Job Title: Business Development and Commercialisation Lead School (or department): FutureNeuro Centre Reporting To: FutureNeuro Centre Manager Location: 118 St Stephen's Green, Dublin 2 Contract type/duration: Maternity Cover (initially 6 months) Closing date for applications: 23:45pm on Sunday 22nd of February Proposed Start date: March **** About the post: Since ****, FutureNeuro has secured over €7 Mio in industry cash and in-kind funding from a portfolio of industry partners ranging from SMEs to world-lead pharma and digital health companies.
Our Research Centre also oversees an expanding IP portfolio arising from discoveries across our diagnostics, therapeutics, and digital health research strands.
As maternity leave cover, we are seeking a highly-motivated team-member with strong business development and commercialisation experience to support us to achieve ambitious industry incomes targets through the expansion of existing industry partnerships and development of new ones.
The role-holder will also progress the commercialisation of our IP portfolio by leveraging a suite of funding mechanisms.
Primary duties include Although the post-holder may be asked to take on other responsibilities as required, the specific duties of the post are: Business Development Work collaboratively with researchers and affiliated clinicians to identify unique opportunities for industry engagement emerging from the research programme across the eight Irish universities.
Grow the pipe-line of industry engagement to ensure that annual targets are met and exceeded.
Take responsibility for establishing and managing multi-point relationships with industry partners with a specific focus on developing long-term strategic relationships.
Support the negotiation and conclusion of co-funded and fully-funded projects in collaboration with relevant Departments/Offices in RCSI and its partner Research Performing Organisations (RPOs) e.g., Research & Innovation, Finance and HR.
Work with FutureNeuro researchers and prospective industry partners to determine project scope, resource requirements and appropriate funding mechanism.
Monitor research initiatives and industry trends in order to maintain the Centre's relevance.
Monitor the national horizon for prospective public private engagement opportunities of relevance to FutureNeuro.
Commercialisation Support the delivery of the FutureNeuro Commercialisation strategy and action plan.
Work closely with the relevant Innovation Offices in participating RPOs to ensure timely evaluation and protection of Intellectual Property arising from the Centre's research programme.
Support the Leadership team, in conjunction with relevant Research and Innovation offices, to plan for and prepare submissions which are suitable for national commercialisation funding mechanisms.
e.g., Enterprise Irl.
Commercialisation Fund and Disruptive Technology Innovation Fund and Research Ireland ARC Hubs.
Identify and work with prospective SME industry partners to capitalise on collaborative funding applications including Horizon Europe and national programmes.
Identify and Co-ordinate capacity building initiatives to strengthen the commercialisation skill-set across the FutureNeuro research organisation.
Support the career progression of researchers from academia to industry by identifying industry secondment and visiting scientist opportunities.
Management and Reporting Ensure timely reporting of business development and commercialisation activities to the Leadership team.
Take responsibility for the industry cost-share reporting process to prime sponsor and ensure compliance with State Aids rules.
Liaise closely with the Finance teams in RCSI and its partner RPOs to develop and monitor industry cash and in-kind expenditure and produce necessary reports and projections.
Contribute to the preparation of annual Centre reports in line with key sponsor requirements.
Other such duties as may be assigned by the Centre Director and Centre Manager.
Key Performance metrics Value of industry funding secured.
Number of industry partners collaborating with the Centre.
Number of Irish SMEs collaborating with the Centre.
Balanced portfolio of industry collaboration across Centre's three strands.
Number of Centre-led project submitted and awarded by relevant mechanisms; ARC Hubs, Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Funds or DTIF.
Number of IDFs and patent filed.
Required Knowledge & Experience Essential Minimum of 3 years' experience, relevant to business development and/or commercialisation, in industry or academia in a life-science or health related area.
Experience in establishing and managing meaningful and productive partner relationships across boundaries between scientific disciplines and organisations.
Excellent communication and presentation skills across all channels (oral, written, presentation.) Ability to identify and capitalise on new business opportunities.
Ability to remain resilient and motivated while identifying and closing new business opportunities.
Desirable Direct experience in the development of industry: academic collaborations and the commercialisation of academic research.
Experience or training in review and negotiation of legal contracts in collaborative, contract, and consultancy with Industry.
Knowledge and experience of working with national public bodies (Knowledge Transfer Ireland, Enterprise Ireland, Research Ireland, IDA Ireland etc.).
Industry experience in the area of life sciences and biotech research and development.
Knowledge of CRM systems.
Skills & Competencies Highly collaborative, results-focused team player.
Time management: Excellent time management skills and the ability to meet deadlines while working on multiple projects simultaneously to see tasks through to completion.
Communication Skills: Effective and persuasive communicator, both written and verbal with the ability to influence in positive way - with proven experience of managing internal and external customer relationships - proven ability to communicate complex ideas.
Project Management Skills: Ability to ensure that project plans are communicated effectively with all stakeholders and those agreed timelines are met.
Self-starter with the ability to work as part of a team: Ability to operate effectively as part of a team - is cordial, tolerant and willing to support others, is co-operative and patient; shares work and information; establishes rapport, can develop effective networks.
I.T. skills: Knowledge of MS Office suite Conscientious: Have a pro-active approach to work, anticipating and resolving problems in advance; have keen attention to detail - from anticipating and addressing issues in advance to understanding requests and delivering quality work with minimal errors Flexibility: Can operate flexibly within a busy environment; can shift focus when required.
Customer Focus: Have strong customer service skills.
Be able to communicate with a high level of initiative, tact, diplomacy and confidentiality Motivated: Display a 'can-do' attitude, demonstrate enthusiasm and passion for the role.
We are all too aware that imposter syndrome and the confidence gap can sometimes stop fantastic candidates putting themselves forward, so please do submit an application - we'd love to hear from you.
Application Process Please apply online through the RCSI careers portal on the closing date with your CV and cover letter.
Informal Enquiries: For informal enquiries, please contact Bridget Doyle (FutureNeuro Centre Mgr.) at All applications for this post must be made through the career's webpage Please note that we do not accept CVs directly.
Garda vetting and occupational health review may be required for this role, depending on the nature of the duties and responsibilities.
Further information will be provided during the recruitment process.
Eligibility to Work in Ireland This is a temporary leave cover position and is not eligible for visa sponsorship.
Applicants must have the legal right to work in Ireland for the full duration of the contract.