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Senior Licensing Associate



Special Instructions to Applicants : All interested applicants must attach a cover letter and a resume in the Supporting Documents section of the application in a PDF format . Please note that the applicant tracking system does not convert attachments in Word format successfully.

Position Summary

The Senior Licensing Associate will assist, in a senior capacity, the Director and other licensing professionals in the Office of Technology Transfer to bring university research into the commercial sector. This position will provide service to university faculty and evaluate, market, strategize, value and commercialize technology developed at the university. This person will lead business development and licensing for a subset of university technologies.

William Marsh Rice University seeks a Senior Licensing Associate in Houston, Texas, for a position within its Office of Technology Transfer (OTT). The Senior Licensing Associate evaluates the patentability of technologies developed at the university; determines the commercial value of university technologies; conducts strategic analysis of potential markets and barriers to commercialization for those technologies; acts as a liaison between patent counsel and university inventors to develop short-term strategies for intellectual property protection for individual technologies, as well as long-term strategies for research portfolios; negotiates and drafts inter-institutional agreements, standstill agreements, option agreements, patent reimbursement agreements, letter agreements, confidentiality agreements and material transfer agreements; assists in the negotiation of industrial sponsored research agreements; acts as lead negotiator for license agreements with both industry partners and university spin-outs; drafts licenses to ensure the appropriate financial ROI for the university; manages license agreements once negotiated and oversees licensee compliance in collaboration with OTT’s finance team; assists with the management of the university’s patent portfolio; reviews patent-related correspondence; and instructs patent counsel, as needed, to ensure appropriate patent coverage for university technologies.

Essential Functions
  • Evaluates the patentability of university technologies
  • Determines the commercial value of university technologies; conducts strategic analysis of potential markets and barriers to commercialization for those technologies
  • Acts as a liaison between patent counsel and university inventors to develop short-term strategies for intellectual property protection for individual technologies, as well as long-term strategies for research portfolios
  • Negotiates and drafts inter-institutional agreements, standstill agreements, option agreements, patent reimbursement agreements, letter agreements, confidentiality agreements and material transfer agreements; assists in the negotiation of industrial sponsored research agreements
  • Acts as lead negotiator for license agreements with both industry partners and university spin-outs; drafts licenses to ensure the appropriate financial ROI for the university
  • Manages license agreements once negotiated and oversees licensee compliance in collaboration with OTT’s finance team
  • Assists with the management of the university’s patent portfolio; reviews patent-related correspondence; instructs patent counsel, as needed, to ensure appropriate patent coverage for university technologies
  • Performs all other duties as assigned
Required Qualifications
  • PhD or other Doctoral Degree
  • 4 years’ experience in an academic technology transfer office involving at least one of the following:
    • drafting and negotiating license agreements
    • evaluating, marketing and licensing technologies, or
    • crafting intellectual property and patent prosecution strategies
  • Strong interpersonal, verbal, written and presentation skills - Strong attention to details - Strong customer relationship skills - Strong computer skills including the use of the Microsoft Office Suite and database applications - Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment - Demonstrated ability to establish priorities, take ownership and leadership of time-sensitive and complex tasks
Rice University is an Equal Opportunity Employer with commitment to diversity at all levels, and considers for employment qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, genetic information, disability or protected veteran status.

Faculty and staff are expected (but not required) to have completed a full vaccination series for COVID-19 (currently defined as full course COVID-19 Vaccine (typically two shots of a WHO-approved COVID-19 Vaccine or one J&J) and a COVID-19 booster. Rice does not require documentation for COVID 19 vaccination at this time for faculty and staff. More information can be found here: https://coronavirus.rice.edu/policies

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