CEO/Co-Founder (SaaS Talent Marketplace, Manufacturing Industry)

High Alpha Innovation partners with the world’s leading organizations to innovate through startup creation. Part strategy consultancy, part venture builder, our team is a diverse mix of highly experienced company builders, designers, and strategists who work with corporate and university partners to source, launch, and invest in venture studios and advantaged startups.

High Alpha Innovation and the University of Notre Dame have partnered together to establish a first of its kind venture studio impact fund which was designed to align with Notre Dame’s vision, mission and values, and to be a cornerstone for future innovation within the community. The goal of the 1842 Studio and Fund is to not just be an allocator of capital, but to be partners that co-create startups that are aligned to the University of Notre Dame's strategic framework.

Our newest company, SlateUp, is seeking a CEO & Co-Founder to bring to market a talent marketplace designed to bridge the gap between entry level, frontline workers and high-demand, family-sustaining jobs. The goal of this platform is to provide a clear path to career advancement and connect eager, high-potential talent with employers that are ready to invest in their development. We aim to launch in Notre Dame’s backyard in Indiana, where there’s a high concentration of manufacturing jobs and a pressing need for skilled workers.

As the CEO, you will partner with your co-founder to develop and launch a mobile-first application designed to match job seekers with employers based on skills, provide access to upskilling opportunities and improve retention rates for companies with a high number of frontline employees. We are targeting the manufacturing industry as the first customer as it is one industry that is facing a significant skills shortage. This is an opportunity to build a product from the ground up that can have a profound impact on both job seekers and employers.

You’ll also be supported by the High Alpha Innovation team, who have seen exponential growth across a variety of SaaS platforms in multiple industries and successful exits.

As the CEO and Co-Founder, you will be responsible for building a big, important, and durable business from the ground up. You will work to build conviction with the market, investors, and early customers as you bring the product to market. You will also set the go-to-market strategy and get the MVP into the hands of early customers. This is a unique opportunity to be a creator, builder, and innovator to build a world-class product from scratch.

What You'll Do:

• Serve as a leader and co-founder to shape corporate strategy and company vision while building conviction in the market, with investors, and customers
• Drive growth, profitability, and company value while implementing scalable and efficient strategies to ensure consistent results and exponential growth
• Align resources to achieve key business goals and milestones 
• Own the operational budget and manage burn rate and runway
• Report updates to the Board of Directors and corporate stakeholders regarding progress on strategic goals
• Assist with creating and executing a fundraising strategy to drive interest from outside VC investors
• Set the vision for the company and define the overall strategy from launch to scale.
• Structure a thoughtful organizational hiring plan and recruit, retain & develop world-class talent against that plan.
• Drive strategy and decision-making across all functional areas, including business development, product, marketing & content, operations, and finance.
• Determine the highest-order KPIs and build the plan and team to measure, monitor, and improve them.
• Lead all fundraising activities to support growth objectives in partnership with High Alpha Innovation.
• Develop a comprehensive framework for initiating and supporting relationships across the manufacturing industry and workforce development verticals.
• Develop strategic relationships with development and channel partners to further SlateUp’s offering.
• Design, execute and continually iterate go-to-market strategies.
• Assist in defining, evaluating, and evolving the product roadmap by identifying new opportunities and gaps through strategic relationships with regional manufacturers and workforce development organizations.
• Drive operations and operational rigor, including full P&L and cash flow management.
• Create and sustain a great company culture with articulated values that provides inspired leadership and enables a great working relationship to the team across all levels. 

Requirements

• Demonstrated experience in selling SaaS products, particularly marketplaces, and building high-performing teams.
• Experience or exposure to software business models, ideally with experience in workforce development or talent marketplaces and target ICP experience in manufacturing and frontline industries.
• A passion and vision for bridging the skills gap and creating meaningful career pathways for frontline workers.
• Founder experience is preferred or experience working in an early-stage venture-backed company in a key leadership role.
• Venture capital fundraising experience preferred or other relevant experience across sales, negotiations, or corporate development.
• Strong track record of tackling difficult challenges, a strong work ethic, and desire to build a high-growth company.
• An entrepreneurial mindset along with the grit and determination to scale a company from scratch.

Benefits

• Salary plus equity plan
• Medical, Dental & Vision Insurance 
• Flexible work location within the United States, with an Indiana or Midwest location preference 
• A collaborative, entrepreneurial environment with a proven venture studio playbook
• A highly validated concept and business model hypothesis developed by our team 
• Pre-seed funding committed by the 1842 Fund
• The support of the venture studio and platform services, we surround the startup with world-class expertise in every discipline required to build a market-leading company

What we value:

WE BUILD

We make decisions with imperfect information and quickly move forward. We take action. We are comfortable with discomfort, and we measure our results in terms of what we build.

WE ARE BOLD

We seek, uncover, and speak truth. We are endlessly curious, we dream big and we lead through vision. Our ideas change the world.

WE CREATE OPPORTUNITY

We aim to create as much opportunity for as many people as possible, and we believe startups are a powerful vehicle for doing so. By creating opportunity, we create joy for ourselves, our loved ones, our corporate partners, and if we’re doing it right -- the world.

EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

High Alpha Innovation is an equal opportunity employer, and we value diversity at our company. We do not just accept diverse backgrounds, we celebrate them. Our company, the work we do, and our partners benefit from the value of a diverse team. No team member's value lies alone in their diversity, and because we value diversity so highly, we reiterate that all hiring and employment decisions are made on merit, performance, competence, and business needs. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.