Senior Program Manager, Startup Support

Center on Rural Innovation•Red Wing, MN

19h•$100,000 - $119,000•Remote

About The Position

The Center on Rural Innovation (CORI) is a social enterprise driving economic prosperity in rural America through entrepreneurship and tech job creation. Focused on the 500 U.S. micropolitan communities with populations between 10,000 and 50,000, our Rural Innovation Network spans 40 regions across 25 states. At CORI, we believe rural America can lead in the innovation economy. Our 35-person team works alongside local leaders to build thriving, tech-enabled ecosystems, combining community strategy, research, and talent development with the CORI Innovation Fund, our venture arm investing in scalable rural startups. Together, our programs and capital create a powerful model for unlocking innovation and inclusive growth across rural America. The Program Division is undergoing a transformational restructuring to better serve and expand the Rural Innovation Network, ensuring rural America thrives in the tech and AI era. We are aligning around a seamless community journey and a unified program team spanning tech workforce development, entrepreneurship and startup support, and strategic leadership capacity building. This integrated approach enables learners, leaders, and founders to access equitable pathways to skills, quality jobs, and venture-ready company building. Our north star is a more inclusive and resilient tech economy—one where rural people co-author the future, and influence how the tech economy grows. As these impacts take root and grow, they naturally strengthen learner and founder pipelines and create the conditions for investable opportunities within the CORI Innovation Fund, and innovation-based economic growth in rural communities. The Program Division will play a vital role in advancing CORI’s strategic goals: Growing the Network while deepening engagement and peer connections; Accelerating the startup pipeline by expanding innovation spaces, founder support, and access to capital; and Leading AI skilling in rural America. We will achieve these goals by innovating our delivery model through better use of technology, AI, and data to deliver greater value and impact for the communities we serve.

Requirements

At least 5 - 10 years of relevant experience
Exceptional verbal communication skills, including active listening, small group facilitation, and public speaking
Strong customer discovery and solution development skills
Founder support and startup program design
Entrepreneurship program facilitation and delivery
Investment readiness and capital access experience
Strong AI fluency and familiarity with digital tools for startups
Entrepreneurial mindset and experience advising founders
Passion for rural innovation and inclusive entrepreneurship
Collaborative, solutions-oriented, and comfortable advising founders and community leaders
Strong communicator and facilitator with a service mindset
Strategic thinker with the ability to balance program execution and continuous improvement
Proactive, organized, and accountable to clear outcomes and timelines
Curious and improvement-oriented, with a bias for practical, scalable solutions

Responsibilities

Responsible for delivery of a portfolio of Startup support programs, ensuring quality delivery and strong community engagement. Includes development of new direct Founder support programs and ongoing capacity to CORI’s core entrepreneurship programs
Lead end-to-end management of Startup support programs, including program design and evaluation. The scope will include programs like the founder-facing studio-style program currently in development, the annual Small Towns, Big Ideas Pitch Event, the CORI Mentor Network, a monthly “startup roundup” event, and support initiative in partnership with the CORI Innovation Fund, and more to-be-designed
Design, implement, and evaluate founder-focused programs and investment readiness initiatives that prepare founders for growth and funding
In collaboration with project managers, manage timelines, budgets, and resources for startup programs and initiatives, ensuring clear accountability for quality, on-time deliverables and ensure programs meet outcome goals
Build and manage partnerships with Startup Support ecosystem stakeholders
Contribute to each community’s strategy and provide technical guidance and mentorship to Network members on Startup and Founder support
Develop and deliver workshops, training sessions, and knowledge-sharing events for community leaders and founders in partnership with the Senior Program Manager, Entrepreneurship Ecosystems
Assess community and program needs using data and evidence, gathering insights from partners and experts to shape strategies and strengthen program design and delivery
Provide direct advisory support to rural founders, helping them refine pitches and business models, validate products, and navigate startup challenges. Advise on AI adoption for product, operations, and GTM where relevant.
Build and manage partnerships with mentors, investors, and ecosystem organizations that expand access to capital and resources for rural startups. Coordinate investor pipelines with the CORI Innovation Fund and other capital partners while maintaining appropriate independence and transparency.
Continue to contribute to entrepreneurship ecosystem programming as part of the transition portfolio mix, supporting innovation hub feasibility studies, mentor networks, and ecosystem design engagements as needed.
Integrate AI tools and methods into program delivery to improve founder learning, mentoring, and business development outcomes.
Facilitate stakeholder engagement sessions, workshops, and presentations to drive alignment and ensure project success
Pilot and refine Startup Support programs tailored to Founder needs, ensuring offerings are relevant, high-quality, and scalable.
Coordinate cross-team collaboration to integrate AI tools and innovation practices into program delivery and evaluation systems (readiness rubrics, venture pipeline dashboards, mentor matching)
Pilot and refine startup programs tailored to the needs of rural founders and community partners, ensuring offerings are high-quality, inclusive, and scalable
Lead regular program reviews, synthesizing findings into actionable insights and recommendations to refine strategy, strengthen delivery, and embed continuous learning across programs
In collaboration with the Data Analytics team (MDA) and the Senior Program Manager, Entrepreneurship Ecosystems, support the tracking of founder outcomes to assess impact and opportunities for improvement
Document and scale successful Startup support models across the Rural Innovation Network to promote shared learning, working with the Manager, Community Learning & Engagement
Contribute to proposals and grant reporting, ensuring alignment with funder requirements and organizational strategy (including scopes and outcome targets for founder programs)
Support the Director of Entrepreneurship to pilot and refine new offerings and partnerships that enhance founder success and drive deal flow for the CORI Innovation Fund