Space Startup Ecosystem Manager

Nebex; New York (NY); On-site; USD 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Nebex is building market infrastructure for the global space economy from New York. We are seeking a Space Startup Ecosystem Manager to cultivate relationships with venture capital firms and their portfolio companies, driving onboarding onto our platform.

In this role you will work on-site with VC partners, identify ecosystem gaps, and coordinate with Platform Development, Go-to-Market, and Customer Success teams to deliver repeatable onboarding and value for space startups.

Qualifications

• 5-15 years in business development, partnerships, or ecosystem roles.
• Experience working with venture capital firms or their portfolio companies preferred.
• Ability to engage fund partners and translate portfolio relationships into onboarded companies.

Responsibilities

• Identify, develop, and manage global relationships with venture capital firms across the space ecosystem.
• Engage partners, principals, and portfolio company founders directly.
• Work with VC partners to identify space and space-adjacent companies within portfolios.
• Guide portfolio companies through onboarding onto the Nebex platform.
• Ensure offerings are defined, usable, and discoverable within the ecosystem.
• Drive active participation of portfolio companies in platform-driven opportunities.

Skills

Venture capital engagement

Partnership development

Ecosystem development

On-site relationship management

Job description

Nebex creates super powers for space founders. We are building market infrastructure for the global space economy, a platform where space companies can discover new revenue from sovereign contracts worldwide. Nebex transforms a fragmented, slow, complex industry into a coordinated market, enabling structured execution, visibility into capabilities, and efficient delivery across participants.

We are seeking a Space Startup Ecosystem Manager to focus on building the ecosystem for venture backed space startups.

Your primary responsibility will be to identify, engage, and build relationships with venture

capital firms directly, working on-site with them so that their portfolio companies sign up to and

onboard onto the platform. This is a portfolio-activation and referral channel, not a capital

deployment or investor relations function.

You will work directly with fund partners and principals to understand their portfolios, open the

door to the companies within them, and support those companies through onboarding onto the

platform alongside the wider supply-side team.

This role reports to the Chief Operating Officer and works closely with the Product, Go-to-Market, Customer Success, and Operations teams at Nebex.

Key Responsibilities

1. VC Relationship Management & Engagement

• Identify, develop, and manage high-quality global relationships directly with venture capital firms across the space ecosystem: Early stage and growth stage venture capital funds, Corporate venture arms and strategic investors, Family offices and angel networks.
• Engage partners, principals, and portfolio company founders directly.
• Work with VC partners to identify the space and space-adjacent companies within their portfolio
• Guide portfolio companies through onboarding onto the platform
• Ensure their offerings are clearly defined, structurally usable, and discoverable within the ecosystem
• Drive active participation of portfolio companies in platform-driven opportunities

3. Capability Structuring & Resale Enablement

• Work with portfolio companies to define how their components and services can be used within multi-party solutions
• Collaborate with internal teams to ensure offerings can be integrated into larger system-level solutions

4. VC Network Development

• Build depth of coverage across VC firms to support a steady pipeline of portfolio companies onto the platform
• Identify and fill gaps in VC coverage across key ecosystem hubs
• Ensure the platform can move beyond one-off introductions to a repeatable portfolio pipeline

5. Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with the Platform Development team to structure onboarding tools and workflows for incoming portfolio companies
• Work with the Supply-Side team to align incoming companies with real ecosystem needs
• Provide continuous feedback to improve VC engagement, onboarding flow, and platform usability

6. Ecosystem Development & Representation

• Represent Nebex directly with VC firms, spending time on-site with funds and their portfolios
• Build relationships with fund principals, family offices, and strategic investors
• Position the platform as the default onboarding route for portfolio companies in the space ecosystem

What Success Looks Like

• Strong pipeline of VC relationships and onboarded portfolio companies
• Broad coverage across VC firms and ecosystem hubs
• Portfolio companies actively participating in platform-driven opportunities
• Platform recognized as the default onboarding route for VC portfolio companies in the space economy

Qualifications

• 5-15 years in business development, partnerships, or ecosystem roles
• Experience working directly with venture capital firms or their portfolio companies preferred
• Strong ability to engage fund partners and translate portfolio relationships into onboarded companies
• Comfortable operating in a fast-moving, early-stage environment, including on-site work with VC partners
• Experience working across cross-functional teams