Who We Are:
Silicon Foundry, a Kearney company, is an innovation advisory firm that catalyzes opportunities and accelerates change to push the frontier of what’s possible.
We help our Members navigate new technologies and market shifts, discover and engage with key emerging leaders, and unlock high-impact customer, partnership, investment, co-creation, and acquisition opportunities. Our Members represent a diverse spectrum of corporations from across the globe, such as BP Innovation, NatWest, UPS, SK Innovation, Honda Innovations, the State of Michigan, and Southwest Airlines, and many more. Learn more at www.sifoundry.com.
About Kearney:
Kearney is a leading global management consulting firm. For nearly 100 years, we have been a trusted advisor to C-suites, government bodies, and nonprofit organizations. Our people make us who we are. Driven to be the difference between a big idea and making it happen, we help our clients break through. To learn more about Kearney, please visit www.kearney.com.
What We’re Looking For:
We are looking for our next Associate to join our team as we continue to scale and expand the scope of our business. Associates work directly with a Partner and/or Principal and are involved across all areas of member servicing, including corporate strategy and innovation, diligence and qualifying startups, developing points-of-view/analyses for senior-level decision makers, and supporting new business development efforts. We are looking for a curious, opinionated, and proactive individual who has their finger on the pulse of the trends and technologies that are disrupting industries and the status quo; someone that is passionate about building authentic and lasting relationships, connecting the dots between startups and corporates; and someone who can leverage the significant flexibility, autonomy, and responsibility of a startup environment to drive understanding and get things done. Ideal candidates for this role feel equally comfortable speaking with early-stage startups, venture capitalists, and corporate C-Suite executives alike, oftentimes from one meeting to the next.
Even if you do not meet all the requirements listed below, we still encourage you to apply for this position. While we strive to be thorough with our prerequisites, not everything about you as a candidate can be condensed into a list of bullet points.
Who You Are:
- You are excited to work closely with senior management - to quickly and continuously deliver impact by rolling up your sleeves to tackle a wide range of projects
- You have the ability to quickly grasp emerging technologies, product trends, cultural shifts, changing market dynamics, and understand how they can evolve, create opportunities, and shape the future
- You are able to form thoughtful and considered perspectives on a breadth and depth of topics, supported by both objective evidence and strategic conviction
- You have strong verbal and written communication and organization skills, and have considerable experience interacting with senior stakeholders
- You are a visual storyteller - you can put together decks and proposals that respond to our prospects’ needs
- You are experienced in leveraging AI tools and technologies (e.g., GenAI tools, data analysis platforms, AI-driven research tools) to accelerate research, improve deliverables, and solve complex problems creatively. You are curious and proactive in exploring how AI can unlock value in business and innovation contexts.
- You can work with minimal supervision and direction and proactively take ownership of tasks
- You want to work at a startup! And with that, you’re adaptable and eager to learn new skills. You love to wear multiple hats and manage several live projects simultaneously at any given point in time.
- You are empathetic, self-aware, and able to build strong relationships based on trust with both internal and external stakeholders
What You’ll Do:
Strategy & Innovation
- Strategy : Support our Member work by being a key voice in shaping how they think about business, cultural, and technology shifts impacting their core business and competitive advantage both in the near-term and long-term
- Innovation : Audit current business processes and diagnose key challenges to support efforts to develop net new products and services, create new business models, and/or highlight buy/partner opportunities with existing startups/technologies
- Technology Roadmaps : Support the development of technology roadmaps that highlight disruptive trends, provide a clear position on their near- to mid-term impacts, and outline clearly defined strategic approaches (e.g. investments, acquisitions, partnerships)
- Innovation Roadmaps : Support the development of innovation roadmaps that include opportunity definition, segmentation and market sizing, long-term hypothesis and scenario mapping, validation research, and business model development
Research & Analysis
- Research : Perform in-depth quantitative and qualitative research across trends, technologies, industries, corporations, and startups in order to extract key takeaways and organize them into actionable opportunities.
