Program Manager

About Tribe:

Tribe Network is Atlantic Canada's leading innovation organization for Black, Indigenous, and racialized entrepreneurs building high-growth technology ventures. Tribe provides structured programming, mentorship, and ecosystem connections that support founders across every stage from idea to scale, while strengthening the region's innovation economy.

Our Purpose: We empower a community of racialized people pursuing technology, entrepreneurship and innovation.

Our Mission: We provide our members access to relevant resources to connect, work and grow.

Our Vision: A world where racialized people are at the forefront of sustainable technology, entrepreneurship and innovation.

Our Values:

1. Lead with Love
2. Nurture Community
3. Inclusive Leadership
4. Practice Creativity
5. Strive for Excellence

Overview

The Program Manager is responsible for the day-to-day operations of all Tribe cohort programming, ensuring that every cohort is delivered on schedule, to a consistent standard, and with a strong founder experience from acceptance through wrap-up.

The Program Manager serves as the primary operational point of contact for founders. This includes keeping founders informed of program expectations, deadlines, and resources, monitoring attendance, deliverables, and milestone progress, and connecting founders with the appropriate Venture Success Partners, facilitators, advisers, and opportunities.

The role also supports the wider Tribe team in the planning and delivery of events, including founder showcases, forums, and community activities.

The Program Manager works closely with the Director of Programs; Partnerships, the Programs Intern, Venture Success Partners, facilitators, and Tribe's leadership, marketing, and operations teams to ensure that program delivery reflects Tribe's priorities and that founders experience a coordinated pathway through Tribe's programs. The Program Manager may request day-to-day support from the Program Intern directly.

Key Responsibilities

Program Delivery & Operations

• Lead the day-to-day coordination and delivery of all active Tribe cohorts.
• Manage the weekly program cycle for each cohort, including session readiness, founder communications, materials, recordings, and transcripts.
• Maintain cohort task boards on Monday, ensuring each week's tasks, owners, and due dates are current.
• Ensure facilitator materials are received and uploaded to the Tribe Platform ahead of each session.
• Coordinate session logistics with week leads and facilitators, including format, room setup, and schedule changes.
• Oversee setup, check-in, and attendance at in-person and hybrid sessions.
• Coordinate milestone reviews, 1:1 coaching sessions, Venture Success Partner check-ins, and founder showcases.
• Identify delivery risks, delays, or resource gaps early and escalate where appropriate.
• Provide the Director of Programs & Partnerships with a weekly update on cohort progress, risks, and decisions required.

Founder Engagement & Support

• Serve as the primary operational point of contact for founders participating in Tribe cohorts.
• Maintain regular communication with founders and ensure they understand program expectations, opportunities, deadlines, and available resources.
• Route coaching, advisory, and program questions to the appropriate Venture Success Partner, facilitator, or team member.
• Guide founders through the advisory request process and track each request through to completion.
• Monitor founder participation and engagement, and follow up early with founders who are falling behind or disengaging.
• Match founders to relevant perks and opportunities, including perks that depend on a founder's funding stage, and share opportunities with founders in the Tribe Innovation Hub Program Slack.
• Escalate concerns regarding a founder's wellbeing or standing in a program, and any legal or financial questions, to the Director of Programs & Partnerships.

Founder Onboarding & Recruitment Support

• Support application intake and interview panel logistics for each new cohort.
• Coordinate founder onboarding, including platform and tool access and pre-program materials.
• Ensure a smooth transition from acceptance into program delivery.
• Support cohort wrap-up, including impact capture and the handoff to next-step pathways.

Facilitator, Adviser & Delivery Partner Coordination

• Coordinate schedules, materials, and expectations with facilitators, week leads, advisers, and coaches.
• Gather founder feedback on sessions, facilitators, and advisers.
• Flag issues related to quality, responsiveness, or alignment to the Director of Programs & Partnerships.

