Associate Director, LAUNCH, The Center for New Ventures, Biomedical and Health Sciences

Job Description

Virginia Tech is seeking an Associate Director, LAUNCH: the Center for New Ventures to support the university’s biomedical and health sciences research enterprise through the office of the Vice President for Health Sciences and Technology. This exciting new position is shared between and supported by Virginia Tech’s Office of Health Sciences and Technology (HS&T) and the Office of Research and Innovation (ORI).

The HS&T main resources are located at the at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute (FBRI) at the Virginia Tech Carilion Health Sciences and Technology campus in Roanoke, VA, but span a growing network of health-sciences rated activities in Blacksburg and the new Children’s National Research & Innovation Campus at the former Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC. Within HS&T is the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute (FBRI) at VTC, with a growing research portfolio exceeding $155M, and collaborative activities with multiple VT colleges and over 100 other institutions across the world.

Virginia Tech’s LAUNCH: the Center for New Ventures is a Center within ORI and supports the development of Virginia Tech’s innovation ecosystem and the incubation early-stage technologies emerging across the entire Virginia Tech $550M+ research enterprise through a growing portfolio of programs and resources. The Center is an integrated component of LINK + LICENSE + LAUNCH which deploys a holistic and integrated approach to strategic industry partnerships and the commercialization of technology from “discovery to market.” This LAUNCH position is focused on HS&T activities and is key to Virginia Tech’s presidential university initiative to deliver innovative solutions that address health challenges affecting millions through advanced research and development programs across VT’s Blacksburg, Roanoke, and greater Washington, D.C. metro area facilities.

Virginia Tech’s Office of Health Sciences and Technology encompasses the FBRI with over 500 researchers, staff and students, a $155 million active grants/contracts portfolio, and over 250,000 square feet of research space with numerous state-of-the-art facilities and partnerships with several major companies and other institutions including the Washington DC based partnership between Virginia Tech and the Children’s National Hospital. Virginia Tech’s internationally recognized Faculty of Health Sciences includes over 250 faculty members from multiple colleges engaged in a broad range of interdisciplinary programs including the award winning Translational Biology, Medicine and Health graduate program with over 80 graduate students engaged in biomedical research across the translational spectrum.

Dual-reporting to the Vice President of the Health Sciences & Technology/Executive Director of Fralin Biomedical Research Institute in Roanoke and the Director, LAUNCH in Blacksburg, the Associate Director will bridge across the Blacksburg and Roanoke campuses and work closely with others in HS&T and ORI to build programs and resources that support the advancement of innovation and start-up creation from the Virginia Tech biomedical and health sciences research enterprise, particularly from the research programs at the FBRI. Operationally, this role will coordinate closely with HS&T, FBRI, and with colleagues within LINK and LICENSE to identify, assess, shape, and establish innovation and technology commercialization opportunities. The Associate Director will engage and collaborate with research faculty, staff, graduate students, and postdocs to inspire and support a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship.

The successful candidate must live within commuting distance of Roanoke and Blacksburg, Virginia with the expectation of engaging with stakeholders in-person, there is some flexibility for a hybrid work schedule contingent upon business needs. The position will also include some overnight and weekend travel to engage with external stakeholders.

The successful candidate will have strong interpersonal and organizational skills and the ability to manage multiple priorities concurrently while interacting with diverse stakeholders across the regional innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem. Through these and other innovation related activities, the Associate Director will leverage their skills, professionalism, entrepreneurial experience, business acumen, technical curiosity, and understanding of the academic research process to advance lab-to-market innovation.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Proactively engage with a broad range of internal and external stakeholders in Roanoke, Blacksburg and the Washington, DC area to inspire and support regional health sciences related technology innovation and to help identify and develop potential technology spin-outs from Virginia Tech research and multi-university initiatives led by Virginia Tech.
• Under the direction of the VP for HS&T/Executive Director of the FBRI, engage with the FBRI and HS&T research community to inspire a culture of innovation and broadly encourage and enable technology commercialization and startup creation activities.
• Under the direction of the Director LAUNCH, facilitate the delivery and continuous improvement of a growing portfolio of LAUNCH programs directed to innovation and partnerships that include:
• LAUNCH Startup Labs workshop series and incubator activities;
• LAUNCH proof-of-concept (POC) grant program;
• LAUNCH mentoring and advising of Innovation Fellows in the Presidential Postdoc Fellowship program and other postdocs interested in commercializing technologies emerging from their research;
• Innovation and entrepreneurship programming and support for the FBRI and HS&T research community; and
• Entrepreneur in Residence (EIR) and Mentor-in-Residence (MIR) programs supporting Virginia Tech innovation and technology commercialization efforts.
• Support NSF I-Corps Mid-Atlantic Hub activities while actively working to grow a pipeline of eligible Virginia Tech teams for enrollment in I-Corps regional short courses and application to the NSF I-Corps National Cohort program.
• Actively network and make connections across the FBRI and HS&T research community and early-stage public and private technology spin-out investment organizations, including angel investors, VCs, corporate venture funds, Commonwealth of Virginia investment funds, and federal SBIR/STTR grant programs.
• Collaborate with colleagues in LINK to support new corporate partnerships formation and collaborate with LICENSE to execute strategies for increasing intellectual property disclosures and advancing technology licensing opportunities.
• Identify and develop new policies, procedures, and communications relating to Virginia Tech technology commercialization and new venture creation.
• Work with University leadership to clearly define and communicate conflict of interest (COI) procedures and other university policies relevant to new venture creation from Virginia Tech research.

Required Qualifications

• Master’s degree in a business, sciences, or an engineering discipline.
• Demonstrated leadership in the commercialization of early-stage technologies from health sciences or biomedical science research.
• Demonstrated knowledge in the following key areas of early-stage technology entrepreneurship:
• business model generation;
• the customer discovery process; and
• New venture pitch creation and delivery.
• Strong technical curiosity in the biomedical/health sciences and strong collaboration and communications skills.

Appointment Type

Regular

Salary Information

Commensurate with skills and experience

Review Date

January 9, 2023

Additional Information

The successful candidate will be required to have a criminal conviction check.

About Virginia Tech

Dedicated to its motto, Ut Prosim (That I May Serve), Virginia Tech pushes the boundaries of knowledge by taking a hands-on, transdisciplinary approach to preparing scholars to be leaders and problem-solvers. A comprehensive land-grant institution that enhances the quality of life in Virginia and throughout the world, Virginia Tech is an inclusive community dedicated to knowledge, discovery, and creativity. The university offers more than 280 majors to a diverse enrollment of more than 36,000 undergraduate, graduate, and professional students in eight undergraduate colleges , a school of medicine , a veterinary medicine college, Graduate School , and Honors College . The university has a significant presence across Virginia, including the Innovation Campus in Northern Virginia; the Health Sciences and Technology Campus in Roanoke; sites in Newport News and Richmond; and numerous Extension offices and research centers . A leading global research institution, Virginia Tech conducts more than $500 million in research annually.

Virginia Tech does not discriminate against employees, students, or applicants on the basis of age, color, disability, sex (including pregnancy), gender, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, national origin, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, or military status, or otherwise discriminate against employees or applicants who inquire about, discuss, or disclose their compensation or the compensation of other employees or applicants, or on any other basis protected by law.

If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please contact Sandra Burks at sburks@vt.edu during regular business hours at least 10 business days prior to the event.

Advertised: November 21, 2022
Applications close: