General Manager - Cambridge, MA

Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, CIC is the world’s leading operator of innovation hubs. 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, we’d 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 CIC's global operations function

Model CIC's 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 NE's 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 fellow GMs to drive US campus integration

Bring NE market intelligence into CIC's ongoing Campus–Catalyst strategic planning

Commercial Growth

Partner with the Director of Sales, NE to drive occupancy, pipeline, and revenue across all three campuses

Partner closely with Catalyst Advisory and Programming to build a programming calendar that is ecosystem-defining, not just ecosystem-adjacent

Leverage ecosystem relationships to generate referrals, anchor deals, and strategic partnerships

Identify opportunities to expand CIC's 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.) — CIC's 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 Providence's 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 England's 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, you're 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 you'd find it stifling to spend your days managing a building rather than building a community

YOU HAVE

Deeply embedded, active relationships across the Boston-Cambridge innovation ecosystem, this is the single most critical qualification for this role. We are not hiring someone who will spend their first year building a network; this person must be known, trusted, and operating inside this ecosystem on day one

Relationships in the Providence ecosystem are a strong plus and will be a meaningful asset in this role

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 CIC's Catalyst business lines and genuine enthusiasm for the integrated model

OUR OFFER

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