Defense Innovation OnRamp: Ecosystem Engagement Lead

NCBioImpact; Durham (NC); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

RTI International in North Carolina seeks an Ecosystem Engagement Lead for the DIU OnRamp Hub to drive outreach, engagement, and pipeline development across startups, universities, VC firms, and industry partners.

You will coordinate regional events, maintain ecosystem intelligence, and translate DoW priorities into actionable scouting and collaboration activities, with travel within state.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement a comprehensive outreach and engagement strategy aligned with DIU priorities, DoW mission needs, and North Carolina's regional innovation strengths.
• Build and sustain trusted relationships with startups, established technology companies, venture capital firms, universities, research institutions, nonprofit organizations, accelerators, incubators, economic development organizations, industry associations, and DoW mission partners.
• Serve as an accessible point of entry for nontraditional and dual-use companies seeking DoW opportunities.
• Identify, engage, cultivate, and maintain a qualified pipeline of companies, technologies, experts, and ecosystem partners relevant to current and emerging mission priorities.
• Plan and support facilitated engagements, workshops, mission-informed sessions, and targeted forums designed to lower barriers to entry, generate pipeline, and strengthen collaboration across commercial and mission stakeholders.
• Coordinate participant identification, outreach, and follow-up for approximately one to two program events per quarter.
• Capture event insights, participants, opportunities, and pipeline inputs and ensure their incorporation into approved program systems and knowledge repositories.
• Represent the DIU OnRamp at regional meetings, conferences, ecosystem events, and partner engagements, including in-state travel to assess capabilities and strengthen stakeholder connections.
• Maintain continuous awareness of regional and national commercial and dual-use technology landscapes relevant to DoW priorities.
• Identify and catalog companies, technologies, capabilities, and emerging trends and contribute to a continuously updated, structured, and searchable ecosystem repository.
• Engage mission partners to understand defined needs, operational problem sets, constraints, and success criteria for targeted scouting activities.
• Design and conduct time-bound technology scouting efforts that leverage regional intelligence, external networks, research institutions, accelerators, and other sourcing channels.
• Manage the technical review process, coordinating subject-matter experts to screen and prioritize technologies against mission-area requirements.
• Develop curated lists and scouting reports that document relevant companies and technologies, supporting data, screening criteria, rationale, and outcomes.
• Translate commercial capabilities into mission-relevant applications and identify promising candidates for readiness assessment, validation, and transition support.
• Maintain accurate, point-of-occurrence data on stakeholder engagement, companies, technologies, referrals, scouting activities, and pipeline progression using systems designated by the national program in coordination with the Data Manager.
• Provide timely inputs for weekly SITREPS, monthly programmatic reporting, ecosystem landscape updates, event summaries, and performance reporting.
• Track engagement effectiveness, including companies incorporated into the pipeline and their progression into subsequent DIU OnRamp Hub services.
• Coordinate with the Program Manager to ensure outreach, events, scouting activities, and deliverables are aligned with work plans, reporting requirements, and operational priorities.
• Provide communications content and requirements to the Marketing Professional and support required review and approval processes.
• Share lessons learned and ecosystem insights with DIU and the national DIU OnRamp Hub network to support refinement of standardized services, playbooks, and standard operating procedures.
• Support emerging DIU priorities, special initiatives, mission-critical engagements, and cross-Hub activities.
• Perform other outreach, scouting, partnership development

Job description

RTI International in North Carolina seeks an Ecosystem Engagement Lead for the DIU OnRamp Hub to drive outreach, engagement, and pipeline development across startups, universities, VC firms, and industry partners.

You will coordinate regional events, maintain ecosystem intelligence, and translate DoW priorities into actionable scouting and collaboration activities, with travel within state.