- Analysis: Develop category assessment, competitive analysis, strategic benchmarking, and projections of future growth
- Narrative Development : Organize insights and analysis on technology, emerging models, and trends into a compelling narrative that shapes/influences decisions (ability to understand and develop insights from earnings and financial reports a plus)
(Startup) Ecosystem Development
- Startup Ecosystem Development : Identify startups with the most compelling teams, technology, business models, and traction – creating target lists, determining relevant recommendations, and making direct connections between startups and Members
- Relationship Building : Connect and build relationships with various stakeholders across the supply side – from founders, technologists, academics, NGOs to corporations
Experiences: Help orchestrate private events and executive briefings - crafting agendas and owning all aspects of these day-long immersive experiences for visiting C-Suite executives.
Thought Leadership : Support the thought leadership work we do for C-Suite executives at the center of shaping the public conversation around the impact of consumer and cultural shifts, trends, and technologies that are impacting and disrupting global businesses
Business Development : Support Partners with business development strategy, prospecting, competitive research, industry trends, and the development of new business materials, including new business presentations, proposals, scope of work documents, and case studies
Desired Skills:
- 3-5+ years of proven performance in business or corporate development, venture capital, investment banking, or strategy consulting-type roles
- Experience working on or advising AI projects (e.g., piloting AI solutions, assessing AI startups, or developing AI strategies) is a plus.
- Early to mid-stage startup experience a plus.
- Fluency with AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Glean etc.) and a track record of integrating AI-driven approaches into research, strategy, or innovation work.
- Exceedingly positive attitude and willingness to roll up sleeves in a startup environment
- Exceptional drive and self-starter with integrity, authenticity, and a healthy dose of humility
- Strategic aptitude, maturity, and deep curiosity essential
- Fundamental passion for and broad knowledge of the technology industry
- High degree of ownership of work product, exceptional attention to detail
- Service-first mentality - completes requests promptly, completely and with pride of ownership
Requirements:
- Role is for applicants currently in or willing to relocate (without assistance) to the San Francisco Bay Area. Note that a relocation budget is not available
- Role is based at our Hub in San Francisco and most weeks will be 3-4 days on-site
- Fully vaccinated against COVID-19 prior to your employment start date
- Legally authorized to work in the United States (sponsorship for an employment visa is not available)
Why should you be interested?
- Unique individual role to collaborate with our senior leader(s) and core platform that spans exposure to venture capital, corporate development, business development, innovation, and strategic advisory
- Access to and relationship building with C-level executives from forward-thinking global corporates, top startup founders, and their venture investors
- Daily insight and exposure to a wide variety of sectors, including automotive, beauty, financial services, retail, industrial, etc
- Unique opportunity to build an early-stage start-up consultancy under the umbrella of a 100 year old top-tier consulting firm
- High degree of flexibility in managing personal time and schedule
Compensation & benefits:
- Benefits for your financial wellness
- Salary Range: $105,000 to $125,000
- Discretionary Bonus
- Pre-tax FSA and commuter benefits
- Mobile Communications Reimbursement Program for up to $150 per month for eligible expenses.
- 401(k) match - we contribute the equivalent of 3% of employee compensation (including bonuses) into a 401(k) plan, even if employee contributes nothing
- Benefits for your physical wellness
- Medical, dental and vision coverage with low monthly contribution for you and your dependents
- $100 monthly wellness stipend
- Benefits for your mental wellness
- Unlimited PTO Policy
- An annual 1 week company break between Christmas and New Year
- Hybrid-Office Model (for those residing in the San Francisco Bay Area)
- Education stipend of up to $5,000 per year per employee tuition or training requests of up to $5,000 per year per employee.
- Benefits for the Wellness of parents
- 12 weeks paid full parental leave
- Sparrow and Maven Clinic access (via Blue Cross Blue Shields Insurance)
