ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

These duties and responsibilities are judged to be "essential functions" in terms of the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA. To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Promote awareness of the importance of IP, commercialization, and related issues throughout the Memphis community.
• Work to enhance the efficacy of Memphis technology transfer operations, including the development and implementation of a vision, strategy, and plan to deploy the IP portfolio of the community at large in ways that align with the needs and capacity of the Memphis entrepreneurship ecosystem.
• Work closely with the research community and build relationships that allow monitoring ongoing research for early identification of IP arising from research projects.
• Build relationships with university technology transfer offices that allow Epicenter and its partners to review and evaluate invention disclosures, develop specific intellectual property management plans, support collaboration with patent attorneys, manage prosecution of patents, and negotiate licensing of intellectual property and capabilities.
• Build and maintain collaborations with licensing professionals in ways that better serve entrepreneurs and commercialization efforts.
• Contribute to long-range strategic planning to establish and achieve the ecosystem’s
  collaborative mission and goals.
• Manage major IP related agreements with companies, universities, federal labs, hospitals, and other organizations.
• Foster research collaborations among ecosystem partners.
• As indicated, assist research partners with securing additional sources of support for research funding via active industry engagement.
• Work with university technology transfer offices to develop, clarify, and refine patent strategies and policies.
• Work with technology transfer offices to review, interpret, revise, and implement favorable technology development policies and procedures.
• Develop and advise on optimum protection and commercialization strategies for products and technologies.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

MINIMUM REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Master’s degree or equivalent in business, public administration, science, or engineering
• U.S. citizenship or a legal permanent resident of the U.S.
• Minimum of five years’ experience and proven track record driving innovation in a well-regarded corporate, consulting, or academic environment
• Experience promoting technological transfer, innovation, and translational research of intellectual property
• Experience developing and overseeing strategic plans to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in a complex organization
• Business knowledge and negotiation skills
• Excellent verbal and written communication; strong analytical, organizational and interpersonal skills; independent judgment
• Knowledge of academic research methods and an in-depth understanding of intellectual property protections
• Ability to work effectively with a broad range of constituents, including faculty, staff, attorneys, sponsors, and industry representatives

PREFERRED EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

• Ph.D. in business, science, or engineering
• Technology commercialization experience, such as an entrepreneurial leadership role in a startup or small business and experience establishing successful relationships with venture capitalists, angel investors, and entrepreneurs
• Strong project management, organizational, and leadership skills with the ability to handle multiple, complex tasks and projects concurrently
• Supervision of professional staff
• Experience in public higher education administration
• Demonstrated collaboration with faculty, graduate students, and administrators to advance a culture of research and innovation
• Success in facilitating interdisciplinary research and developing internal and external partnerships.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS
The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit, talk, hear, and use hands to touch, handle, or feel. The specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, and ability to adjust focus, especially due to concentration on a computer screen and graphics.

WORK ENVIRONMENT
The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.