Director, Technology Transfer

Reporting to the Associate Vice President & Chief Business Development and Innovation Officer, The Director of Technology Transfer works closely with faculty and researchers to identify promising discoveries and accelerate their development toward market for societal and economic benefit. The Director identifies opportunities, uses their expertise and network to develop go-to-market strategies, and fosters partnerships to ensure commercial success and market adoption.
The Director will be in charge of the day-to-day operations of the technology transfer office (TT) and management of faculty training, agreement processing, intellectual property (IP) protection, marketing, outreach, and licensing. The Director will manage and continuously improve the technology transfer and commercialization process and will represent UNH's interest in these matters to external organizations including state agencies, relevant professional organizations, and private business and industry.
UNH is an R1 research university with over $200 MM in annual research expenditures and is one of a limited number of land-, sea- and space-grant universities. It is important to note that the UNH Technology Transfer office is small by many standards and consists of the Director and one Licensing Manager. Additional support for license administration, finance and other tasks are supported on a shared service basis with other units.
We believe that the best intellectual property development and commercialization outcomes are driven by working closely with faculty, researchers and partners. This is a full-time in-person role and the Director will have the primary duties and responsibilities outlined below.

Duties/Responsibilities

(40%) Lead Technology Transfer Office & Operations

• Meet with and advise faculty and researchers to identify opportunities for intellectual property (IP) protection, commercialization and resultant economic and societal benefit.

• Manage disclosure to out-license process.

• Negotiate terms and manage licenses and other IP agreements and coordinate with other units such as the General Counsel’s office or Sponsored Programs Administration.

• Manage office budget including patent expenditures and external legal firms. Enhance development and tracking of metrics.

• Design and deliver training in technology transfer and commercialization for faculty and staff. Provide technical assistance to faculty and staff interested in licensing and/or spinning off companies arising from innovations.

• Ensure compliance with IP, federal and other laws and policies.

• Develop and implement strategies for productivity.

(40%) Partner, Business Development and Realizing Impact

• Engage, foster, develop and grow strategic partnerships and collaborations.

• Develop and maintain relationships with external public- and private-sector entities including federal and state agencies, national research centers, foundations, financial firms, business and industry. Identify commercialization partners to license technologies.

• Lead outreach efforts to faculty, staff, students and others to identify and market opportunities; create systematic ways to reach important constituents with regular updates.

• Work in partnership with other offices and provide leadership across the university to develop unique and integrated approaches to technology transfer, commercialization, licensing and intellectual property.

• Expand efforts to license promising inventions by improving marketing efforts, leveraging alumni resources and exploring creative business creation, funding and go-to market models.

(20%) Vision, Strategy & Representing the University

• Develop and implement a vision and strategic plan to take the office to the next level and facilitate productive research-based partnerships with a focus on technology transfer and commercialization.

• Specifically, develop strategies to grow revenues, economic and societal impact.

• Represent the university at internal and external constituents concerning technology transfer, commercialization, licensing and intellectual property.

• Collaborate with UNH units to pursue external funding through grants, philanthropy and other means.

Requirements

Minimum Acceptable Education & Experience :

• Bachelor's Degree in business, marketing, science/engineering, or related field.

• Minimum 10 years’ experience in the area of technology transfer, including working experience or knowledge of intellectual property protection.

• 5 years supervisory experience.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities :

• Business development, Research partnership formation, Intellectual property asset management.

• Demonstrated understanding of the technology transfer life cycle, including the ability to guide scientific development and research programs toward commercialization goals.

• Success engaging industry in corporate sponsored research and licensing opportunities where IP is a significant component.

• Familiarity with USPTO and experience in intellectual property protection and prosecution.

• Knowledge of state, federal, and international laws re: technology transfer and intellectual property.

• Proven success in identifying commercialization pathways and negotiating complex (business) agreements.

• Strong analytical skills for market/needs assessment, technology evaluation and strategic problem-solving.

• Experience with the private sector and with institutions of higher education.

• Excellent verbal and written communications skills.

Preferred Qualifications :

• Master's or PhD, or JD/MBA preferred.

• Prior experience leading a technology transfer unit or organization.

• Strong familiarity with federal funding mechanisms (e.g., SBIR/STTR), research compliance, and startup incubation.

• Registered Technology Transfer Professional (RTTP) or Certified Licensing Professional (CLP) certification.

Applicant Instructions

Applicants should be prepared to upload the following documents when applying online within the Resume/Cover Letter section of your application:

• Resume/CV

• Cover Letter

Applications that are missing any of the required items may not move forward for consideration.  Additional uploaded documents not requested in the position announcement will not be reviewed.

The University of New Hampshire is an R1 Carnegie classification research institution providing comprehensive, high-quality undergraduate and graduate programs of distinction. UNH is located in Durham on a 188-acre campus, 60 miles north of Boston and 8 miles from the Atlantic coast and is convenient to New Hampshire’s lakes and mountains. There is a student enrollment of 13,000 students, with a full-time faculty of over 600, offering 90 undergraduate and more than 70 graduate programs. The University actively promotes a dynamic learning environment in which qualified individuals of differing perspectives, life experiences, and cultural backgrounds pursue academic goals with mutual respect and shared inquiry.

EEO Statement

The University System of New Hampshire is an Equal Opportunity/Equal Access employer. The University System is committed to creating an environment that values and supports diversity and inclusiveness across our campus communities and encourages applications from qualified individuals who will help us achieve this mission. The University System prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, genetic information, veteran status, or marital status.

Compensation Pay Range:

The pay range for this position is listed above. Actual offer will be based on skills, qualifications, experience, and internal equity, in addition to relevant business considerations. More information on benefits can be found here: USNH Employee Benefits | Human Resources

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