Are you passionate about using knowledge to create social impact? In this responsible and independent role, will you inspire and motivate your team and help make the impact ambitions of 7,000 colleagues a reality? By setting the pace and asking probing questions, you will design the best route for making an impact in a collaborative way. In doing so, you will realise scalable spin-offs and help assess how intellectual property can both accelerate social applications and support (applied) research and account management.

Wageningen University & Research's Knowledge Transfer Office (KTO) is the key to finding, protecting and transferring new knowledge and technologies to society, including large companies, SMEs and start-ups, government agencies and public bodies and non-profit organisations. As part of the Value Creation Department, the KTO works with Entrepreneurship, Business Development, chairs and Science Group management to develop a long-term strategy focused on knowledge transfer and societal impact.

The KTO consists of a team of ten experts in intellectual property, business development and technology transfer who work closely with their colleagues in the Science Groups.
As KTO manager you will:

• lead and develop a team of ten knowledge transfer professionals, working closely with researchers, entrepreneurs, lawyers and providers of finance;
• develop internal awareness of valorisation, programmes and projects to increase the impact of innovations;
• coach and advise internal clients on complex valorisation issues and stimulate the WUR-wide business development community;
• provide strategic advice and support to research groups on contractual and portfolio issues with market partners;
• translate scientific research into applications by communicating the value of knowledge to scientists and negotiating commercial agreements with third parties;
• coordinate the development of policy in the field of knowledge transfer and intellectual property and be a discussion partner for all units inside and outside the organisation; from researchers to managing directors, and from start-ups to representatives of industrial parties or ministries.

Multi-year objectives include the further professionalisation of the KTO's work processes, increased cooperation with SMEs/start-ups and scale-ups, increasing the number of WUR spin-offs and promoting an entrepreneurial mindset among colleagues.

• You have at least a completed a university degree in a technical scientific domain relevant to WUR's work.
• You have extensive experience in intellectual property law and procedures, but especially in the knowledge transfer process and business development for new research and societal impact.
• You have experience in the transfer of academic knowledge and research results into practical applications.
• You have good interpersonal and communication skills, and, in addition to being fluent in Dutch, you speak and write English with ease.
• You have an affinity with building and maintaining relevant networks.
• You can inspire and coach a team of professionals. You are both content- and people-oriented. You lead by example within the team.

For this position, we are looking for someone who is service-oriented, flexible, entrepreneurial and pragmatic. Excellent analytical and process management skills are also important. The ideal candidate is creative, solution-oriented and able to work under pressure. They also focus on results and are able to work in a unifying manner.

Wageningen University & Research offers excellent employment conditions. Highlights from our CAO (collective labour agreements) include:

• Working hours that can be discussed and arranged so that they allow for the best possible work-life balance. Working from home part time is also possible.
• The possibility of building up extra compensation hours by working more, up to a maximum of 40 hours per week.
• Sabbatical leave, study leave and partly paid parental leave.
• There is a strong focus on vitality, and you can make use of the sports facilities available on campus for an attractive price.
• 4% fixed end-of-year bonus.
• An excellent ABP pension scheme.

In addition to these excellent fringe benefits, we also offer a good salary. Depending on your experience, we offer a competitive minimum salary of € 5.250,- to a maximum of € 7.728,- for a full 36-hour work week, in accordance with Wageningen Research CAO (scale 14). A 32-hour-a-week appointment is negotiable.

Wageningen University & Research encourages internal advancement opportunities and mobility with an internal recruitment policy. Our learning environment and training programmes offer ample opportunities to take personal initiative. We are offering a unique position in an international environment with a pleasant and open working atmosphere.

Wageningen University & Research

Wageningen University & Research's mission is 'To explore the potential of nature to improve the quality of life'. Within Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen University and specialised research institutes of the Wageningen Research Foundation work together to contribute to solving important questions related to healthy food and living environments.

With its roughly 30 branches, 7,200 employees (6,400 FTE) and 13,200 students, and over 150,000 Lifelong Learning participants, Wageningen University & Research is one of the leading organisations in its domain. An integrated approach to problems and the cooperation between various disciplines are at the heart of Wageningen’s unique approach.
Our staff have given the following testimonies as to why you should work at WUR: read Why choose WUR?

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