Startup Officer (Senior Advisor), Economic Development Unit

Espoo aims to be the best place to innovate, start a business and employ people, as well as Finlands most important hub for startup and growth companies. In this role, you will have the opportunity to influence Espoos growth and the success of companies.

You will work at the A Grid Startup Hub in the heart of Otaniemis vibrant innovation community. Together with partners, you will support Espoo-based startups to succeed. The role focuses especially on accelerating the success of deep tech startup companies.

Your responsibilities
Proactively strengthen the citys connections with local startup companies and help respond to their service needs as part of the Business Espoo service network.
Support startup companies in establishing themselves in Espoo and expanding their operations.
Develop the startup ecosystem in Espoo, its services and international visibility, in collaboration with companies and partners, such as universities and research centers.
Organize events and facilitate encounters between different actors, and actively initiate and develop initiatives that serve the startup community.
Produce insights on the growth outlook and needs of startups and the startup community for the citys decision-makers.
Contribute to developing the citys customer relationship management for companies and support service guidance for different types of businesses.

You will be part of the Economic Development Unit, which is responsible for strengthening the citys competitiveness, providing business services, coordinating strategic immigration affairs and providing advisory services for immigrants. The Innovation and Development Team is responsible for developing the innovation ecosystem, partnerships, and economic development, for example through externally funded projects. You will be assigned a Work Buddy to help you get smoothly integrated into the team.

What we expect from you:

We require experience in startup and innovation activities as well as ecosystem facilitation. You follow and understand technological development trends and are passionate about creating growth opportunities for young companies aiming to grow and scale in Espoo.

You have demonstrated experience in comprehensive management and development of business customer relationships, you understand startup business models, and can provide value-adding support. You excel at building professional relationships, connecting stakeholders, and inspiring collaboration. You have a development-oriented, customer-focused, and proactive working approach. You have excellent negotiation and presentation skills, a strong analytical mindset, and the ability to synthesize insights about startup needs for the citys decision-making processes. You communicate fluently in English, both spoken and written, and you are able to work also in Finnish.

It is an advantage if you have personal experience in startup entrepreneurship and supporting deep tech ecosystems or companies. We also value understanding of public business services as well as municipal decision-making processes and modes of operation.

Qualification requirement: Relevant higher education degree.
Job title and address: Otakaari 5 A, Espoo
Working hours: 36 hours 15 minutes per week
The position is permanent starting on 16 March 2026, or as agreed

Eligibility requirements: A relevant higher university degree

In Espoo, every day you make a difference – you improve the everyday lives of city residents!
We value your expertise and encourage you to maintain and further develop your professional skills. We support this by offering a wide range of continuing education opportunities and by supporting, for example, the study of the Finnish language. We also offer excellent employee benefits (including meal, sports and commuting benefits, as well as assistance in finding rental housing). We are committed to promoting equality and diversity in our work community. We want professionals of different ages and genders, as well as people from different linguistic, cultural and minority backgrounds, to work with us.

We use anonymous recruitment in this hiring process. We promote diversity in our workplace and encourage people from different backgrounds to apply for the position. The applicants name, contact details, and other personal identifying information will remain hidden until the interview stage. Therefore, please focus in the application form on describing the skills and experience that are relevant to the role.

If you have any questions about the position, please contact the person providing further information.

If you have any special needs related, for example, to workplace accessibility or working conditions, you may also send your questions to keha.rekrytointi@espoo.fi. We will look into the matter without disclosing your identity.

Tagged as: Administrative & office work