General Manager - Cambridge, MA

CIC

$225K — $275K *
Business Services
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 5-7 years of leadership experience in community-driven or ecosystem-oriented organizations
  • Deep relationships within the Boston-Cambridge and Providence innovation ecosystem
  • Strong commercial instincts with ability to link community efforts to business outcomes
  • Fluency in innovation language, especially around startups and venture capital
  • Collaborative leadership style, accentuating a ONE CIC vision
  • Proven track record of team development and fostering positive culture within organizations

Responsibilities

  • Lead and manage three campuses, ensuring a healthy member experience and strong financial performance
  • Develop and mentor campus directors and their teams to achieve operational success
  • Cultivate active relationships with community leaders and stakeholders in innovation
  • Drive and implement a high-impact programming strategy for members
  • Collaborate with Catalyst units to integrate community resources and services
  • Generate occupancy and revenue growth through partnerships and strategic deals
  • Contribute to pricing and service design strategy in the leadership team

Benefits

  • 100% company-paid premium healthcare and dental benefits
  • 100% company-paid long- and short-term disability and life insurance
  • 401k plan eligibility starting at age 21
  • 23 days of PTO annually, increasing with tenure, plus thirteen paid holidays
  • Dog-friendly workplace at designated locations
Full Job Description
We are seeking a General Manager for our New England campuses. If you are a community leader who has built and maintains strong relationships throughout the innovation community, has strong operational and sales experience appropriate to a role managing a team of approximately 50 people, and a deep belief that innovation has the power to make our world a better place, we9d like to talk to you.

YOUR DAY-TO-DAY WORK

Cambridge and Boston are the original home of the CIC model and among the most important innovation ecosystems in the world. The New England GM leads three campuses with a mandate that goes beyond occupancy and operations - to make CIC the irreplaceable home for innovators in this region, with the full power of the CIC platform visible, accessible, and driving member success.

This is a role for a senior leader already deeply embedded in the Boston-Cambridge and Providence innovation community - someone who knows the players, is trusted by the ecosystem, and understands that the most important work happens before a member ever signs a lease. Innovation programming and community building are not add-ons here, they are the job. The GM sets the vision and holds the relationships while the Directors execute the operations.

YOUR ONGOING WORK

Campus Leadership & Operations
  • Accountable for campus health, member experience, team performance, and financial results across Cambridge, Boston, and Providence - while empowering Director-level leaders to own day-to-day operations
  • Lead and develop campus teams, including the Directors of Events, Sales, and Operations for NE
  • Oversee occupancy, revenue, and operational targets in partnership with CIC9s global operations function
  • Model CIC9s Campus Service Philosophy - Radical Welcome, Frictionless Excellence, and Intentional Connection - at every level of the team

Ecosystem Engagement & Community Building
  • Maintain an active, visible presence in the Boston-Cambridge and Providence ecosystems - attending, convening, and building relationships continuously
  • Develop and sustain anchor relationships with key institutions, investors, corporates, and community organizations
  • Drive a differentiated programming strategy - curated, high-value experiences that deepen community and generate pipeline across all CIC business segments
  • Ensure Venture Café Cambridge is the most visible weekly proof point of CIC NE9s community identity and pipeline generation

Business Development (Campus-Catalyst Integration)
  • Collaborate with Catalyst Business Unit leaders to develop joint programming - including Venture Clienting, Innovation Consulting, and International Soft Landing programs
  • Champion the ONE CIC model across campus staffing, ensuring teams can speak fluently to what Catalyst offers
  • Create clear pathways between campus members who would benefit from Catalyst services and Catalyst clients who belong in the campus community
  • Build shared playbooks with the Head of Northeast Campuses and fellow GMs to drive US campus integration
  • Bring NE market intelligence into CIC9s ongoing Campus-Catalyst strategic planning

