Programme Manager

Job description

About the programme:

This role sits within a new European incubation programme supporting impact-driven, youth-led startups in the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs)- film, fashion, music, media, events, sports and the wider creator economy- delivered simultaneously across three of Europe's largest creative ecosystems: France, Germany and the UK, in partnership with a major corporate foundation. You will lead the German cohort, reaching ideation and early-stage founders, with a strong focus on underserved communities. Delivery blends a fully remote learning experience with in-person community, mentoring and in-person events.

About the role:

Are you part of Germany's creative and entrepreneurial ecosystem? Are you passionate about helping young founders in the cultural and creative industries build sustainable, impact-driven businesses? Apply now and join an international team, empowering creative entrepreneurs to take their businesses to the next level across Europe.

We are seeking a highly motivated and experienced Programme Manager to lead delivery of the German cohort of our creative-industries accelerator, which runs in parallel across France, Germany and the UK. You will work closely with the Programme Managers running the France and UK cohorts to deliver a coherent cross-border programme and shared European events. You will actively contribute to all programme stages, from design to execution, ensuring all KPIs are met.

Community-building and cohort engagement sit at the heart of this role: you will be the face of the programme for founders in Germany, keeping a remote-first cohort motivated, connected and progressing. You will be responsible for setting up and managing all processes related to application scouting and review, programme design and implementation, stakeholder engagement, impact monitoring, reporting and administrative tasks. You'll also collaborate with INCO entrepreneurship programmes globally, exchanging best practices and contributing your expertise. You will build and leverage a network of creative-industry partners, hubs, mentors and ecosystem players across Berlin and wider Germany, and be the main point of contact for the stakeholders involved in programme implementation such as trainers and mentors.

The ideal candidate will have a strong background in project management, incubation and acceleration programmes, excellent people and facilitation skills, and a good understanding of the creative-industries and startup ecosystem in Germany.

Your responsibilities:

• Work towards programmatic goals, coordinate with the team, plan and prioritise effectively to deliver high-quality results to our founders and partners.

• Collaborate across the France, UK and global INCO teams to exchange expertise and contribute to the synergic development of INCO's entrepreneurship programmes.

• Design and implement the German cohort of the creative-industries acceleration programme, across outreach, onboarding & diagnostics, capacity building and community pillars.

• Lead outreach and selection to recruit a diverse cohort of startups, actively scouting through creative-industry networks and reaching founders beyond Berlin and from underserved communities.

• Leverage existing networks and create new ones to raise awareness about the programme (creative hubs, incubators, cultural institutions, nonprofits, accelerators, investors and ecosystem actors across Germany).

• Recruit and engage key stakeholders for programme implementation (trainers, mentors, sector masterclass experts).

• Review applications for compliance with socio-economic, impact and creative-sector selection criteria.

• Collaborate with our communications teams to plan and monitor online recruitment campaigns and to surface founder stories and video portraits for funder reporting and advocacy.

• Work with our legal team to comply with all processes.

• Facilitate engaging live workshops and sessions throughout the programme, keeping a remote-first cohort motivated, connected and cohesive from onboarding through to the final event.

• Communicate with the selected founders, trainers and mentors, sharing programme information and relevant opportunities and events.

• Create meaningful connections with founders, alumni and mentors through dedicated community-building activities — meetups, mentoring circles, ecosystem immersion events and peer-learning sessions in Berlin and beyond.

• Co-organise local and cross-border in-person events.

• Share programme impact stories and milestones by identifying relevant communication materials (with support from our communications team).

• Perform analytical, monitoring, and administrative tasks related to the programme.

• Lead the organisation of both virtual and in-person events, such as enterprise competitions.

Job requirements

• Based in Berlin, with hands-on experience in Germany's entrepreneurship and/or creative-industries ecosystem and knowledge of relevant networks.

• Fluent/ native German and fluent English (working proficiency)- you will deliver, facilitate and build community primarily in German, but all team communication and internal deliverables will be in English.

• Experience in entrepreneurship incubation, acceleration, or training programmes, ideally with impact startups in the cultural and creative industries or creator economy.

• Outstanding people and facilitation skills: you energise a room (and a video call), build trust quickly, and keep a cohort engaged and cohesive from start to finish.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in both German and English.

• Experience in managing stakeholder relations, with a demonstrated ability to develop lasting relationships with a wide array of stakeholders- founders, mentors, trainers, ecosystem partners and corporate volunteers.

• Strong project management skills, with proven experience running remote or hybrid programmes.

• Highly organised, precise and autonomous- able to own delivery of a cohort end-to-end and prioritise confidently within a complex, multi-country programme.

• Adaptable and effective in dynamic environments where coordination across different teams is essential; comfortable operating in changing conditions.

• Resourceful and able to make decisions independently, while ready to ask for help when needed.

• Open-minded, collaborative and committed to maintaining close links with your team through regular and transparent communication.

Desired skills and experience:

• Knowledge of and connections within the cultural and creative industries (film, fashion, music, media, events, sports, creator economy) in Germany.

• Solid command of productivity tools (e.g. Google Suite, Slack, Monday.com, Typeform, Hubspot).

• Experience building and nurturing online communities, and keeping remote cohorts engaged and connected.

• Experience with impact data collection, analysis, and communication.

• Experience with using qualitative and quantitative research to inform programme implementation.

• Familiarity with reaching underserved entrepreneurs, and with socio-economic targeting of participants.

• Experience delivering corporate-funded/ foundation-funded programmes and engaging corporate volunteers is a plus.