AVP & Executive Director of the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship - Office of the Vice President for Research

Carnegie Mellon University • Pittsburgh, PA

3d

About The Position

CMU seeks an accomplished, strategic, and results-focused leader to serve as the Associate Vice President and Executive Director of the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship to guide CMU’s entrepreneurial ecosystem into its next era of bold ambition, innovation, and impact. Reporting to Vice President for Research, Theresa Mayer, the Executive Director will work to leverage the extensive assets of the university to generate excitement, momentum, and meaningful engagement in the practice of entrepreneurship and startup creation, launch, and growth. The Executive Director will work collaboratively across CMU to engage faculty, students, staff, alumni and external partners — including investors, industry leaders and mentors— to deliver the Swartz Center’s vision and mission and secure CMU’s position as a globally leading university for entrepreneurship. This is a pivotal time for entrepreneurship at CMU. Long renowned for its translational excellence and impact in key areas of interdisciplinary science and technology research, such as AI, computer science, engineering and robotics, CMU is now poised to strengthen its support and commitment for innovators and founders across all domains. During its first decade, the Swartz Center established itself as a vibrant and successful university-wide hub with programs, events, networks, and funding to support student and alumni engagement, ideas, and startups. The next Executive Director will be charged with significantly expanding its reach and impact by building more robust pathways for CMU faculty, postdocs, graduate and undergraduate students to translate research and compelling ideas into world-changing startups, with a key goal of working collaboratively across colleges and schools to identify potential founders and create an environment that fosters the creation and growth of startups with “unicorn” potential — privately held startups valued at over $1 billion. The Associate Vice President and Executive Director is a highly visible, newly expanded role, with strong support from university leadership and CMU’s Board of Trustees to shape the future of entrepreneurship within a culture that prizes ambition, creativity, and interdisciplinary excellence. CMU seeks a leader who will not only steward its entrepreneurial mission but will elevate it by transforming ideas into impact, enabling the CMU community, and positioning the Swartz Center as a defining force in entrepreneurship for years to come. Priorities, Opportunities, and Expectations The next Executive Director of the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship will boldly advance CMU’s success by: Developing and executing a cohesive and ambitious campus-wide strategy to realize CMU’s role as a global leader in entrepreneurship and startup success. Elevating CMU’s entrepreneurial culture, visibility, ambition, incentives, and narrative to make entrepreneurship and startup creation, launch, and growth central to the university’s identity. Ensuring that the Swartz Center is CMU’s flagship resource for entrepreneurship by engaging with colleges and schools to deliver highly impactful, visible, and accessible events, services, programs, and resources for all the university’s students, staff, faculty, and alumni. Strengthening alumni mentorship networks and relevant infrastructure, particularly in the areas of AI, software, deep tech, hardware, and biomedical ventures. Building a founder-first environment that provides exceptional training, mentoring, facilities, and access to funding at all stages of start-up development – derisk, launch, invest, and grow. Collaborating across the CMU academic colleges, schools, and departments to enhance incentives —student fellowships, promotion and tenure recognition, faculty leave, IP structures— to mobilize students and faculty into action. Expanding relationships with a broad range of top-tier investors and companies in Pittsburgh and beyond. Driving student, faculty, staff, and alumni ambition to create and build start-ups with unicorn potential. Establishing a data-centric approach to measure outcomes and impact and to tell CMU’s story of success both internally and externally. Raising philanthropic funding to expand Swartz Center entrepreneurship activities and programs, and to increase the amount of CMU early-stage grant support and resources for startups with the most potential for launch and growth. Using the Swartz Center’s distinctive mission and platform to leverage the expertise, networks and experience of CMU’s Trustees, alumni, partners, and friends to accelerate CMU’s entrepreneurship agenda. Developing and incentivizing an ambitious team, ensuring that roles and structure are aligned with the Center’s mission, and are in line with best practices in governance and data infrastructure.

Requirements

• Credibility as a successful tech entrepreneur and/or investor with a track record of building and scaling organizations that drive impact and value.
• Intellectual stature and curiosity with a bias for action and results to achieve an outsized impact for CMU entrepreneurship and startups.
• Deep appreciation of and passion for CMU’s goals to have a transformative impact on society through education, research, creativity and entrepreneurship.
• Able to thoughtfully lead and influence within an academically rigorous culture rooted in excellence and interdisciplinary outcomes and across colleges and schools with diverse portfolios and goals.
• Capable of articulating and implementing an ambitious vision for the future of entrepreneurship at a leading research university through an action-oriented, collaborative, cross-college/school approach.
• Can leverage strong and active contacts with a broad range of investors, companies, alumni, and universities to advance Swartz Center goals.
• Able to serve as a compelling and visible ambassador and fundraiser to further elevate the profile of the Swartz Center and CMU’s culture of entrepreneurship.
• Capable of recruiting, retaining, and leading high-performance matrixed teams through action, collaboration, and influence.
• Prior experience as executive and/or operational leader in the context of significant complexity and commensurate scope and scale

Responsibilities

• Developing and executing a cohesive and ambitious campus-wide strategy to realize CMU’s role as a global leader in entrepreneurship and startup success.
• Elevating CMU’s entrepreneurial culture, visibility, ambition, incentives, and narrative to make entrepreneurship and startup creation, launch, and growth central to the university’s identity.
• Ensuring that the Swartz Center is CMU’s flagship resource for entrepreneurship by engaging with colleges and schools to deliver highly impactful, visible, and accessible events, services, programs, and resources for all the university’s students, staff, faculty, and alumni.
• Strengthening alumni mentorship networks and relevant infrastructure, particularly in the areas of AI, software, deep tech, hardware, and biomedical ventures.
• Building a founder-first environment that provides exceptional training, mentoring, facilities, and access to funding at all stages of start-up development – derisk, launch, invest, and grow.
• Collaborating across the CMU academic colleges, schools, and departments to enhance incentives —student fellowships, promotion and tenure recognition, faculty leave, IP structures— to mobilize students and faculty into action.
• Expanding relationships with a broad range of top-tier investors and companies in Pittsburgh and beyond.
• Driving student, faculty, staff, and alumni ambition to create and build start-ups with unicorn potential.
• Establishing a data-centric approach to measure outcomes and impact and to tell CMU’s story of success both internally and externally.
• Raising philanthropic funding to expand Swartz Center entrepreneurship activities and programs, and to increase the amount of CMU early-stage grant support and resources for startups with the most potential for launch and growth.
• Using the Swartz Center’s distinctive mission and platform to leverage the expertise, networks and experience of CMU’s Trustees, alumni, partners, and friends to accelerate CMU’s entrepreneurship agenda.
• Developing and incentivizing an ambitious team, ensuring that roles and structure are aligned with the Center’s mission, and are in line with best practices in governance and data infrastructure.

Benefits

• Joining the CMU team opens the door to an array of exceptional benefits.
• Benefits eligible employees enjoy a wide array of benefits including comprehensive medical, prescription, dental, and vision insurance as well as a generous retirement savings program with employer contributions.
• Unlock your potential with tuition benefits, take well-deserved breaks with ample paid time off and observed holidays, and rest easy with life and accidental death and disability insurance.
• Additional perks include a free Pittsburgh Regional Transit bus pass, access to our Family Concierge Team to help navigate childcare needs, fitness center access, and much more!
• For a comprehensive overview of the benefits available, explore our Benefits page.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Executive
• Education Level: No Education Listed
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees