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Director, Programs

StartX
Palo Alto, CA Full Time
POSTED ON 6/29/2026
AVAILABLE BEFORE 8/10/2026
The Director of Programs presents an opportunity to continue to build StartX into the world’s preeminent provider of entrepreneurial education. We are looking to execute on our existing playbook, as well as expand programs in order to support all the highest potential entrepreneurs who meet our selection criteria. The Director of Programs will be responsible for ensuring strong execution of our current offerings and for building customized programs and tracks for founders based on their background, needs, company stage and industry. In order to achieve these goals, we need a top-notch Director of Programs to design and execute intelligent and intentional programming. Taking a human-centric approach, the Director of Programs will ensure that our community effectively scales while offering more value to our founders than ever before. Further down the line, the Director of Programs will assist in building out verticals that focus on specific industries such as hardware, energy, and non-profit. With the support of the entire StartX community, the Director of Programs will have unparalleled resources as she/he/they creates the top educational experience for founders in the world.

Responsibilities

Strategic Direction of Programs

  • Lead the strategic direction with respect to the services, resources, and programs StartX provides to founders

Program Design

  • Utilize design methodologies to research, design and build world class programs for StartX founders, alumni and potential entrepreneurs from Stanford
  • Lead the development and launch of new industry verticals for the Accelerator, such as hardware and non-profit
  • Develop and implement programs that engage founders at stages outside the scope of a standard accelerator (e.g. ideation and post-Series A)

Accelerator Scaling

  • Design long-term growth plan for the Accelerator
  • Improve upon existing programs to ensure effective scaling to the Stanford alumni community
  • Ensure that quality and value added are not diluted when supporting more founders
  • Ensure that the founder community is intelligently scaled to maintain a strong community

Manage the Programs Team to create a world-class experience for each founder through the following:

Community

  • Create opportunities for founders to have a peer support group for tactical and sensitive challenges they are facing
  • Develop personal and professional relationships between founders
  • Ensure that each founder leaves StartX’s onboarding program with deep a respect for and affinity towards the StartX community

Mentorship

  • Work with the Admissions team to improve the company-mentor pairing process
  • Ensure that founders, mentors, and experts have an excellent experience and are deriving concrete value from their interactions

Education

  • Work with founders and their mentors to assess the opportunities for a founder’s growth and ensure that each founder achieves their learning goals
  • Provide scalable access to our expertise network
  • Deliver customized, real-time educational sessions and content to founders
  • Deliver a core set of educational offerings to founders

Resources

  • Ensure founders are aware of the resources available to them and that the resources are being fully utilized

Build a World-class Community

  • Utilize StartX’s programs to further develop the community and our network
  • Empower founders (both past and present) to leverage the community’s collective intelligence through the creation of tight community bonds

Qualifications

  • Strong track record of leading complex projects and driving process improvement
  • Track record of managing teams to successful outcomes
  • Previous entrepreneurial experience preferred

Why StartX?

StartX is a unique non-profit community of serial founders, industry experts, and Stanford professors. We provide a peer-based platform for the world’s best entrepreneurs to help each other succeed. Joining this team means you are at the forefront of global innovation, helping to scale the world’s most impactful companies and ecosystems.

Salary.com Estimation for Director, Programs in Palo Alto, CA
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