Innovation Hub Program Navigator

Portland State University; Portland (OR); On-site; USD 66,000 - 82,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare benefits

Tuition reduction for employees

Job summary

Portland State University hosts the Metro Region Innovation Hub, seeking Navigators to connect entrepreneurs with regional resources. Navigators will grow knowledge of local providers, assess client needs, and guide referrals to accelerate growth across diverse communities.

They will lead cross‑functional teams to map resources and drive program outcomes, while staying aligned with AAUP guidelines. The role emphasizes equity, inclusivity, and strong organizational skills, with 40 hours per week

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field and 4+ years of professional experience, or Master’s degree with 2+ years in the functional area.
• Preference for familiarity with the Portland metro entrepreneurial ecosystem.
• Excellent cross-cultural communication competence.

Responsibilities

• Acquire and maintain relationships with regional ecosystem resources and providers.
• Meet and assess the needs of individuals and small companies in the region.
• Refer or case‑manage entrepreneurs to regional resources and providers.
• Follow up engagements to map what is most effective.
• Drive resource deployment in Hub programs and set milestones with leadership.

Skills

Coaching entrepreneurs

Customer service

Organizational skills

Cross-cultural communication

Diversity and inclusion

Education

Bachelor’s degree in a related field

Master’s degree with 2+ years in functional area

Job description

Position Announcement

Proposed Start Date

Proposed Start Date 12/01/2026

Classification Title

Classification Title Field, Research, and Outreach Services

Rank

Rank N - No Rank

Working Title

Working Title Innovation Hub Program Navigator

Department

Position Number

Position Number D93501

Representation

Representation AU - AAUP

Renewable

Renewable Renewable

End date, if applicable

End date, if applicable 06/30/2027

Position FTE

Position FTE Variable between .5 and 1.0 FTE, starting at 1.0 FTE

Tenure Status F - Fixed Term

Position Summary

Brief Description of PSU/School/Dept

Portland State University is Oregon’s most affordable public research university, located in the heart of one of America’s most dynamic cities. Our mission to “let knowledge serve the city” reflects our dedication to turning ideas into action — in Portland and around the world. The city is our campus, giving students unmatched access to career connections, a vibrant cultural scene and hands‑on learning experiences with hundreds of community partners.

More than 20,000 students from all backgrounds bring diverse perspectives to our classrooms and campus life, from the tree‑lined Park Blocks to the bustling Urban Plaza and state‑of‑the‑art science labs. We are proud of our world‑class faculty, groundbreaking research and international reputation for excellence in sustainability, community engagement and innovation.

Position Summary

Portland State University facilitates and hosts the Metro Region Innovation Hub (the Hub), which launched in Summer 2024. Funded by Business Oregon and other community partners, the Hub serves the tri‑county Metro area and provides regional entrepreneurs from all sectors, backgrounds, and business stages with accessible paths to all existing regional resources in networking, coaching, education, and capital access in order to foster and grow innovation‑based businesses. An invisible driver of success for many entrepreneurial ecosystems is local connectors who know what resources are available and the criteria for accessing them, and who regularly talk to entrepreneurs and provide intros to access those resources. For many communities, however, there are too few of those people, disparities in who can access those people (e.g. in terms of race and gender), and the labor for people who take on those roles is often informal and uncompensated. The Hub directly invests in that driver with a closely coordinated team of visible and knowledgeable Navigators that any entrepreneur can easily and equitably access.

The Hub Navigators will fill this role for the Hub. Navigators will, at a high level, acquire and maintain relationships with and knowledge of regional ecosystem resources and providers, meet and assess the needs of individuals and small companies in the region, refer or case‑manage those entrepreneurs to regional resources and providers, and follow up with these engagements to ensure and “map” out what is most effective. They will also drive resource deployment in other Hub programs by uncovering emergent needs among entrepreneurs in the region.

Navigators should be familiar with the Hub’s service priorities for both innovation‑based, traded sector businesses and for equity and accessibility for communities who may not have known about or taken advantage of regional resources. Navigators should have excellent cross‑cultural communication competence.

Navigators serve as leaders and experts for the Hub programs, managing unique and challenging issues that have significant impact on the Hub and the regional entrepreneurial ecosystem. They may lead other employees and students in executing these programs. Their work will be guided by overall objectives but may have minimal day‑to‑day supervision, and they will need to make decisions with a high level of professional judgment based on loose guidelines. Keeping a current inventory of ecosystem resources and guiding people and small companies through them requires complex and specialized knowledge and execution, and each task and engagement may be diverse and unpredictable. The ability to flexibly and creatively adapt technical know‑how to novel situations is a must. They will help set Hub objectives and related milestones in collaboration with the Hub director and oversight board. Successful navigators will be highly organized and milestone‑driven, but also natural connectors and able to easily translate between “entrepreneurship”, “business”, and “normal” ways of addressing innovative and business ideas.

In accordance with the AAUP collective bargaining agreement this position is open only to current PSU AAUP academic professionals. Article 17 Section 11 refers.

• Bachelor’s degree in a related field of study and 4 or more years of professional experience, or
• Master’s degree with 2+ years within functional area, or equivalent experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Deep experience within the metro region entrepreneurial ecosystem.
• Experience with coaching entrepreneurs and/or small companies.
• Experience in high volume customer service roles.
• Demonstrated organizational skills.
• Creates an environment that acknowledges, encourages and celebrates differences.
• Functions and communicates effectively and respectfully within the context of varying beliefs, behaviors, orientations, identities and cultural backgrounds.
• Seeks opportunities to gain experience working and collaborating in diverse, multicultural, and inclusive settings with a willingness to change for continual improvement
• Adheres to all PSU’s policies including the policies on Prohibited Discrimination & Harassment and the Professional Standards of Conduct.

Contributes to a culture of environmental stewardship, practices resource conservation, and actively works toward achieving long‑term sustainability goals.

Work Days/Hours

Work Days/Hours Usually Monday to Friday, 40 hours per week at 1.0 FTE, schedule to be determined. Occasional evening and weekend hours.

Total Compensation Range & Benefits Statement

Salary is dependent on several factors, and new employees will typically start around the Q1 level to allow for later growth within the salary band. PSU has a structured process for determining starting compensation, taking into account years of related experience, applicable skills, knowledge and abilities, market parity, and internal equity.

The starting annual salary for this position will be between $65,736 and $82,416, but may be negotiated above this range dependent upon the factors above, the budget of the hiring department, and approval from HR.

An excellent benefits package includes 95% premium paid healthcare; a generous retirement and vacation package; and reduced tuition rates for employee, spouse or dependent at any of the Oregon University System schools.

Please visit our total compensation calculator to see the full value of our benefits package.

In accordance with the AAUP collective bargaining agreement this position is open only to current PSU AAUP academic professionals. Article 17 Section 11 refers.

#internal

This position may be renewed, contingent upon grant funding

Equal Opportunity Employer/Veterans/Disabled