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Director of Studio Operations and AI Strategy, Eshelman Innovation

UNC-Chapel Hill•Chapel Hill, NC
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About The Position

The Director of Studio Operations and AI Strategy will play a key role in operationalizing and scaling the Kairos Venture Studio’s systems, tools, and programs across UNC and beyond. Kairos is a university-based venture studio at UNC Chapel Hill that partners faculty researchers with entrepreneurial student talent to build AI-native, venture-backable startups. Each Kairos sprint is a 6-month intensive program focused on validating a high-impact problem, positioning a compelling solution, and launching a de-risked company. Venture teams are composed of a faculty-PI innovator, student interns and/or fellows that help the faculty member build out the venture. The Venture Studio operates in continuous, recurring sprint cycles (each approximately 6 months), and this position provides year round leadership across the entire lifecycle of these repeating programs. Reporting to the Managing Director, this leader will translate strategic vision into repeatable, AI-enhanced workflows and infrastructure that support venture creation and team development. This role is ideal for an experienced innovator who thrives at the intersection of strategy, technology, digital health, and entrepreneurship and who wants to shape how universities and founders build ventures in the GenAI era through scalable systems and operational excellence.

Requirements

  • AI literacy for program enablement (training/configuring tools, building prompt libraries/knowledge bases; not software development) with working familiarity using platforms such as Microsoft Copilot, OpenAI ChatGPT, Anthropic Claude, AWS services, and Notion AI.
  • Experience contributing to or leading programs, teams, or strategic initiatives in innovation, entrepreneurship, or early-stage venture environments
  • Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to collaborate across diverse teams, including students, faculty, and external partners
  • Proven ability to develop or operationalize repeatable systems, workflows, or training programs from the ground up
  • Self-starter comfortable operating in ambiguous, fast-paced, and distributed environments
  • Strong organizational and project management skills, with a track record of executing complex initiatives from ideation to implementation

Nice To Haves

  • Advanced degree (MBA, MPH, PhD, or equivalent) in a relevant field such as business, public health, technology, or education
  • 2 or more years of professional experience in innovation strategy, venture building, startup acceleration, or digital health
  • Prior experience working in a university setting, tech transfer, or academic innovation program
  • Familiarity with venture studio or accelerator models
  • Experience advising or supporting early-stage startup teams, especially in healthcare, life sciences, or digital health sectors
  • Demonstrated ability to design or scale innovation programs from 0 to 1

Responsibilities

  • Refine and operationalize and implement a repeatable venture Studio framework tailored to healthcare innovation.
  • Develop tools, playbooks, and training materials that guide teams from discovery through launch and support replication across additional UNC Chapel Hill and UNC System School partners.
  • Manage and deliver high-impact programs that transform research or healthcare expertise into scalable startups.
  • Provide year round leadership for continuous sprint cycles and support expansion of the program across multiple schools or institutions.
  • Recruit and coach mission-driven students, researchers, and operators into strong, cohesive venture teams.
  • Embed Generative AI into the venture-building process to enhance validation, market analysis, and business modeling applied as a program scaling mechanism (training/configuring tools; not software development) and create scalable AI workflows and toolkits to accelerate decision-making.
  • Build and manage systems that connects talent with hands-on innovation opportunities across Eshelman Innovation ventures and programs, ensuring scalable and sustainable talent pipelines for multiple concurrent cohorts.
  • Advise early-stage teams on strategy and investor readiness.
  • Strengthen collaborations with mentors, investors, and partners across the innovation ecosystem, including cross campus and UNC System School collaborators participating in the venture Studio model.
  • Develop a digital knowledge base and playbooks to capture and scale the Kairos venture model for use across universities and partner organizations.
  • Ensure consistent documentation and continuous improvement of Studio operations.

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What This Job Offers

Job Type

Full-time

Career Level

Mid Level

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