Reports to : Founding Managing Director & Chief of Programme & Portfolio
Location : Kuala Lumpur (hybrid)
Type : Full-time
Level : Senior individual (aspiring Managerial role) contributor, with a defined path to team leadership as portfolio scope expands
Role Summary
GUIDE is scaling its portfolio of accelerator, corporate venturing, and advisory programmes across Southeast Asia. This role owns the programme end-to-end delivery: stakeholder relationships, on-the-ground delivery judgment, BD trust-building, and strategic co-creation with the MD. Reporting, tracking, and logistics admin are supported by internal AI tooling and technology systems, not manual assembly. This role is hired for trajectory, not just current scope; portfolio ownership expands as programmes prove out.
Key Responsibilities
1. Stakeholder & Relationship Ownership
- Own the relationship layer with sponsors, partners, portfolio companies, and internal Marcomm, reading unstated concerns and navigating trade-offs that no dashboard surfaces.
- Represent GUIDE credibly in front of clients and stakeholders across the programme lifecycle.
- Maintain and work relevant stakeholder/client/partner data in the CRM system so relationship history and pipeline are tracked, not held in someone's head.
2. Delivery Judgment
- Own real-time delivery decisions during programme touchpoints (bootcamps, workshops, cohort events): resourcing conflicts, on-site problem-solving, vendor and logistics judgment calls that tooling can flag but not resolve.
- Execute the portfolio against the calendar agreed with the MD; adherence is non-negotiable. Tooling monitors and flags slippage; you decide what to do about it.
3. Strategic Programme Development
Work closely with the MD to co-create new strategic programmes with relevant external stakeholders and clients, translating strategic intent into a workable delivery design.
4. Mentor & Advisor Curation
- Identify and bring in mentors/advisors relevant to each programme's specific objectives and goals, matching expertise to what the cohort or initiative actually needs rather than defaulting to a generic bench.
- Own the relationship with these mentors/advisors through the programme cycle, ensuring their involvement stays aligned to programme outcomes.
5. BD & Partnership Judgment
- Participate in BD and partnership conversations, building trust and reading what a partner actually wants versus what they say.
- Bring signals back internally and exercise judgment on which opportunities are worth pursuing given GUIDE's positioning, capacity and capabilities
- Participate and lead the process of building up programme proposals for customized programme
6. Marketing Judgment & Stakeholder Alignment
Own the relationship and positioning trade-offs with internal and stakeholder Marcomm teams; tooling drafts and QA-checks collateral against brand guidelines internally and externally
7. HRDC Submission & Claims Management
- Own the submission of qualifying programmes for HRD Corp (HRDC) approval, ensuring documentation and scheme alignment are in order ahead of programme launch.
- Manage the related claiming process for participants or programmes that qualify, coordinating with clients/sponsors so eligible claims are submitted correctly and on time.
8. System Ownership (not manual assembly)
- Own the reporting and impact-tracking system per programme: interpret what the numbers mean, own the narrative for sensitive stakeholder conversations, and make the judgment calls tooling can't.
- Own budget-variance decisions after budget approvals by MD.
What Success Looks Like
- Stakeholders trust this person as GUIDE's face and PIC on their programme, not just a status-sender.
- Delivery runs smoothly under pressure, with judgment calls made fast and well.
- BD conversations (supported by MD) convert into sized, credible internal opportunities.
- Mentor/advisor involvement consistently matches programme goals, and participants/clients experience it as relevant rather than generic.
- Eligible programmes and participants get HRDC approval and claims processed cleanly, without last-minute scrambles.
- Portfolio scope and seniority expand as trust in judgment builds, with a natural path to leading a small programme team.
Ideal Profile
- 4-8 years experience with at least one prior role where you owned a relationship or delivery outcome end-to-end, not just contributed to one.
- Working experience using a CRM system for pipeline, stakeholder, and relationship management.
- Familiarity with HRD Corp (HRDC) programme submission and claims processes, or demonstrated ability to pick this up quickly.
- Strong judgment under ambiguity: comfortable making a call with incomplete information.
- Confident operating with AI-assisted reporting and planning tools; no allergy to working inside a tooled-up workflow.
- Commercial instinct: can sit in a BD conversation and know what's actually worth pursuing.
- A network or the instinct to build one: able to identify and recruit the right mentors/advisors for a given programme's goals.
- Prior exposure to accelerator/programme delivery, corporate innovation, or client-facing work in a professional services or venture context preferred.
- Proven background in coordinating programmes and initiatives that requires you to represent the organization in front of the crowd.
- SEA market exposure preferred.
Growth Path
As additional programmes and scale are added, this evolves into a team-lead position overseeing junior programme staff, with title and compensation reviewed in step with expanded scope.
For more info about GUIDE and it's portfolio programmes & initiatives, please visit: https://www.guide.works/
