Technology Transfer Specialist

Duties/Pligte The key responsibilities of the Technology Transfer Specialist will be to work closely with the Innovus team on the following key performance areas:
**Networking and Marketing**
- Establishing and maintaining productive relationships with SU's academic and research community to stimulate awareness of intellectual property issues and commercial opportunities, and to encourage an innovative and entrepreneurial culture within SU;
- Engaging directly and proactively with academic departments to identify SU's intellectual property with potential for commercial exploitation;
- Setting up meetings and arranging events to market Innovus on and off campus;
- Actively updating the Innovus social media and website information with news, events information, etc.;
- Establishing and maintaining relationships with the industry.

**Evaluation and protection**
- Grasping technical concepts quickly, and translating these into commercially viable proposals;
- Managing a large and growing portfolio of projects to a successful commercial conclusion;
- Assessing the commercial potential of SU's intellectual property based on uniqueness, market potential, business viability, and technical feasibility;
- Advising academics on, and executing the best mode of protection, for SU's intellectual property;
- Identifying appropriate routes to exploitation;
- Analysing business opportunities;
- Preparing and making recommendations for optimal deal structuring of potential spinout companies and/or licence potential.

**Commercialisation**
- Identifying potential industry partners for specific technology commercialisation opportunities;
- Constantly and very proactively liaising with industry in order to facilitate technology transactions;
- Engaging in technology licensing and new venture formation processes, in particular, structuring, negotiating, and closing deals;
- Facilitating and guiding teams of inventors and founders through the process of developing a commercialisation hypothesis and, when appropriate, the development of business plans, investment prospectuses, and other relevant documentation;
- Working effectively with key stakeholders, assertively influencing them and, where appropriate, showing tenacity and persistence in business development situations.

**Mentorship and Leadership**
- Playing an important role as a mentor for technology transfer officers;
- Taking the lead to promote your technology transfer projects to the deal stage where you will play a role in providing direction to technology transfer officers regarding the full technology transfer process, with specific focus on negotiation, stakeholder management, and transaction structuring;
- Additional management responsibilities as requested by the Director: Technology Transfer, e.g., administrating the portfolio management software system (Inteum), workflow optimisation based on Innovus¿s stage-gate IP protection and IP commercialisation model, managing the Translational Fellow Programme, etc.;
- Identifying new funding, networking or market opportunities for projects in the portfolio.

**Communication and other duties**
- Communicating with researchers, the research contracts unit, research management team and external patent or legal counsel about specific projects;
- Engaging with the LaunchLab (incubator) and Chief Director: Innovation and Commercialisation with regards to project spinouts;
- Communicating regularly and effectively with other members of Innovus, including regular meetings with the Director: Technology Transfer, to ensure effective management and commercialisation of SU's intellectual property;
- Carrying out other such duties as may be required to ensure the success of Innovus's projects.

**Working Environment**
- Conducting due diligence for projects, which includes analysing intellectual property (IP) to identify the best mode of protection. Making recommendations for the protection of IP to the technology transfer review team and to the research department and inventors;
- Making recommendations for the commercialisation of SU's IP to the Director: Technology Transfer, and leading the implementation of these recommendations once agreed upon;
- Identifying and engaging suitable commercial exploitation partners and investors;
- Engaging in the structuring, negotiation and closing of licensing deals and new venture formations;
- Generating revenue for the TT Portfolio through various mechanisms, ensuring efficient and effective management of all the University's IP and funded projects in accordance with statutory and funding requirements;
- Training and awareness-building interventions for researchers and students, ensuring development and talent management of staff in the TT portfolio;
- Assisting with the incubation of, and spinning out of University start-ups;
- Serving on the boards of University start-up companies;
- Overall management of a TT portfolio to ensure operational efficiency and effectiveness.

**Freedom to a