Who is LaunchX?

LaunchX offers premier entrepreneurship and innovation summer programs to high school students across the globe. With both online and on-campus programs, our team focuses on providing highly engaging content that gives real-world experience to high school students. Whether it is starting a legitimate startup or solving big business problems of real corporations, LaunchX leads the way for students to gain valuable lifelong skills. Want to learn more about our program? Watch this video on our YouTube page!

The Role:

We're hiring a Summer Academic Director to provide high-level oversight and leadership of summer program classroom activities while also serving as the lead instructor. In addition to teaching some entrepreneurial courses and leading experiential assignments, you will liaise with our residential team to execute our entrepreneurial playbook.

The position is a temporary, full-time, four-week contract position on-site at the University of California, Berkeley. Please learn more about our company at launchx.com before applying

The Summer Academic Director is the local area leader of the LaunchX summer program. The ideal candidate is passionate about entrepreneurship education and can operate autonomously while balancing strategic decisions with quick action. They will implement the program by organizing the site's executive team and interns to deliver the LaunchX summer entrepreneurship program for high school students and support them in starting their companies.

Summer Entrepreneurship Program in the Bay Area Dates:

July 7 – August 3, 2024

Preparation days in-person: July 1 - July 7 (break for July 4)

The Academic Director and Assistant Academic Director group training will consist of several calls during March - June and a few days on-campus to coordinate with residential management team and interns, prepare classroom handouts and other materials, and setup mini maker space

Duties and Responsibilities

• Program Operations:
• Be responsible for leading student education, activities, and overall well-being while in the program
• Coordinate guest speakers, including communications and classroom support
• Manage mentor network, including communications, team matching, and feedback
• Organize and manage logistics of the Demo Day pitch event
• Attend any scheduled conference calls with senior management during the program
• Serve as the primary point of contact for parent / guardian outreach concerning student issues and disciplinary procedures
• Act as a liaison with the host university regarding logistics and elevated issues
• Classroom Instruction:
• Prepare and deliver educational content
• Take ownership of the instructor role as leader both in and outside the classroom
• Assist with planning and implementation of changes in the program, curriculum, or instruction
• Manage the program schedule, including student and intern communication
• Engage students and interns in the development of LaunchX marketing content, including blog posts, classroom and event photography, etc.
• Manage and delegate responsibilities to small team of interns
• Provide timely program updates to the Program Director
• Student and Team Mentorship:
• Provide guidance and disciplinary support to student teams and interns as necessary
• Evaluate student progress on a regular basis, providing students with feedback regarding performance in class and any obstacles that may be impeding progress
• Run weekly meeting with teams to share headway, concerns, and details regarding upcoming meetings with student teams
• Work with students to identify and reflect on specific goals and actions needed in order to successfully run a business
• Provide support during tough times. Keeping the students' motivation level up, reassuring that the challenges are part of every journey, giving the comfort that support is available.

Requirements

• Bachelor's or master's degree
• Three - five years experience in teaching business or entrepreneurship courses; experience and / or training in secondary education preferred
• Believe strongly in the potential of high school students
• Strong written and verbal communication skills as well as presentation / public speaking skills
• Project management skills, including time management, problem-solving, and decision-making
• Proven people management skills
• Ability to lead and inspire a diverse team
• Patience in mediating team and interpersonal challenges
• High technical and computer literacy in using Microsoft Suite and Google Drive
• Able to analyze data and perform quantitative analyses
• Successfully pass a thorough background check
• Maker experience (developing or running a maker space and using maker technologies) is a plus

Target Compensation:

• $45 - $50 USD per hour