About Backed

Backed is a €50m community-driven seed stage VC fund based in London. We founded in 2015 to back a new generation of entrepreneurs building companies and products that make us feel more optimistic about the future.

We believe this new generation of founders can break the mould in terms of human progress, and so we are breaking the mould to support it and discover the possibilities together. Recognising that early stage teams need so much more than funding, we’re pushing the limits of the VC model by building a human potential engine. We want to see what’s possible for them - and for the world - with a kind of human-centred and committed support that hasn’t existed before.

In the three years since we launched we’ve backed over 30 companies who are building a future we want to share. They’re harnessing evolution with AI, sparking the creative imagination of young people and creating slaughter-free meat, to describe a few. Over 90% of the companies we backed more than a year ago have already secured follow-on funding at an average valuation markup above 3x, raising from the best investors in Europe, such as Index Ventures, and in the US, such as Founders Fund.

Looking to 2019, we’re excited to raise a second fund, to work alongside more world-changing companies and to build out the most supportive VC founder experience available at seed stage.

The role

We launched Backed’s Scout Programme in beta this summer as part of our mission to create a better way to discover deals and talent, and to increase access to the venture capital and technology industries.

This selective programme welcomed a group of people who are super nodes in industry networks at the heart of Europe’s technology ecosystem; Product Hunt, Creative Mornings, Femstreet and University of Cambridge. Together, we co-created and tested a programme of content designed to build their networks and an investor mindset while learning about the next generation of world-changing businesses and technology. In exchange, the scouts referred top candidates for live roles in our portfolio companies and potential deals for us to invest in - all incentivised by commission for successful referrals. As well as having access to our investment process and portfolio support services, the scouts received executive coaching from a top career coach, mentoring from the Backed team and peer support from their cohort.

We are now looking for someone to join the Backed team full time to help us deliver an even more ambitious programme in 2019. This is a rare opportunity to build the strongest community of entrepreneurs, makers and builders in Europe. If you’re looking for a role with creative and strategic freedom at the cutting edge of venture capital and founder support at the earliest (and most exciting) stage of growth in tech, we would love to hear from you.

You will be responsible for leading on all aspects of design and management for the programme for up to 15 scouts in cohorts lasting 6 months. This includes responsibility for:

• Making sure the experience is hitting strategic objectives and aligned to our vision and values as a brand
• Full project management and coordination of the programme day-to-day
• Event design and delivery
• Content and communications strategy and creation
• Measuring effectiveness and gathering feedback from all stakeholders
• Engaging with and triaging daily deal and talent referrals from the scouts, communicating effectively with stakeholders internally and externally
• Liaising with the investment and founder experience teams at Backed and founders in our portfolio to enable effective collaboration between all groups.
• Owning the Scout Programme experience, enabling scouts to have the best possible interactions with each other, with Backed and with our network, creating a world-class community of support for them.

Experience

We’re really open-minded about your background: this is not a cookie-cutter role and you are not a cookie-cutter person. However, it would be brilliant if you have had some experience:

• Managing and engaging a community or network of people in the technology and startup sectors
• Designing experiences, services or products for specific audiences
• Driving and creating communications for brands or initiatives
• In project management with multiple important stakeholder groups
• Designing and delivering events that people really love to go to
• Recruiting superstars
• Leading and evangelising the vision for an industry-defining project
• Using tools and software to supercharge your work (e.g. InDesign, AirTable, Trello, CRMs)
• Managing a team

In terms of attributes and interests, you are:

• Fascinated by the role of technology in the world
• Driven by an enthusiasm to support others to grow
• Excited by the possibilities of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial yourself
• Curious about and energised by people and opportunities to connect

• Always pushing the limits with ideas for how to improve the technology and startup sectors and communities
• Adaptable and able to juggle competing priorities
• Happy to work autonomously whilst always being a team player
• An apprentice, always looking to learn
• Talented at writing great copy with flair and contagion

Starting: asap

Hours: Flexible

Competitive salary, benefits and bonus.