We’re Hiring: Marketing & Community Manager for Origin

Whether it’s a smart oven that cooks prepared meals by scanning a barcode, a marketplace for kid’s clothes, or software that sells tickets and accepts reservations to the world’s greatest restaurants, our companies are working on big problems. With a fraction of the resources, they are innovating against industry giants.

None of this is easy. We know this first hand — our team at Origin is composed of former operators and engineers. We’ve built companies and products like our founders. Combined with our 60 collective years in venture capital investing, we have a lot to offer the founders with which we partner. At the same time, we do not have all the answers.

We recognized two and half years ago that many of the answers we don’t have can be found in our outstanding and varied portfolio company talent. The challenge was how to unlock it.

We started the Origin Ventures Network (OVeN) in 2015 to better serve our community of portfolio companies through resources, education, and events, while fostering a culture of sharing and collaboration. Since its launch in 2015, Origin has held sales, marketing and CEO summits, hosted online functional roundtables and built a software collaboration platform. The network has resulted in hundreds of introductions and new customer relationships for our companies. Countless hours have been saved by our companies by learning from each other rather than re-inventing.

We are looking for someone to extend what has been built already and lead OVeN in its next phase of growth. Specifically, Origin is seeking a marketing and community manager to manage and grow our existing network of portfolio companies. You’d be working directly with the partners in the firm on this important strategic initiative. The manager will interact regularly with leaders and employees of our startup investments and will play an important role in making those companies successful by bringing resources to them.

Responsibilities

• Build, implement, and enhance our portfolio support systems
• Organize and execute online and offline events
• Foster connections among functional leaders in portfolio companies
• Develop and execute small and large-scale offline events
• Manage ongoing online discussion forums
• Recognize, capture, and share best practices to solve common challenges among companies, such as:
• Recruiting talent and building high-performance organizations
• Effective sales and marketing strategies and tactics
• Creating and sustaining user engagement
• Building strategic relationships with partners
• Effective public relations and media engagement
• Mobilizing our professional networks
• Manage and market the Origin Ventures brand
• Manage all web and social media profiles and engagement for the firm
• Develop and execute content marketing strategy
• Design and execute our outreach initiatives in the Chicago and SLC ecosystems
• Active contributor to Chicago entrepreneurial community; connected to startups
• Effective at building a professional network that benefits our firm and portfolio
• Assist with communications to investors

Professional Qualifications

• 4 year college degree
• 2–4 years work experience, preferably in a marketing role
• Demonstrated proficiency with social media marketing; “digital native” and comfortable with latest marketing technology tools
• Effective writing skills with an established body of work

Personal Qualifications

• A bias toward action / getting things done; self-motivated; ability to work in a largely unstructured but goal-oriented environment
• Detail-oriented; pixel-perfect — very high attention to detail
• Builds relationships easily with people from the most senior to the most junior
• Ability to multi-task and manage multiple assignments and deliverables simultaneously
• Adaptable to emerging and shifting priorities
• Resourceful and intellectually curious — not satisfied with ‘not knowing’ how it works or what it means; self-directed continuous learner
• Passionate about technology and entrepreneurship — everyone in our firm shares a passion for emerging technology, and building successful high-growth companies

Candidates who meet these qualifications can send a resume, Linkedin profile and links to any online content they have produced to inquire@originventures.com.