Director of Technical Venture Development

The xFoundry Alliance is transforming universities into solution engines that generate real ventures, develop entrepreneurial leaders, and advance meaningful societal outcomes. Headquartered at the University of Maryland's E.A. Fernandez IDEA Factory, xFoundry empowers students to tackle humanity's most pressing challenges through multidisciplinary collaboration, AI-powered tools, and rigorous venture-building programs.

Our flagship Xperience program is a 15–18-month venture-building competition in which student teams develop investment-grade MVPs that address grand societal challenges in climate, education, food and water, health, infrastructure, and society. Winning teams compete for investments of up to $2 million and receive guidance from seasoned CXOs through our Xcelerate accelerator program.

We are seeking a Director of Technical Venture Development to serve as the technical authority for xFoundry's experiential competitions and venture pipeline. This is a rare opportunity to shape the future of university-based entrepreneurship by identifying compelling challenge areas, guiding student ventures from idea to investment, and building the infrastructure for scalable innovation. This role is ideal for someone who:

• Gets excited about evaluating emerging technologies and spotting the next big opportunity
• Can articulate why a particular problem space would make a compelling MVP that investors would fund
• Understands what resonates with ambitious college students and can inspire them to take on audacious challenges
• Has built or scaled companies within accelerators/incubators and knows what it takes to go from prototype to product-market fit
• Can communicate technical concepts to investors, students, faculty, and corporate partners with equal fluency

Technical Leadership for Competitions (Primary Focus)

• Define challenge topics for 2-3 annual competitions, conducting deep technical due diligence across domains including climate tech, health tech, AI, infrastructure, and emerging fields
• Evaluate technical feasibility and investability of proposed competition topics, ensuring they represent genuine market opportunities that would excite both students and investors
• Develop technical evaluation rubrics and milestone requirements for prototype demonstrations, technical approach documents, and finals presentations
• Stay at the frontier of technological trends to inform topic selection and ensure xFoundry challenges reflect real market needs and investor interests
• Review student team technical submissions throughout competition milestones, providing constructive feedback that guides development

Venture Development & Acceleration

• Oversee the end-to-end venture pipeline from Xperience competitions through Xcelerate acceleration, ensuring alignment with market needs and investor readiness
• Develop scalable frameworks for venture validation, MVP development, and go-to-market strategies
• Mentor student teams on technical approach, team structure, and product strategy
• Work with winning teams post-competition to ensure continuous success and investment readiness
• Define product requirements for xFoundry's AI platforms (e.g., CognoXent) and venture-building tools

Investor Relations & Stakeholder Engagement

• Collaborate with investors and Xponential fund managers to structure technical investability criteria for competition winners
• Translate complex technical concepts into investor-friendly language for pitch events, documentation, and stakeholder communications
• Support due diligence processes for winning ventures, ensuring technical readiness for investment and commercialization
• Represent xFoundry at events including the NEXPLORE Summit, investor meetings, and partner engagements
• Build relationships with corporate sponsors, government agencies (e.g., NASA), and university partners to align venture roadmaps with real-world opportunities

Deep Technical Credibility

• You can quickly evaluate a technical approach and determine if it's feasible, scalable, and differentiated
• You understand AI/ML, software development, and emerging technologies well enough to assess architectures and identify technical risks
• You have broad technical literacy across multiple domains and can rapidly get up to speed on new fields

Entrepreneurial & Investor Fluency

• You understand what makes a venture investable—not just technically sound, but commercially viable with a clear path to market
• You have direct experience with accelerators, incubators, startup competitions, or venture capital
• You can structure a pitch, evaluate a business model, and speak the language of investors

Ability to Inspire Students

• You can identify challenge topics that will excite ambitious 20-somethings and channel their energy toward meaningful problems
• You understand how to balance audacious vision with achievable milestones that fit within an academic calendar
• You're passionate about student empowerment and believe that the next generation can solve problems that seem insurmountable

Required Qualifications

• Master's degree +2 years relevant experience, OR PhD in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Science, or related technical field
• 6+ years in research, development, product management, venture development, or entrepreneurship
• Demonstrated experience with startup competitions, accelerators, pitch events, or entrepreneurship ecosystems
• Background in venture capital, startup advising, or technology commercialization
• Proven ability to communicate complex technical concepts to non-technical audiences

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with fundraising, grant writing, or investor relations
• Network of contacts in relevant technical domains and investment communities
• Familiarity with university innovation programs or technology transfer offices
• Experience mentoring early-stage founders or student teams
• Notable public-facing communications experience (talks, interviews, copywriting)
• Ability to write business plans, white papers, and institutional grants
• Understanding of financial statements and capitalization tables for startups

Impact at Scale: Shape the venture-building programs that will launch the next generation of companies addressing humanity's grand challenges

At the Intersection: Work at the crossroads of academia, industry, and investment—connecting brilliant students with real problems and real capital

Build Something New: Help create infrastructure for university-based entrepreneurship that doesn't exist anywhere else

Mission-Driven: Join an organization dedicated to turning every university into a solution engine

Competitive Compensation: $150,000 - $175,000 salary with benefits

Submit your resume along with a brief statement (1 page max) addressing the following:

mtech-human-resources@umd.edu

• A technical domain or emerging technology you believe represents a compelling opportunity for student venture teams—and why
• Your experience helping ventures move from idea to investment
• What excites you about working with university students on audacious challenges

The University of Maryland is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status.