Commercial Growth
  • Partner with the Director of Sales, NE to drive occupancy, pipeline, and revenue across all three campuses
  • Leverage ecosystem relationships to generate referrals, anchor deals, and strategic partnerships
  • Identify opportunities to expand CIC9s footprint and relevance in the NE market
  • Contribute to pricing strategy, product evolution, and service design as a senior voice in the Campuses and Labs leadership team

Our New England Campus Scope

CIC Cambridge (One Broadway and 245 Main St.) - CIC9s flagship US campus and our largest in the world, with deep ties to MIT, Harvard, and the life science and tech clusters along the Kendall corridor. Home to a sophisticated, high-engagement member environment where many companies have decade-long relationships with CIC, and a natural anchor for global soft-landing programs and cross-border innovation partnerships.

CIC Boston (50 Milk St.) - An urban campus with its own distinct community, programming identity, and a complementary mix of innovators and growth-stage companies, with strong opportunity to deepen connectivity across the broader Boston ecosystem and between our NE communities.

CIC Providence (225 Dyer St.) - Anchor of Providence9s 195 District, home to 250+ companies across offshore wind, life science, and biotech clusters, with direct access to talent from Brown, RISD, URI, and Johnson & Wales. A highly occupied, mature campus with flexible 30-day terms, 25+ conference rooms, a LEED-certified Class A building, and District Hall event space for 200+ attendees.

In addition, across all three locations, there is an opportunity to leverage and build on our strong links with New England9s business and innovation leadership.

ABOUT YOU

You are a seasoned ecosystem leader who is already deep in the fabric of the Boston-Cambridge and Providence innovation community - not someone who plans to build that network, but someone who is already living in it. You are energized by the intersection of community and commerce, and you understand instinctively that the best business development happens through genuine relationships, not sales cycles. You are as comfortable on a panel at a Venture Café event as you are in a strategic planning session, and you move between those worlds without missing a beat.

More specifically, as our ideal candidate, you are:
  • A natural connector and ecosystem citizen - you know the players, you9re trusted by the community, and your relationships are real
  • A leader of leaders who builds toward independence, not dependency - you elevate the people around you and invest in their growth as deliberately as you invest in your own
  • Genuinely mission-driven about innovation - you believe that bringing the right people together in the right environment creates outsized impact
  • Outward-facing by nature - you find energy in being visible, relational, and externally active, and you9d find it stifling to spend your days managing a building rather than building a community

YOU HAVE
  • Deep, existing relationships in the Boston-Cambridge and Providence innovation ecosystem - this is non-negotiable; we are not hiring someone to build this network from scratch
  • Demonstrated experience leading community-driven or ecosystem-oriented organizations - campus, incubator, accelerator, innovation hub, or similar
  • Strong commercial instincts and the ability to connect community investment to business outcomes
  • Fluency in the language and dynamics of innovation - startups, venture, life science, deep tech - enough to be taken seriously by the people building in this ecosystem
  • A collaborative leadership style that works across organizational lines - comfortable with Catalyst peers and aligned to a ONE CIC vision
  • A track record of developing teams and driving culture, not just managing operations

The strongest candidates will also bring:
  • Prior experience at a CIC-adjacent organization - innovation hubs, life science campus, university tech transfer, venture-backed accelerator
  • Established relationships with key ecosystem institutions including LabCentral, MassRobotics, Greentown Labs, MIT, Harvard, MassBio, or similar
  • A track record of designing programming that simultaneously builds community and generates business pipeline
  • Familiarity with CIC9s Catalyst business lines and genuine enthusiasm for the integrated model

OUR OFFER
  • Compensation of $225,000-$275,000, commensurate with experience
  • 100% company-paid premium healthcare and dental benefits.
  • 100% company-paid long- and short-term disability, and life insurance.
  • 401k (must be 21+).
  • 23 days of PTO accrued annually (more with seniority), plus thirteen paid holidays.

Please note: 245 Main Street, Cambridge is a dog-friendly building. Approved staff and members may bring dogs to the office. Candidates with dog allergies or sensitivities are encouraged to keep this in mind when applying.

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