Director (San Francisco)

About the role

Silicon Foundry, a Kearney company, is seeking a Director to join our Senior Leadership Group. This role is for applicants currently in or willing to relocate to the San Francisco Bay Area.

Role is based at our Hub in San Francisco and most weeks will be 3-4 days on-site, if not traveling or at meetings across the Silicon Valley area.

Note that a relocation budget is not available. Legally authorized to work in the United States (sponsorship for an employment visa is not available).

Responsibilities

• Drive business development efforts to develop new prospect relationships and generate new Member engagements.
• Support and lead sourcing and origination of bus dev opportunities, leveraging personal networks and market insights, while also nurturing relationships with Kearney Partners and stakeholders to surface and pursue potential prospects.
• Build trusted relationships with senior corporate executives, understanding their innovation and growth priorities, and mapping them to SiF’s service offerings.
• Deliver pitches and develop tailored proposals that address prospective Members’ needs, while in the pursuit of securing new business.
• Serve as the senior point of contact for Members, managing relationships at C-suite and executive levels.
• Oversee the design and execution of Member annual or project engagements, ensuring week-to-week the delivery of high-quality outputs.
• Balance strategic oversight with a hands-on approach, stepping in directly where needed to drive outcomes and model excellence.
• Develop and publish thought leadership on venture trends, emerging technologies, and corporate innovation strategy and best practices, etc.
• Represent the firm at key industry events, on panels, and across conferences to raise our visibility and credibility to our target audiences and constituents.
• Build and maintain key relationships with select VCs, startups, corporates, accelerators, and ecosystem enablers.
• Curate and activate strategic partnerships that strengthen the firm’s pipeline and service offering.
• Leverage networks to source high-quality startups and innovation opportunities relevant to Member projects.
• Mentor and coach junior team members, driving professional growth and knowledge sharing.
• Enhance delivery methodologies, tools, and frameworks to increase efficiency and impact.

Requirements

• Minimum of 7 years of experience in consulting, venture capital, corporate innovation, or related fields.
• Demonstrated track record in prospecting and selling to enterprise clients (ideally for professional services companies).
• Comfortable navigating the corporate hallways, while in parallel being highly embedded in the startup, venture capital, and influencer communities.
• 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.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and presentation skills, with presence and credibility at senior levels.
• Proven leadership ability in managing teams, mentoring talent, and driving organizational growth.
• Entrepreneurial mindset with the ability to navigate ambiguity, “see” and build new opportunities.
• Exceedingly positive attitude and willingness to roll up sleeves in a dynamic startup environment.

Desired Skills

• Proven “builder” with a strong track record of winning and delivering Member engagements.
• Equally comfortable in front of senior corporate executive, in the boardroom, and with startups and innovators.
• Strategic thinker with commercial acumen, able to identify opportunities and convert them into mandates.
• Thought leader passionate about shaping the future of ventures, startups, and innovation.
• Connector with a strong network you can draw upon for sourcing opportunities, partnerships, and market insights.
• Empathetic, self-aware, and able to build strong relationships based on trust with both internal and external stakeholders.