New Venture Specialist

Job Posting Title:

New Venture Specialist

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Hiring Department:

VP for Business Strategies

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Position Open To:

All Applicants

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Weekly Scheduled Hours:

40

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FLSA Status:

Exempt

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Earliest Start Date:

Immediately

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Position Duration:

Expected to Continue

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Location:

UT MAIN CAMPUS

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Job Details:

General Notes

Mission of Discovery to Impact:

Discovery to Impact stands at the heart of transforming academic research into real-world solutions, serving as the pivotal bridge between campus innovators and the industry. Our mission is to harness the power of over 130 campus programs dedicated to entrepreneurship and intellectual property, guiding groundbreaking research from concept to commercial success. Through fostering strategic partnerships with corporations, investors, and entrepreneurs, we ensure that the University's innovations transition from labs and studios into services, solutions, and products that profoundly benefit society. Join us in our quest to change the world, one innovation at a time.

What benefits do I receive with UT? The university offers an impressive benefits package including, but not limited to:

• Competitive health benefits (employee premiums covered at 100%, family premiums at 50%)

• Voluntary Vision, Dental, Life, and Disability insurance options

• Generous paid vacation (8 hours/month), paid holidays (10+/year), sick time (8 hours/month), and longevity pay

• Teachers Retirement System of Texas, a defined benefit retirement plan, with 8.25% employer matching funds

• Additional Voluntary Retirement Programs: Tax Sheltered Annuity 403(b) and a Deferred Compensation program 457(b)

• Flexible spending account options for medical and childcare expenses

• Robust free training access through LinkedIn Learning plus professional conference opportunities

• Tuition assistance

• Expansive employee discount program including athletic tickets

• Free access to UT Austin's libraries and museums with staff ID card

• Free rides on all UT Shuttle and Austin CapMetro buses with staff ID card

For more details on benefits, please see:  https://hr.utexas.edu/prospective/benefits and https://hr.utexas.edu/current/services/my-total-rewards.

Purpose

This position will be responsible for generating a pipeline of potential new startups based on University of Texas (UT) at Austin’s intellectual property. This position will support the growth, development, and launch of new, deep-tech-based companies that will license Intellectual Property from the University. The objectives of this position are to provide the service and support necessary to allow faculty, graduate students, and entrepreneurs to launch new ventures with confidence and to be better positioned for success after launch. These new ventures should be adequately prepared for angel, seed, and venture funding.

Responsibilities

• Operational Management at the Texas Innovation Center: Manage the administrative needs of the Texas Innovation Center, including facilities, scheduling, and resources. Serve as HR manager and primary point of contact for student workers, overseeing work schedules and responsibilities. Support the Innovation Ambassador Program in collaboration with the Assistant Director of Longhorn Ventures.
• Event Coordination: Manage and support the utilization of the Texas Innovation Center as a hub for entrepreneurial activities. This includes supporting meetings, events, courses, and programming that aligns with the core mission of strategically supporting entrepreneurs, scientists, researchers, and students to position them for the best success in their new ventures.
• Entrepreneurial Grant Support: Follow-through support for new ventures participating in local, state, and federal grant programs such as the SBIR/STTR programs and the NSF TTP to ensure UT-based new ventures are well-positioned for success in participating in federal solicitations focused on commercialization activities. Develop repeatable, scalable curriculum and training for faculty, graduate students, and entrepreneurs to prepare for applications. Engage third-party contractors and vendors to provide coaching, training, and feedback. Guide, direct, and manage applications and awards for the UT SBIR Bridge to Phase II program.
• Data Management: Develop and implement a data management tool to track, monitor, and report on UT-based new ventures. Use appropriate tools and services such as Pitchbook to gather data and report on Longhorn Ventures program outcomes.
• Other New Venture Activities: Collaborate with teams across Discovery to Impact - including Intellectual Property Development, Business Development, Licensing, and Collaborative Research - to support new venture creation and launch. Focus on establishing the agreements and processes necessary for new venture success throughout the development lifecycle.
• Other Duties: Perform additional responsibilities as assigned by the Assistant Director of Longhorn Ventures

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in a science or engineering field.
• Minimum of one year of industry experience in a technology sector (developing or supporting the commercialization of technology-based assets at a company or university).
• Basic understanding of early-stage technology development.
• Knowledge of basic principles of intellectual property and licensing.
• Demonstrated ability to translate early-stage research into solutions for industry needs, including articulating an invention's potential technological and commercial impact to industry and communicating complex scientific concepts clearly and concisely to audiences with and without technical expertise.
• Must be a highly self-motivated professional with exceptional ability to identify priorities and complete projects. Capable of simultaneously managing multiple projects within a portfolio at different stages in execution.
• Experience using personal computer applications and AI tools to streamline workflow.

