Sr. Associate/Manager, TX Ecosystem & Partnerships

The Organization: Mass. Challenge The Role: Sr. Associate/Manager, Texas Ecosystem & Partnerships Location: Dallas, TX Reports to: Managing Director of Mass. Challenge Texas Compensation: $65,000–$80,000 (depending on experience and skills) About Mass. Challenge Mass. Challenge backs the world's boldest innovators—pre-revenue, pre-proof, pre-breakthrough—tackling humanity's most complex challenges.

We're often among the earliest believers, providing purpose-built infrastructure, breakthrough access to global networks, and the capital-plus that founders need to navigate regulated markets—all without taking equity. Since 2009, we've connected audacious founders to corporates, regulators, and strategic funders through our belief that the hardest problems require the most determined humans.

Where others stop at barriers, we begin—because the future depends on radically reimagining support for those bold enough to solve humanity's hardest challenges. Mass. Challenge is currently seeking a person to join our Dallas team, spearheading our efforts to grow the Texas Ecosystem & Partnerships across our challenge practice areas.

Why You Should Join Us Mass. Challenge was just named the #2 accelerator in the U.S. and #1 in Massachusetts by TIME and Statista, with 85% of the ranking driven by feedback from the founders we serve. That puts us among the very best in the country. It also gives us a new target. We are building on that recognition, growing what works, and raising our ambitions for what Mass.

Challenge can do next. If you are looking for a place where there is real energy behind the work and plenty left to build, we want to talk to you!

Position Summary

Mass. Challenge is growing and continuing to build the ecosystem in the challenge practice areas of national security and dual-use, fintech, health and life sciences, security and resiliency, climate and environmental innovation. We are specifically expanding across DFW, greater Texas, and the Southwest. This role is the turbo engine that keeps that momentum moving on the ground.

You will be Mass. Challenge's day-to-day presence across the Texas innovation community. You are a high-energy, relationship-driven operator who convenes people, runs events end-to-end, sources startups and sponsors, and connects founders to what they need as they tackle some of the world's toughest and most critical problems.

You will work across the challenge practice areas rather than owning one, giving senior leadership the on-the-ground horsepower to move each area forward. DFW is home base, and a consistent, visible presence at Pegasus Park and across the wider ecosystem is a core part of the job. This is a growth-phase role. You will help lay the foundation now so the market is ready for its next stage of leadership.

What You'll Do

Ecosystem presence and connection Be a constant, visible presence in the DFW ecosystem: partner events, community functions, conferences, and recurring moments like DFW Startup Week. Being visible in the room is part of the work. Act as an active connector, linking founders to investors, partners, mentors, and customers, and folding Texas and out-of-state alumni into the local network.

Keep a steady LinkedIn posting cadence covering program milestones, event recaps, startup wins, and ecosystem news. Events and convenings Own events from concept through follow-up: run-of-show, venue and catering, registration and curated invite lists, speaker logistics, vendors, budgets, and day-of execution, from founder breakfasts to conference scale.

Support INNOVATE, our flagship Dallas convening, as a core annual moment, and help capture the sponsorship energy and momentum shifting toward it in the market. Sponsorship and corporate development Build and work a pipeline of corporate partners and sponsors (Fortune 500 and 1000, banks, law firms, professional services), from target identification through outreach, collateral, and relationship management.

Contribute directly to our Texas revenue goals by helping convert corporate interest into sponsorships and partnerships in tandem with our senior leadership team members. Programs and content Lead Texas delivery of Mass. Challenge programming (workshops, office hours, mentor sessions, pitch events, panels) in partnership with the central Programs team.

Develop content and run session production for panels and conferences and build a mentor and speaker bench matched to the challenge practice areas. Startup sourcing and partnerships Source Texas startups through partner referrals, direct outreach, AI-assisted discovery, and investor-portfolio mining, with sector-based lists tied to the practice areas.

Build reciprocal relationships with accelerators, incubators, chambers, economic development organizations, and universities, with real referral flow in both directions.

Who You Are

& What You Bring 3 to 7 years in startups, venture, accelerators, economic development, partnerships, or a related field, with direct founder-facing experience. High energy and genuine love for the startup community. You are the person who already knows people in the room or will within a month. Existing DFW and Texas ecosystem relationships strongly preferred.

Proven end-to-end event execution, from strategy through budgets and logistics. Credibility with founders, corporate executives, investors, and university partners. Strategic and hands-on in the same week, comfortable designing a panel one day and negotiating catering the next. Organized and system-minded, fluent in CRM and event tools.

Proactive and self-directed, able to carry several workstreams at once with limited oversight. A strong writer and confident in front of a room. What Success Looks Like The challenge practice areas in Texas have real on-the-ground momentum, with events, mentors, and partners in place when needed. Sponsors and corporate partners are engaged, renewed, and contributing to Mass.

Challenge Texas revenue. Founders, alumni, and partners identify Mass. Challenge as their connector in Texas. A visible, trusted Mass. Challenge presence across the DFW ecosystem, in person and online. Our Core Values Conviction: Audacity, Resilience, Depth of Focus Community: Empathy & Inclusion, Strengthen Networks, Foster Fun Progress over Perfection: Build on Experience, Fail Fast, Demonstrate Traction Location This is a hybrid role based in Dallas.

You will work from the Mass. Challenge Dallas office and in person across the DFW ecosystem, including partner events, community functions, and conferences. Occasional after- hours work will be required to support events and programming across the challenge practice areas. Some travel within greater Texas and the Southwest will be required.

Compensation

Mass. Challenge offers competitive salaries, excellent benefits, and a supportive working environment. Salary is based on a nonprofit scale and commensurate with skills and experience. For this position, the base salary range is $65,000–$80,000. Internal equity considerations and the average salary of the peer range will be reviewed before a final offer is made.

*** Mass. Challenge is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We seek individuals from a broad variety of backgrounds with varying levels of experience who have a desire to do meaningful work. We recruit, employ, train, compensate, and promote regardless of race, color, gender, gender identity, religion, national origin, ancestry, disability, age, veteran status, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by law.