Director of Business Incubation

University of Arkansas • Fayetteville, AR

27d

About The Position

The Director of Business Incubation is a key leadership role within the Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation (OEI), responsible for overseeing a portfolio of programs that support founders and early-stage entrepreneurs. Based at both the UA Collaborative in downtown Bentonville and the Brewer Family Entrepreneurship Hub in Fayetteville, this role serves students and members of the broader Northwest Arkansas community who are developing innovative products and services across multiple industry sectors, including outdoor recreation and sports, healthcare, consumer packaged goods, and emerging technologies. The Director provides strategic leadership across incubation, accelerator, and ecosystem-facing initiatives, with a strong focus on founder development, partnerships, program quality, and sustainable growth. This role works closely with program managers, contractors, and external partners to scale impact regionally and statewide. Regular, reliable, and non-disruptive attendance is an essential job duty, as is the ability to create and maintain collegial, harmonious working relationships with others.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree from an accredited institution of higher education
• Experience coaching and/or training entrepreneurs OR experience working for startups
• Supervisory experience managing teams
• Fluency in lean startup methodologies and product innovation frameworks
• Business development skills
• Team management skills
• Product innovation skills
• Entrepreneurship & lean startup methodology skills
• Program, budget, and people management skills
• Curiosity, an ability to engage with people from diverse backgrounds, and a collaborative spirit are essential skills
• An ability to work with an agile mindset that is comfortable with ambiguity and able to respond to changing circumstances and feedback
• Exceptional leadership and communication skills

Nice To Haves

• Experience as a founder and/or venture finance experience
• Experience overseeing and managing large, multi-stakeholder events
• Demonstrated grant-writing and/or philanthropy success
• Experience managing outreach and industry mentor programs in an educational setting
• Demonstrated familiarity with outdoor recreation, sports product management, and/or hospitality sectors

Benefits

• The benefits package includes university contributions to health, dental, life and disability insurance, tuition waivers for employees and their families, 12 official holidays, immediate leave accrual, and a choice of retirement programs with university contributions ranging from 5 to 10% of employee salary.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director