Relevant education and experience may be substituted as appropriate.

Preferred Qualifications (candidates need not have all of these qualifications to apply)

• An advanced degree in any of the physical sciences, engineering, or business fields.
• More than 1 year of experience working in a business development role or within a company supporting early-stage technology development.
• Experience and demonstrated success in developing, deploying and maintaining training programs for faculty, graduate students, and entrepreneurs to guide and direct them toward new venture creation.
• Advanced understanding of technology development within the physical sciences space.
• Understanding of industry perspective when developing early, research-stage technologies.
• Experience collaborating across teams to develop partnering and commercialization strategies.
• Knowledge of market valuation techniques.
• Experience identifying and evaluating market opportunities based on feedback from trusted industry connections and other sources.

Salary Range

$90,000+ depending on qualifications

Required Materials

• Resume/CV
• Cover Letter
• 3 work references with their contact information; at least one reference should be from a supervisor

Important for applicants who are NOT current university employees or contingent workers: You will be prompted to submit your resume in the first step of the online job application process. Then, any additional Required Materials will be uploaded in the My Experience section; you can multi-select the additional files or click the Upload button for each file. Before submitting your online job application, ensure that ALL Required Materials have been uploaded.  Once your job application has been submitted, you cannot make changes.

Important for Current university employees and contingent workers: As a current university employee or contingent worker, you MUST apply within Workday by searching for Find Jobs. Before you apply though, log-in to Workday, navigate to your Worker Profile, click the Career link in the left hand navigation menu and then update the sections in your Professional Profile. This information will be pulled in to your application. The application is one page and you will need to click the Upload button multiple times in order to attach your Resume, References and any additional Required Materials noted above.

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Employment Eligibility:

Regular staff who have been employed in their current position for the last six continuous months are eligible for openings being recruited for through University-Wide or Open Recruiting, to include both promotional opportunities and lateral transfers. Staff who are promotion/transfer eligible may apply for positions without supervisor approval.

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Retirement Plan Eligibility:

The retirement plan for this position is Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS), subject to the position being at least 20 hours per week and at least 135 days in length.

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Background Checks:

A criminal history background check will be required for finalist(s) under consideration for this position.

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Equal Opportunity Employer:

The University of Texas at Austin, as an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer, complies with all applicable federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination and affirmative action. The University is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, religion, or veteran status in employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions.

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Pay Transparency:

The University of Texas at Austin will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor’s legal duty to furnish information.

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Employment Eligibility Verification:

If hired, you will be required to complete the federal Employment Eligibility Verification I-9 form.  You will be required to present acceptable and original documents to prove your identity and authorization to work in the United States.  Documents need to be presented no later than the third day of employment.  Failure to do so will result in loss of employment at the university.

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E-Verify:

The University of Texas at Austin use E-Verify to check the work authorization of all new hires effective May 2015. The university’s company ID number for purposes of E-Verify is 854197. For more information about E-Verify, please see the following:

• E-Verify Poster (English and Spanish) [PDF]
• Right to Work Poster (English) [PDF]
• Right to Work Poster (Spanish) [PDF]

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Compliance:

Employees may be required to report violations of law under Title IX and the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act). If this position is identified a Campus Security Authority (Clery Act), you will be notified and provided resources for reporting. Responsible employees under Title IX are defined and outlined in HOP-3031.

The Clery Act requires all prospective employees be notified of the availability of the Annual Security and Fire Safety report. You may access the most recent report here or obtain a copy at University Compliance Services, 1616 Guadalupe Street, UTA 2.206, Austin, Texas 78701.