What are the responsibilities and job description for the Director of Preferred Partnerships position at JumpStart Inc.?
About JumpStart Inc.
JumpStart is a non-profit venture development organization whose mission is to drive economic vitality by connecting entrepreneurs to the opportunities and resources they need to succeed. We envision Ohio as a premier destination for entrepreneurs where businesses thrive, championed by an inclusive and impactful support network.
Key to JumpStart’s success is its ability to leverage the skills, experience, and creativity of its inspired team to transform entrepreneurial aspirations into actions with measurable impact. JumpStart associates take great pride in making JumpStart a highly demanding yet incredibly fun place to work.
Position Summary
The Director of Preferred Partnerships is responsible for maximizing the value of JumpStart’s relationships with third party service providers, primarily focusing on those partners supporting services provided to JumpStart’s technology clients. This position will specifically enable clients to accelerate the growth of their businesses via utilization of incentives provided by these third-party service resources. These resources include service providers such as accounting, human resources, legal, marketing, and insurance, etc. as well as service platforms for cloud hosting, client relationship management, business process automation, etc.
This role can be summarized by three primary facets: relationships, best practices, and connections. They will be responsible for identifying, vetting, and maintaining relationships with the third-party service providers & platforms. With these relationships comes the need to establish and communicate best practices in order to fully leverage these resources. By implementing these best practices, this role will have the opportunity to significantly impact entrepreneurs by fully understanding their needs and, when appropriate, connecting clients to these relationships to progress their business opportunities. Although their primary role will be to connect entrepreneurs to valuable third-party resources, they should also contribute to the clients’ business growth by working alongside to identify gaps, assess needs, and determine value-driving milestones. To that extent, the Director of Preferred Partnerships will also provide technical assistance in terms of substance/content, beyond the connection to third-party resources.
Service Partner Relationship Development (65%)
- Identify and vet third-party service providers (e.g., Accounting, HR, Legal, Marketing) and platforms offering credits/discounts (e.g., AWS, HubSpot).
- Manage and strengthen relationships with service providers and platforms.
- Oversee contracts, documentation, tracking, and reporting related to third-party engagements.
- Establish new relationships with minority-run organizations and maintain a catalog of third-party service providers for Ohio regions.
- Educate stakeholders on connecting clients to third-party resources.
- Collaborate with internal teams to support third-party engagements.
Entrepreneur Client Connections & Advising (25%)
- Support tech entrepreneurs by understanding their needs and connecting them to third-party resources.
- Provide milestone-based business advising through one-on-one or group engagements.
- Guide clients in decision-making on staffing solutions and fractional talent.
- Prioritize high-potential clients for optimal resource use.
Communications & Reporting (10%)
- Assist with reporting and metrics for program success.
- Support team needs and participate in public speaking or outreach events.
Direct Reports:
- Manage interns and fractional talent as needed.
Physical Demands:
- Travel to meetings and events as required.
- Moderate physical activity for occasional office tasks.
- Eligible for remote work.
Required Qualifications:
- Must live and work in Greater Cleveland.
- Minimum 5 years in client/partner relationship management, ideally in IT/tech.
Skills & Characteristics:
- Excellent relationship management and attention to detail.
- Proficient in online research and social media tools.
- Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience supporting tech ventures or in venture capital.
JumpStart’s Core Values:
- Accountability, Entrepreneurial mindset, Equity, Energy, Collaboration, Humility
This position description is not intended to be a complete list of all responsibilities, duties or skills required for the job and is subject to review and change at any time, with or without notice, in accordance with the needs of JumpStart. Since no position description can detail all the duties and responsibilities that may be required from time to time in the performance of a job, duties and responsibilities that may be inherent in a job, reasonably required for its performance, or required due to the changing nature of the job shall also be considered part of the jobholder’s responsibility.
