"UCE Innovation Lead"

Job Description:

UC Centre for Entrepreneurship
Te Kura Umanga | UC Business School
Located in Ōtautahi | Christchurch, Aotearoa | New Zealand

• Fixed-Term position (ending 18/12/26)
• Full-time (37.5 hours per week) or as agreed

Kia hiwa rā, kia hiwa rā!
He hiahia, he pūkenga nōu ki te mahi a te UCE Innovation Lead? Nāia te pōwhiri nā Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha kia tono mai i te tūranga nei.

Āu Mahi | What You Will Do

The UC Centre for Entrepreneurship (UCE) is seeking an experienced and passionate Innovation Lead to support the delivery of impactful entrepreneurship programmes while the current incumbent is on maternity leave.

In this role, you will contribute to the design and delivery of entrepreneurship and innovation initiatives that help students and emerging founders develop entrepreneurial capability and viable ventures. You will support founders through ideation, acceleration and incubation stages, provide mentoring and guidance on venture development and commercialisation pathways, and build strong relationships with entrepreneurs, investors and industry partners. The role also works collaboratively with academic staff across the University to practically integrate entrepreneurship into the student experience, and will support the ongoing development, evaluation and promotion of UCE programmes and initiatives.

Mōu | Who You Are

To be successful in this role you will have:

• Experience working in an entrepreneurial, innovation, or venture development environment, ideally supporting the commercialisation of ideas or products.
• Proven experience designing, delivering, or supporting innovation, startup, or business development programmes.
• Experience mentoring or coaching founders, entrepreneurs, or early-stage ventures.
• Strong relationship-building skills with the ability to connect students, academics, entrepreneurs and industry partners.
• Demonstrated project management capability with the ability to coordinate programmes, initiatives and multiple stakeholders.
• Excellent communication skills and confidence engaging with diverse audiences across business, academia and the community.
• An understanding of, or connections within, the innovation and startup ecosystem is advantageous.

You are an innovative thinker with a strong understanding of entrepreneurship and venture development, and you enjoy working with people to turn ideas into action. You bring a collaborative approach, the ability to build relationships, and a passion for building entrepreneurial capability in others.

Mahi Ngātahi | Who You Will Work With

UCE works at the heart of the Canterbury / Witaha innovation ecosystem and across all faculties at UC, helping students, founders and innovators turn ideas into sustainable ventures that create meaningful social, cultural, environmental and commercial impact. The UCE team connects students with mentors, investors and industry partners.

Ngā Painga o UC | Why UC

At UC, being part of our team means more than just a job. We are committed to supporting our kaimahi | staff’s career and wellbeing with benefits designed to help our kaimahi grow and feel connected, supported and valued.

We offer a range of benefits, for more information, please visit us: https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/about-uc/work-at-uc/benefits-working-uc. (For more information about Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha | University of Canterbury, please visit https://www.canterbury.ac.nz/)

The closing date for this position is: 7 April 2026 (midnight, NZ time)
*Please note, applications will be reviewed as they are received*.

Pēhea te tono mai | How You Apply

Applications for this position must be submitted via our careers website and should include a cover letter and resume.

Please note, we do not accept applications by email, however we are happy to answer your queries in relation to the application process, please forward these to WorkatUC@canterbury.ac.nz

You must have Aotearoa New Zealand or Australian citizenship/permanent residency or hold a valid NZ work visa (and are currently residing in NZ), to be considered for this role.

Job Details

Reference #	31532
Posted on	19 Mar 2026
Closes on	07 Apr 2026 23:55
Location(s)	Christchurch
Expertise	Consulting & Strategy, Education & Training
Job level(s)	Experienced
Work type(s)	Fixed term full-time