Senior Program Manager, Startup Support

About the Organization

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 Opportunity

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

Essential Job Responsibilities

Essential Job Responsibilities 

Program  Delivery ( 60%)

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 stakehold