Ventures Associate (Supply Chain)

TL;DR

Ventures Associate (Supply Chain): Supporting startup sourcing, market intelligence, and innovation strategy in industrial technology with an accent on problem decomposition and market landscaping. Focus on translating corporate needs into structured problem statements and building evaluation frameworks for startup selection.

Location: Hybrid (Must be based in Bentonville, Arkansas; 4 days per week in-office attendance required)

Company

Global innovation platform that connects startups, corporations, and investors to accelerate technology adoption.

What you will do

• Translate broad corporate needs into structured problem statements by breaking workflows into jobs-to-be-done and identifying bottlenecks.
• Conduct stakeholder discovery through interviews with enterprise operators and startup teams to synthesize insights.
• Develop evaluation frameworks to assess startups across technical maturity, ROI potential, and strategic fit.
• Produce high-quality deliverables including startup briefs, market landscapes, and executive recommendation memos.
• Create scoring models and ranking methodologies to support startup shortlisting and internal prioritization.
• Coordinate workstreams across startups, corporate partners, and internal teams to ensure timely delivery.

Requirements

• 1–3 years of experience in management consulting, corporate innovation, venture capital, or product strategy.
• Strong ability to synthesize ambiguous corporate challenges into structured analytical frameworks.
• Proficiency in Excel or Google Sheets for structured data analysis and business case modeling.
• Ability to quickly learn and explain technical concepts related to AI and robotics to non-technical audiences.
• Must be based in or able to work from Bentonville, Arkansas (4 days a week onsite).
• Engineering degree (Industrial, Mechanical, Electrical, CS, or related) is preferred.

Nice to have

• Exposure to industrial technology, supply chain, robotics, manufacturing, or automation.
• Familiarity with AI-enabled research tools and workflow automation.

Culture & Benefits

• High-ownership and entrepreneurial environment.
• Culture of relentless execution and strong in-person collaboration.
• Opportunity to work at the intersection of global corporate strategy and startup innovation.