NB: Location is across Australia
About Beanstalk:
Beanstalk exists to unleash the potential for agriculture to be a leading force for good. We believe our food system needs reinvention to feed a growing global population on a healthy planet, and we are working hand-in-hand with innovators, agribusinesses, and public sector leaders to make it happen. If this excites you, we would love for you to apply!
We are a specialised team of strategy, venture building and innovation experts dedicated to the agriculture and food sector in the Indo-Pacific. Our role is to catalyse the adoption of new technologies and build capabilities that help to unlock our ability to produce nutritious food in a responsible, ethical and sustainable manner.
Beanstalk achieves this through two arms of its organisation: Beanstalk Advisory, its Indo-Pacific consulting business that partners with agribusiness, governments, and donors to tackle their most pressing challenges in the agriculture value chain; and Beanstalk Ventures, its venture building arm focused on venture creation and building, investing and scaling impact-focused solutions shaping our future food system.
About the Beanstalk Drought Venture Studio:
Australia is one of the driest continents on earth, yet we have a vibrant agricultural sector that constantly adapts to climate change challenges - necessity has made us amazing innovators. This resourcefulness makes Australia the natural home for our Drought Venture Studio.
This world first partnership between the Commonwealth - through its Future Drought Fund - and Beanstalk AgTech will identify problems from the ground up and develop and fund solutions through practical commercialisation. Beanstalk will work with the eight Drought Innovation Hubs across Australia and industry to enable the creation of new startups and technological innovation in response to drought.
The program’s mission is to support nearly 100 commercial solutions, and to back 8 high growth ventures over the next 2 years, positioning Australia as a global leader on drought and climate solutions to agricultural resilience.
About the Role:
We are hiring a Lead Venture Architect to join the Beanstalk Ventures team on a fixed term contract, estimated to start in June 2024. You will work with the newly appointed Head of Ventures as 2IC to establish a clear strategy for delivering commercialisation support to innovators across the Drought Venture Studio.
In this role, you will support the Head of Ventures in managing the Drought Venture Studio. Over the course of 1.5 years, there will be 8 shortlisted entrepreneurs who will require bespoke venture support. You will work closely with these innovators with the support of select Venture Builders to ensure the success and commercialisation of these 8 opportunities.
As Lead Venture Architect, you will get your boots and strategic brain dirty, jumping into the trenches to support the most promising drought resilience innovation technology solutions that we identify. You will work directly with the venture founder to place a dedicated CXO and be responsible for building high performing startup teams through coaching, mentoring and supporting the leadership team.
You will also deploy your startup skills and knowledge across a range of impact-focused opportunities. In this role, you will:
- Be the Head of Venture’s 2IC; responsible for managing the CXOs that are appointed into the ventures participating in the Venture Studio and supporting the execution of commercialisation plans for each venture
- Enable business model development in each Venture; including guiding the vision, strategy, value proposition, partnerships and goals of each venture
- Leverage your understanding of lean startup methodology, human-centred design, design thinking or similar to enable improved business and MVP development
- Coach and mentor the leadership of each Venture, including identification and placement of new CXOs into existing ventures
- Implement a robust system for evaluating the progress of Ventures within the Venture Studio; establish KPIs to measure the success and impact of each venture, facilitating data-driven decision-making
- Collaborate with the Venture Builders placed at each Hub to support commercial outcomes
- Outline key team roles and responsibilities within the Venture Studio and Ventures participating; this may require you to step in as a temporary CXO for some of the ventures
- Support Ventures to seek funding through VC investment, grants, corporate collaborations etc including introductions, pitch training and financial modelling
- Demonstrate a commitment to continuous learning by staying updated on the latest advancements in startup methodologies, entrepreneurship, and industry-specific technologies
Still with us here? You are probably one of us. Research out there suggests that women and underrepresented people are less likely to apply for a role despite being perfectly qualified. We would love for you to introduce yourself – as a business with global ambitions and working deeply amongst remote communities, diversity in people, experiences and perspectives brings us closer to our mission of building a regional food system that serves the communities we work across. We're looking for people of all genders, races, ethnicities, orientations, abilities, and disabilities to join us.
Beanstalk highly encourages Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people to apply, and are seeking applicants who have demonstrated knowledge and understanding of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander culture and social ways of life.
About You:
- 6+ years of experience across commercialisation, strategy, business planning, deal structuring, product management, design thinking, and innovation methodology
- Qualification in agile, lean, six sigma etc a plus
- Quantitative and financial modelling experience, including experience developing funding models
- Experience in product prototyping and testing
- Well-versed in the latest tools and methodologies for tackling startup and entrepreneurial problems e.g. customer service, product development, business needs
- Experience in coaching or mentoring within the startup environment
- Knowledge of lean startup methodology, human-centred design, design thinking or similar
- You may have founded and scaled your own startup and have the battle scars and learnings to prove it!
Location:
- Based in Australia
- Adhoc travel across the program workshops, showcases and events
