Innovations Manager Jobs in Connecticut (NOW HIRING)

Connecticut Innovations | Overview

As Connecticut's strategic venture capital arm and one of the most active investors on the eastern seaboard, CI has a portfolio of 250+ companies across various industries, with strengths in life sciences, technology and climate tech. CI meets with hundreds of companies every year, identifying the most promising early-stage companies looking to grow in the state. Every year, CI invests in 20+ new companies, in addition to providing follow-on capital to existing portfolio companies. CI also invests as a Limited Partner in outside venture funds based in CT. We deploy $40-$50 million per fiscal year and write between 60-80 checks annually. We are the most active (# of checks per year) VC firm in the Northeast and Top 10 most active VC firm in the U.S. Connecticut Innovations - Venture Capital for Biotech, IT, and More Connecticut Innovations

• CI has invested $750+ million in innovative startups since 1995
• CI's leveraging power is 11X, or $8+ billion

CI had a record-breaking fiscal 2026 year, generating $66.5 million in cash proceeds from a series of landmark portfolio exits and a combined $76.1 million from all investment activities. CI invested $59.3 million in 75 early-stage companies and venture funds during the fiscal year ending June 30, 2026, with those deals leveraging an additional $1.2 billion in outside capital.

Our culture is vibrant, diverse, collaborative, and inclusive. We embrace perspective and have mission alignment on our impact to Connecticut's innovation ecosystem. We host or participate in over 20 ecosystem events per year, and our headquarters at The District in New Haven is a catalyst for partnership and an innovation ecosystem community hub.

As an organization, we embrace diversity of thought, listen with an open mind, think big and concretely, and invest with the mission in mind.

Assistant Controller | Position Overview

At CI, finance is front and center to what we do. It informs every investment we make and every dollar of capital we receive. It allows us to report on and evaluate our performance over time. And it turns insights into action by helping our team make informed decisions. As CI continues its high pace of growth, we understand that we need to scale this competency. That is why we are looking to onboard an ambitious Assistant Controller. This is a unique opportunity to join a lean, highly collaborative organization where you'll have broad exposure across multiple funds while working alongside an experienced leadership team.

In this role, you'll get to put your fingerprint on all facets of finance – from capital allocation and planning, to reporting and analysis, due diligence and investment management, accounting, and capital markets. You will manage the financial activities of the portfolio entities for CI, including the analysis of investment performance against their commitments and be responsible for CI's financial policies and procedures, accounting practices, maintenance of its fiscal records and support the preparation of financial reports, and budgets and forecasts. You will also participate in a variety of special projects and consultation with other departments. This role has upside to Controller within 3 years.

In the first 180 days, we would like you to:

• Gain an understanding of CI and the Connecticut Bioscience Innovation Fund (the $204 million fund CI manages)
• Gain an understanding of our internal controls and enabling legislation
• Understand the role of CI's Finance and Audit Committees
• Review and understand our previous audited financial statements
• Take ownership of CI's general accounting and financial reporting activities

Responsibilities

Accounting

• Own investment accounting across our venture portfolio and accounting in security investments
• Timely creation and dissemination of financial management reports including, but not limited to, internal and external financial statements, reconciliations of accounts and performance reports

• Prepare bank reconciliations and journal entries
• Prepare balance sheet reconciliations
• Review accounts and reconcile monthly, ensuring balances and activity are properly supported

• Assist with valuation processes and support audit and tax deliverables
• Assist on property tax assessments and valuations, insurance risk and claims, property additions, and dispositions
• Review capital activity, allocations, and waterfall calculations
• Establish and maintain systems and controls which verify the integrity of all systems, processes and data and coordinate external review of these systems and controls including performance of internal audit functions of CI's financial records
• Partner cross-functionally with investment and operations teams on ad hoc projects and process improvements

Financial Reporting & Analysis

• Support financial planning and budget management functions for operating companies including monitoring and analyzing results against budget and preparation of financial outlooks and financial forecasts.
• Help prepare CI's monthly board and lender reporting packages
• Participate in CI's annual budgeting process
• Perform analysis on CI's capital needs to fuel our investments, cash management, and equity recapitalization events

Minimum Qualifications

• 5-10 years of experience in accounting, FP&A, or transaction advisory work supporting the investment management industry (venture capital, investment banking, banking, private equity, or hedge fund)
• Bachelor's Degree, or equivalent degree in Business, Finance, Accounting, or related field
• Mastery of Microsoft Excel and some modeling skills
• High emotional quotient (EQ) and communication skills, with the ability to collaborate across all levels of an organization
• Superior storytelling, financial acumen, and data visualization skills

Preferred Qualifications

• CPA or CFA a plus, but not required
• MBA a plus, but not required

Personal Characteristics

• You are for an inquisitive, self-motivated person who is excited about a high-growth environment
• You balance a highly positive, collaborative attitude with a willingness to roll-up-your sleeves, allowing you to seamlessly function as a strong technical contributor, organized project leader, and compassionate manager
• You are upbeat and handle stress with a sense of humor, while you are also able to bear down and grind it out when a tight deadline or massive amounts of work come in the door.
• You have an ownership mentality and are interested in solving complex problems (not only reporting results)
• You have the highest level of integrity and ethical standards