Special Instructions to Applicants:

In addition to a resume and cover letter, all applicants must submit an executive summary (no more than two pages) describing how they’ve used AI to solve a problem and create meaningful advantage. This should demonstrate both clear communication and thoughtful use of AI.

Please combine the executive summary with the cover letter, and upload as one document under the “Cover Letter” section.

Submit these materials in the Supporting Documents section of the application, preferably in a PDF format to avoid any formatting issues.

About Rice:

Boasting a 300-acre tree-lined campus in Houston, Texas, Rice University is ranked among the nation’s top 20 universities by U.S. News & World Report. Rice has a 6-to-1 undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio, and a residential college system, which supports students intellectually, emotionally and culturally through social events, intramural sports, student plays, lectures series, courses and student government. Developing close-knit, diverse college communities is a strong campus tradition, which is why Rice is highly ranked for best quality of life and best value among private universities.

Rice is also a wonderful place to work. Rice faculty, staff and students share values that are essential to our success as a healthy community. Those values guide our decisions and behaviors and shape Rice’s culture. They come through in the way we treat each other and the welcome we extend to our visitors. These values can be recalled simply by our name — RICE — Responsibility, Integrity, Community and Excellence.

Position Summary:

The Ion will be Houston’s Venture Advantage Platform. Powered by Rice University, we will bring together people, expertise, capital, and corporate and community partners into a single coordinated system activated through helping founders gain advantages and compound impact. We will deliver the structures, relationships, and experiences that accelerate learning, traction, investment, and scale for high-potential startups. By doing so, we will strengthen Houston’s ability to sustainably launch and grow thriving ventures that deliver local, national, and global impact.

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 Ion is the namesake building of the 16-acre innovation district in midtown, powered by Rice University. Designed to connect entrepreneurs, academia, investors, and corporations to address global challenges, the building offers high-quality programming and events, coworking and office space, and community amenities. This activation is led by the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship, Rice University’s nationally recognized entrepreneurship initiative.

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.

Workplace Requirements:

This position is exclusively on-site, necessitating all duties to be performed in-person at the Ion. Some nights and weekends are expected. Per Rice policy 440, work arrangements may be subject to change.

Hiring Range:

Hiring salary commensurate with experience and qualifications.

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor's Degree

• 2+ years of experience in startups, venture, consulting, or other high-responsibility, fast-moving environments

Preferences:

• 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

Essential Functions:

• 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

Additional Functions

• 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

Rice University HR | Benefits: https://knowledgecafe.rice.edu/benefits

Rice Mission and Values: Mission and Values | Rice University

Rice University is committed to ensuring Equal Employment Opportunity and welcoming the fullness of diversity into our candidate pools. Rice considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, genetic information, disability, or protected veteran status. Rice also provides reasonable accommodations to qualified persons with disabilities. If an applicant requires a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application or hiring process, please get in touch with Rice University’s Human Resources Office via email at facstaffada@rice.edu for support.

If you have any additional questions, please email us at jobs@rice.edu. Thank you for your interest in employment with Rice University.

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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.