Spin Out and IP Portfolio Development Manager: Birmingham City University

Birmingham City University is fast becoming the leading Midlands-based university for transforming the region and accelerating growth in the local economy. We are achieving this through our commitment to building strong, strategic partnerships across private, public and third sectors, and by securing national and international funding for ground-breaking solutions to creative, health, environmental and business challenges. We drive innovation through interdisciplinary collaborations between industry specialists and our academic expertise, and continue to develop a graduate workforce with the entrepreneurial skills required to achieve success within local, national and global businesses and organisations.

We are seeking to appoint a talented individual to join the Enterprise Team, as Intellectual Property Manager to support the University in developing an awareness of Intellectual Property (IP) in terms of its value, its protection and its commercialisation. 

You will be responsible for establishing and maintaining a flow of commercial opportunities arising within the University both from its University staff but also opportunities through its students, graduates and external partners.  This includes providing guidance to the University, supporting creators of IP to apply for funding, to find suitable potential licensees, working closely with investors, business case building and where appropriate, representing the University on company boards. As well as the creation and management of new companies, the role holder will provide commercial support and mentorship, as required, in the early stages that follow incorporation and supporting commercialisation strategy of the University.

You will be educated to degree level in a relevant discipline and have significant experience of commercialisation of IP including IP protection, IP rights law, IP systems / processes, company formation and sourcing investment. You will have experience of working within an academic environment and an ability to assimilate and understand academic and technical issues.

You will have considerable project management skills and have significant evidence of working with others to develop innovative ideas and considerable experience of partnership development and working. You will have a proven knowledge of commercialisation and investment networks, a proven track record of deal completion and ability to facilitate commercial and research collaborations between organisations and a university.

You will be entrepreneurial in your thinking and approach to IP commercialisation. Key to this role is your ability to take ideas and concepts and the associated IP and identify commercial opportunities to generate income and impact for the University.

You will have excellent networking, interpersonal skills with the ability to lead, negotiate, persuade and influence others and a high degree of self-motivation. You will have highly developed written and oral communication skills including the ability to deliver presentations to a wide range of audiences. You will also possess effective planning and project management skills, as well as advanced IT skills

With around 24,000 students from 80 countries, Birmingham City University is a large and diverse place to study. We put students at the heart of everything we do, giving them the best opportunities for future success. The University has an enviable reputation for providing quality, student-focused education in a professional and friendly environment. Our superb courses, state-of-the-art facilities, first-rate staff, and focus on practical skills and professional relevance is producing some of the country’s most employable graduates. 

We put £270 million into the regional economy and support thousands of jobs in the area. We're investing £260 million in our estate, including a major expansion of our city-centre campus at Eastside, providing students with an enviable range of facilities. The Complete University Guide ranked us as a top 30 UK university for spending on facilities in 2015.

Our staff and student community is defined by our core values, which outline who we are as a University and how we will work with each other. Our core values are Excellence, People focused, Partnership working and Fairness and integrity.

To apply for this role, please complete the online application form and upload a copy of your most recent CV along with a covering letter.  Candidates are advised to remove personal information to ensure a fair and transparent recruitment process.

Salary: 
£39,888
£43,356
Closing date: 
Monday, November 2, 2020
Originating organisation: