Freelance Startup Program & Ecosystem Strategist (m/f/d)

JUNI is building an integrated ecosystem for science-based startups and scale-ups in Berlin and Brandenburg, connecting leading universities and research institutions with corporates, investors, talent and other ecosystem partners.

We are now looking for an experienced Startup Program & Ecosystem Strategist to help us develop the next generation of our startup support model.

There are hundreds of accelerators, incubators, VC platform teams and startup support organizations around the world. We want to understand what the best of them actually do differently – and translate those insights into a distinctive model for JUNI.

Our key question:

What support do startups and scale-ups really need at different stages – and how can JUNI deliver it in a way that creates measurable value?

The goal is not another best-practice report. We want to develop a practical JUNI Startup & Scale-up Playbook that our team can use every day.

You will:

• evaluate leading international startup ecosystems, accelerators, VCs, incubators and scale-up support models
• identify the most important needs and bottlenecks of startups from formation to scale-up
• interview founders and ecosystem experts to validate your findings
• identify the interventions that create the greatest value for startups
• define where JUNI should build its own capabilities, partner with others or simply connect
• develop a practical framework for diagnosing startup needs and matching them with the right support
• define how JUNI can measure the actual impact of its support
• translate your findings into the JUNI Startup & Scale-up Playbook v1.0

A key strategic question throughout the project will be:

What should JUNI become exceptionally good at?

We are looking for someone who combines strategic thinking, strong research capabilities and real startup ecosystem experience.

You may have worked:

• in VC platform / portfolio operations
• at a leading accelerator or incubator
• in venture building with excellent track record
• as a founder or startup/scale-up
• in Deep Tech commercialization or university entrepreneurship

You should understand the very different needs of early-stage startups and scale-ups and have a strong bias towards practical solutions rather than theoretical frameworks.

Experience with Deep Tech, science-based startups, VC portfolio support or scale-up organizations would be particularly valuable.

Duration: approx. 8–12 weeks

Location: Berlin / Remote

Start: ASAP

You will work closely with the JUNI management and program team and have access to startups, universities, corporates, investors and ecosystem partners across our network.

And there could be more: While this is initially a freelance project, we are building these capabilities for the long term. For the right person, there may be an opportunity to take on a permanent role at JUNI afterwards – and not only design the model, but help us build and operate it.

Please send us your profile, availability and expected rate, together with short answers to three questions:

1. Which startup ecosystem, accelerator or VC should JUNI learn from – and why?

2. What is one thing most startup support programs get wrong?

3. What have you personally built, operated or improved that is relevant to this project?

Selected candidates will receive a detailed project briefing in the next step.