(Archived) Associate Director/Director

Associate Director/Director, Research Alliances

This position reports to the Vice President, External Innovation, Veterinary Medicine Research and Development (VMRD), and is expected to be part of the global External Innovation team based out of Kalamazoo, with remote workplace possible. The incumbent will need to be a self-starter and deliver on objectives as well as build and maintain strong relationships. The position would be entirely research alliance focused for VMRD. The position is Kalamazoo-based, with remote work arrangements possible.

The position is expected to coordinate alliances and collaborations, and effectively communicate anticipated investments, commitments, and deliverables from the alliances, and update all alliance information to the centralized alliance database for VMRD. This will require working with colleagues to multiply the "reach" into institutes, universities, and companies, developing and managing relationships with key external collaborators. Total travel will likely be approximately 10-15%.

Key responsibilities will include:

Identification, assessment, triage, negotiation, transaction, and management of external relationships that provide substrate, technologies, disease models, and/or research information or expertise that delivers critical aspects to projects in the VMRD portfolio. Effective communication and engagement with VMRD research project teams, commercial development partners, and business development will be vital. The role will support global portfolio needs.

Qualifications:

The successful applicant should have:

• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (or equivalent) or PhD (or equivalent) in biological field or equivalent on-the-job experience, and experience in negotiations.
• At least 3 years transactional experience in academia or industry developing, contracting and managing research alliances and/or technical transfer in the life sciences
• Specific experience in developing and managing solid business/ research alliance relationships with industry and academia; and drafting and negotiating technology-based agreements.
• Demonstrated and working knowledge of intellectual property concerns in research/ business alliances
• Broad scientific knowledge and understanding in the area of animal health research, development, and products
• Strong interpersonal skills to forge business relationships with outside organizations and across internal partners
• Understanding of business valuation, project progression, and research and development costs and timelines
• Strong attention to detail and a “finisher” mentality

To be considered for this position the following competencies / accomplishments would be highly regarded:

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Critical thinking skills
• Outstanding negotiation skills, particularly with external partners
• Experience overseeing or managing inter-institutional relationships.