the leading platform for tech insights, connections, collaboration and talent, empowering ambitious founders and their teams with the access and knowledge they need from seed stage to success story.

Under the FFG umbrella, Tech Nation has relaunched our first set of initiatives and reports as part of the new Tech Nation. We are now in a growth phase and are looking to shape the next phase of our early stage initiatives - this is where you come in!

The Opportunity 

We are looking for a Programme Manager to manage Tech Nation’s Early Stage initiatives. This currently includes Creo, Libra and our Pitch competitions. 

Creo is Tech Nation's programme for disabled and neurodivergent entrepreneurs, run in partnership with the Motability Foundation. It backs founders who are innovating around disability directly, or building dual-use technologies that improve the lives of disabled and neurodivergent people more broadly. Cohorts move through structured workshops, mentor matching, and peer support before pitching at a closing showcase.

Libra began as a scaling programme for entrepreneurs from the global majority. It has since evolved into a community and now connects through Tech Nation's wider events and networks.

Our pitch competitions give early stage founders a national platform to raise their profile and secure investment. Next Wave runs as its own standalone event, while One to Win, Route to Rise, and Founders of the Future all build towards a shared finale at London Tech Week. Together, they connect ambitious founders across the UK with investors, partners, and other founders across the UK. 

As our Programme Manager, you will be responsible for delivering these programmes with the strategic and commercial oversight of the Director of Programme Development & Operations . You will identify and build a strong relevant network rallied around these initiatives, and engage strategic and commercial partners as well as alumni networks. The result will be delivering a calendar of events and education across our early stage member companies with strong engagement, and develop our pitch events into a flagship early stage event and investor connections platform. 

This is an exciting opportunity to facilitate impact with early stage founders.

Responsibilities

Programme research, ideation, & content curation

• Input and iterate the strategy for the early stage initiatives, working with the Director of Programme Development & Operations and wider team, ensuring it is truly valuable to the community and the tech ecosystem. 
• Keep yourself informed and at the forefront of all things happening in tech - be amongst the first to know, and develop ideas to iterate your initiatives accordingly
• Identify thought leaders and value adding speakers to integrate into the offering, researching with the founders who and what they want to hear from, coordinating invitations and shaping agendas to create value adding events. 
• Ideate new formats to bring to events and programmes. 
• Build relationships with investors to facilitate connections and to identify and curate a package of prizes and/or investment offers for pitch competition winners 

Programme delivery

• Ensure we deliver an incredible experience for all companies in the programmes and pitch competitions, that is impact driven and scalable
• Organise a series of growth and investor based events, educational sessions and introductions  ensuring the programme and pitch competitions are delivering long term founder value impact.
• Work with our early stage founder community on a day to day basis to get their feedback and shape the support we can provide. 
• Organise various events including pitch events, content tracks, roundtables around the country with our grand finale at London Tech Week. 
• Work with investors and relevant stakeholders as part of the pitch competitions to drive impact, audience to participate and brand amplification.
• Implement a clear judging process for both programmes and competitions with input from the senior team.
• Collaborate with our partnerships lead to maintain communication with partners of the programmes
• Deliver new bespoke partner events or strategic projects relating to the early stage community 

Community engagement

• Scale the community by developing a pipeline of candidates for future programmes via direct outreach, our partners and mobilising others in the ancillary network(s)
• Maintain a close relationship with companies, with day to day community management and align our services to their needs and goals
• Work with the programme leads and wider team to build and develop the alumni engagement strategy 
• Network to continually source advisors and experts who can add to our Tech Nation offering
• Play a key role in regional development, keeping in touch with regional stakeholders and identifying regional early stage talent. This role will involve travelling round the UK to collaborate with stakeholders.

This role is for you if: 

• You are able to think proactively - you make things happen and can come to the table with ideas
• You are able to stay organised to timelines and project manage multiple deliverables 
• You have entrepreneurial drive - this means you are self driven, naturally curious and excited about working with startups, ecosystem stakeholders and investors
• You are a people person and enjoy building relationships across different type of stakeholders and you enjoy bringing these people together to create impactful events or connections
• You  thrive working in teams and are passionate about our mission at Tech Nation

• Some proven experience in events, VC, accelerators, community
• Strong relationship builder and communicator 
• Strong organisational and project management skills 
• Right to work in the UK 
• This role requires working 4 days a week in the office
• This role will also require some travel around the UK

We offer a range of flexible, discretionary benefits to our team. These currently include:

• 25 days contractual annual leave
• Enhanced discretionary leave provision, including an additional day off for your birthday and leave between Christmas and New Years Day
• The option to work remotely anywhere in the world for 3 weeks/year (1 week at Easter and 2 weeks during July and August)
• Private healthcare package
• Mental health, wellbeing, and learning and development stipends
• Lunch 1x/week, office snacks, and regular team drinks
• Quarterly team activities and annual team trip/day out
• We currently have a hybrid working model with 4 days spent in the office and 1 day with the option to work remotely/from home.
• Access to the Founders Forum Group network of businesses and wider tech ecosystem
• Experience rapid advancement and professional growth with a track record of our previous Partnerships Coordinator achieving two promotions within just 18 months.
• Immerse yourself in a unique community of visionary founders and globally recognised innovators, offering unparalleled opportunities for networking and collaboration.

Founders Forum Group’s Values

Community first

More than just fellow founders. Everything we offer is centred around the founders we work alongside. A goldmine of information, support and opportunity for our community. Our experience and connections allow us to offer unparalleled guidance, advice and events. We are committed to being there for the highs, the lows and everything in between. A trusted ally, driving positive action by championing the people behind great ideas and building real relationships.

Entrepreneurial to our core

Preserving our startup mentality is the key to being able to empathise with and fully support our growing community. Just like the founders we work with, entrepreneurship runs through our veins. We drive change and unearth new ways of thinking by reframing the way we approach an idea. We look at the possibilities of business through a new lens. Seeking out potential in every aspect of life, passionately pursuing new ideas.

Founding the future

We are forward thinkers. Always at the forefront of innovation. Our foot is firmly planted on the accelerator as we gain understanding of what tech is coming and new trends that will shape our lives. We have a hunger for knowledge and find joy in discovery, paving the way for a new way of thinking. This is the room of people you want and need to be in, to drive yourself and your business forward.

Excellence without ego

We don't take ourselves too seriously, but are proud of what we do. We work together, recognising the expertise of those around us, and understand the value in differing points of view. We are committed to excellence and always hold ourselves to the highest standard.