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Icehouse Ventures’ mission is to be transformative investors in transformative New Zealand companies. We have invested >$500m into 351 Kiwi companies since 2003. Success will see us investing billions into thousands of Kiwi companies, democratising access to venture capital, and elevating the ambitions of and possibilities for all New Zealanders.
We’re looking for a marketing leader to lead our marketing function and strategy. (Our wonderful Head of Marketing Michaela has joined one of our fastest-growing startups!)
Marketing plays a critical role in advancing the Icehouse Ventures mission. This includes events that bring the entrepreneurial community together, communications that compel more people to engage, PR that stands up for and celebrates entrepreneurs, and the development of an IV brand that supercharges our team to attract and invest in New Zealand’s greatest entrepreneurs.
This role presents a unique opportunity to contribute to the rise and rise of New Zealand’s most active venture investor. We have the foundations and ambitions to expand our investing from pre-seed to pre-IPO and our investor community from retail to institutional.
Below is more information about the role, Icehouse Ventures, and how to apply. Feel free to contact us with any questions : )
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Structure: Full-time, in-person, and ideally based in Auckland. This role is part of the Leadership Team, reports to the CEO, and includes a Marketing Executive on your team. You will work closely with our Head of Design, COO, and Head of Portfolio Services.
Working style: Icehouse Ventures thrives as a result of deep engagement by all of our 24+ person team. This role is best suited for someone who is optimistic, biases towards action, can balance short-term execution with long-term strategy, and favours moving the organisation forward over measuring the past. We strive to build a team of ambitious “lifers” that embrace our values (below) and get joy out of the work we do, the founders and investors we support, and the great team that we have. Success for Icehouse Ventures is that team members can achieve their brightest futures as a result of contributing to the mission over the long term.
Ambition – Constantly expand what’s possible. Venture capital is an asset class defined by outliers. To maximise our chance of investing in the outliers, we must stretch to be the most ambitious version of ourselves.
Ownership – Invite accountability. Deliver brilliantly. Our success comes from the success of our founders and investors. We will be rewarded by putting them first and favouring long-term value over short-term wins.
Humility – Demonstrate confidence through vulnerability. Venture capitalists can be undermined by power- and information-asymmetry. Our style is to under-promise and over-deliver and to be exceptionally direct, humble, and transparent.
Resilience – Persist beyond what’s comfortable. Tenure is among the greatest advantages in venture capital. The longer Icehouse Ventures and the team are in the market, the better we equipped we are to make a meaningful impact on startups and investors.
Warmth – Make others’ lights shine brighter. A startup’s journey can be filled with mistakes, challenges, and uncertainties. Our opportunity is to elevate their ambitions and aspirations simply by being optimistic and kind.
Marketing Strategy & Execution: Development and delivery of a strategy to grow and nurture our investor base, connect with and attract future founders and operators, and empower the team to add value to our 350+ portfolio companies.
Brand Strategy & Development: Champion a consistent, high-quality Icehouse Ventures brand that is aligned to our values and mission. Ensure the brand shines across every facet of the business including communications, events, partnerships, surprise-and-delight moments, and brand statements.
Stakeholder and Project Management: Collaborate with the Leadership Team to align marketing strategies with business objectives. Lead and foster an engaged marketing team, manage relationships with external performance marketing and PR partners, and work closely with internal teams to deliver key projects.
Comms, Content & Storytelling: Empower Icehouse Ventures to attract investors, connect with more founders, and create more believers as a result of high-quality and frequent newsletters, social media posts, workshops and presentations, and press releases.
Events: Provide hands-on support to deliver the exceptional events for both founders and investors. We host some of the largest (and most fun!) events in the New Zealand startup calendar including a 1000-person gala dinner in Spark Arena and a 100-person founder retreat on Great Barrier.
Advertising/ SEO: Drive high-quality advertising that creates greater awareness of and engagement by our target investors and founders.
CRM: Ensure we maintain highly-accurate and informative records of our investors, portfolio company teams, prospects, competitors, and community. Maintain a database that empowers our communications to speak to and reach exactly the target.
Marketing Operations & Reporting: Leverage marketing ops/CRM tools to deliver on the marketing strategy, track outcomes, and inform future decisions.
A natural knack for story-telling and great copywriting.
A creative, proactive mindset with a love of bringing ideas to life.
Highly collaborative nature with a positive attitude and the ability to flex between big-picture thinking and hands-on execution.
Confidence in using data to inform marketing decisions, balanced with trusting your intuition.
Organised with a high attention to detail, particularly to be able to help plan and host some of the most epic events in the NZ startup ecosystem.
A strong interest in startups, entrepreneurship, and investment.