Program Records, Feedback & Reporting

• Maintain Airtable as the system of record for founders, attendance, deliverables, milestones, advisory requests, and perks.
• Ensure founder information, including funding information, is handled confidentially and used only to support founders and program delivery.
• Collect founder feedback through session and milestone surveys, and summarize findings with recommendations for future cohorts.
• Prepare program data at each milestone for internal and funder reporting.
• Keep program documentation, templates, and founder-facing guides current across cohorts.

Event Coordination Support

• Support the Tribe team in planning and delivering events, including founder showcases, forums, and community activities.
• Support event planning through the Events Pipeline board in Monday, including planning checklists, event overviews, and the handoff to marketing.
• Coordinate logistics with venues, speakers, partners, and suppliers as assigned by the event lead.
• Support registration, check-in, and on-site delivery on event days.
• Coordinate post-event follow-up, including attendee lists and outcomes recorded in Airtable.

Qualifications & Experience

The ideal candidate will have:

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience in business, entrepreneurship, program management, or a related field.
• 3+ years of relevant professional experience, preferably involving entrepreneurship programs, startup support, accelerators, incubators, or community programming.
• Demonstrated experience coordinating programs, events, or projects with multiple stakeholders and competing deadlines.
• Experience working in key sectors including: Ai, Energy, Defense, and Healthtech
• Experience working directly with founders, entrepreneurs, or small businesses.
• Experience coordinating facilitators, mentors, volunteers, or external partners.
• Experience maintaining accurate records in tools such as Airtable, Monday, or a CRM.
• Experience working with Black, Indigenous, racialized, newcomer, or other historically underserved entrepreneur communities is considered a strong asset.
• Familiarity with Atlantic Canada's entrepreneurship and startup ecosystem is considered an asset.
• Experience with government-funded or grant-funded programs is considered an asset.

Advantages for Applicants

The following experience and knowledge are assets but are not required:

• Experience supporting entrepreneurs, startups, accelerators, incubators, or innovation programs.
• Familiarity with Atlantic Canada’s entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem.
• Experience in AI, Energy, Defence, Health, or other emerging sectors.
• Experience working with Black, Indigenous, racialized, newcomer, or other historically underserved communities.
• Experience coordinating facilitators, mentors, advisers, coaches, or external partners.
• Familiarity with Airtable, Monday.com, Slack, or learning management platforms.
• Experience with government-funded or grant-funded programs and reporting.
• Experience with participant engagement, impact measurement, or program evaluation.
• Experience coordinating multi-stakeholder initiatives or partnerships.

Core Competencies

• Founder-Centred Mindset: Understands founders' businesses and circumstances, and responds to their needs promptly while holding them to program commitments.
• Organization & Follow-Through: Manages multiple cohorts, deadlines, and stakeholders at once, and follows through until tasks are complete.
• Relationship Management: Builds trust with founders, colleagues, facilitators, advisers, and partners.
• Communication: Writes and speaks clearly and professionally with founders, partners, and community stakeholders.
• Accuracy & Data Care: Keeps records complete and current, and handles confidential founder information with care.
• Adaptability: Comfortable in a fast-moving environment where program schedules, founder needs, and priorities may change.
• Inclusive Approach: Demonstrates cultural awareness, empathy, and a commitment to environments in which founders from historically underserved communities can succeed.
• Operational Leadership & Problem Solving: Takes ownership of operational execution, anticipates challenges, recommends solutions, and escalates strategic decisions appropriately.

Why join us?

We are a passionate, adaptable team who are helping make a more inclusive, diverse, equitable and accessible entrepreneurship & innovation ecosystem a reality. Our belief is that a strong commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion enables us to truly make economic opportunity a reality for everyone. We strongly encourage applications from Indigenous/Mi’kmaq peoples, African Nova Scotians, Black Canadians, newcomers, racialized people, people with disabilities, people from gender and sexually diverse communities and/or people with intersectional identities. If comfortable, we encourage you to self-identify in your cover letter or résumé.

We thank everyone who takes the time to apply for this position, but only candidates under consideration will be contacted.

If you have any accommodation needs or questions about accessibility at any stage of the application or interview process, please don't hesitate to let us know and we will assist you promptly.

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