Platform Associate

Rice University•Houston, TX

2d•Onsite

About The Position

We believe that when people are activated around meaningful work, it creates an economic engine that generates an abundance of opportunities for our community to prosper. We exist to help people pursue their life’s work. We are seeking a Platform Associate to join our Rice Alliance team to build and launch this Venture Advantage Platform. This is an opportunity to help design and operate the system that enables high-potential founders to build, scale, and win while serving as connective tissue across Houston’s innovation ecosystem. The Platform Associate plays a critical role in designing, operating, and evolving the Venture Advantage Platform. While events and programs are part of what we deliver, this role will be focused on system-building and ecosystem operations, with direct exposure to founders, investors, and the rest of our ecosystem. This role sits at the center of the founder and ecosystem experience. It helps ensure that the right connections, insights, and resources activate at the right moments between founders, investors, corporate partners, expert networks, and the broader community. This role will experiment and implement AI-native platforms and workflows to increase leverage. You will work closely with our Head of Platform and platform team to: Support founders in gaining traction, momentum, and advantage Help steward and activate investor and expert relationships Capture insight across the ecosystem and translate it into structured action Build internal systems that make the platform smarter over time The District will soon expand with The Arc, a nearly 200,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility to accelerate collaboration, research, and commercialization across key industries. These resources make the Ion District a central destination for Houston’s rapidly evolving innovation ecosystem. Ideal Candidate Statement: The ideal candidate is someone who is energized by learning and possesses an affinity for action. The candidate should want to play a meaningful part in building from the ground up and exposure to how startups navigate growth. The Platform Associate will be expected to take ownership early, operate with judgment, and grow into increasing responsibility as the platform scales. The ideal candidate will be comfortable operating in ambiguity and building from first principles. This role is best suited for someone who prefers responsibility over rigid structure and growth over comfort. While the ideal candidate may have some early experience in startups, venture, consulting, or other high-responsibility, fast-moving environments, this position is well-suited for someone with minimal experience but a high level of interest in learning the startup journey. They should be deeply curious about entrepreneurship, venture capital, and innovation. As a part of the platform team, the associate will be organized and disciplined in managing information and relationships. If you feel a purpose in serving others to make progress, we encourage you to apply for this role.

Requirements

Bachelor's Degree
2+ years of experience in startups, venture, consulting, or other high-responsibility, fast-moving environments

Nice To Haves

A passion and interest in entrepreneurship, venture capital, and innovation
Comfortable operating in ambiguity and building from first principles
Organized and disciplined in managing information and relationships
Strong verbal and written communication skills
Ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines in a fast-paced environment

Responsibilities

Translate founder needs into structured pathways, playbooks and experiences
Engage and build relationships with founders to make high-impact connections
Recruit, curate and mobilize high-trust mentors, operators and experts to ensure founders are provide the right advantages at the right time
Develop and support relationships with investors, domain experts, and ecosystem partners
Gain awareness of investor interests, focus areas, and engagement preferences
Coordinate introductions, roundtables, and targeted engagements
Capture and synthesize qualitative feedback into structured knowledge
Use AI and tools to organize information, surface patterns, and improve workflows
Performs all other duties as assigned
Contribute to the continuous evolution of founder journeys
Identify new opportunities for the organization and take the initiative to support implementing solutions
Represents the Ion at various events in the Houston entrepreneurial ecosystem, including frequent evening events