Business & Impact Developer (0,8 - 1,0 FTE)

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) is committed to creating positive societal impact through research, education, and engagement. As part of this mission, the university’s Knowledge Transfer Office (KTO) plays a central role in translating academic excellence into societal and commercial value. We are looking for a Business & Impact Developer to strengthen our team and help drive the next phase of strengthening the entrepreneurial mindset of academics at EUR.

Job description
As Business & Impact Developer, you operate at the interface of science, innovation, and entrepreneurship. You are responsible for identifying, developing, and scaling high-potential knowledge valorization opportunities emerging from EUR's research community. With deep expertise in business development and intellectual property management, you help shape the pathway from idea to impact—through licensing, spin-offs, industry partnerships, and public-private collaborations.

You apply structured business development methodologies—such as innovation discovery funnels (IDF), IP valuation frameworks, and business model development (e.g., Lean Canvas, Osterwalder’s Business Model Canvas)—to assess feasibility, market fit, and commercial potential of early-stage research. You work closely with researchers, legal/IP experts, and external stakeholders to design scalable collaboration models and innovation trajectories.

Core Responsibilities

• Identify and assess innovation opportunities from within the university using structured business development pipelines and selection tools (e.g., tech readiness assessments, IDF).
• Lead IP strategy and valuation processes in collaboration with EUR’s legal experts, ensuring alignment with commercialization and partnership pathways.
• Develop market validation plans, conduct competitor and landscape analyses, and create compelling business cases for investment or licensing.
• Support the development and structuring of licensing deals, collaborative R&D agreements, and spin-off ventures.
• Provide strategic guidance to researchers on valorization pathways, including innovation roadmap design, industry engagement, and stakeholder alignment.
• Engage with external partners (industry, startups, scale-ups, investors, incubators) to co-develop innovation projects, including co-creation pilots, living labs, and market entry strategies.
• Collaborate on grant applications and public-private consortia (e.g., NWO, Horizon Europe, RVO) with a focus on valorization components, business planning, and exploitation strategies.
• Actively grow and manage a broad external network, including venture builders, TTOs, corporates, and funding agencies.

We are looking for an entrepreneurial innovation professional who understands the complexity of academic research and can translate it into real-world impact.

Essential qualifications and competencies:

• A Master’s degree (or PhD) in a relevant academic field.
• Minimum 3 years of experience in a business development, technology transfer, or innovation management role—preferably in or with a KTO, TTO, or research-intensive organization.
• Strong working knowledge of IP management, patent strategy, and IP-based business development, preferably in the context of Social Sciences and Humanities Research.
• Experience with tech/market validation, early-stage venture development, and commercialization of research outputs.
• Proven ability to apply business development tools (IDF, business model canvas, SWOT, TRL assessments).
• Successful track record in structuring and closing partnerships, licensing deals, or public-private innovation projects.
• Understanding of grant funding mechanisms and experience in supporting researchers in valorization-focused applications.
• Excellent stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to navigate academic, corporate, and public sector cultures.
• Fluent in English and Dutch (CEFR C1 level).

We offer you an internationally oriented and varied job in an enthusiastic team, with excellent working conditions in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU).

The start date of this position is 1 October 2025 and you will be based at campus Woudestein in Engagement & Research Services (ERS). This position is for 0.8 fte - 0.1 fte. The salary is dependent on your experience and knowledge and ranges from a minimum of € 4.728 to a maximum of € 6.433 gross per month Scale 11 on a fulltime basis (38 hours), in accordance with the CAO-NU. The contract is offered for a period of 1 year and can be converted into an employment contract for an indefinite period if suitability is proven and if continued in the same position, if (financial and/or organizational) circumstances remain the same.

Everything else we offer you; you can find below!

• Everything you need for a good work-life balance: the option to work from home in consultation with your manager, 41 days of paid leave with a 40 hour contract, 8% holiday pay and an 8.3% end-of-year bonus, and a significant discount on a subscription for our on-campus sports centre!
• Sustainable, inclusive and diverse work environment with an open culture, where you can be yourself and we pay attention to each other and to the world around us. Make the most of our bicycle budget, or join networks such as Young@EUR, FAME or QuEUR.
• Time and space for your development in the broadest sense: development days and a personal career budget and free access to our university library.
• Good pension with ABP that EUR contributes 2/3rds towards, discounts on various collective insurances with Zilveren Kruis Achmea, Loyalis, and Allianz, and compensation for travel, working from home and home internet use.
• Are you currently combining your job with parenthood, or do you want to do so in the future? EUR offers partially paid parental leave and fully paid additional birth leave for partners, and our campus features a daycare (daycare not paid for by EUR).
• Moving to the Netherlands for your job with EUR? Then you may be eligible for the 30%-ruling if you meet the requirements of the Belastingdienst (Dutch tax agency), and with our Dual Career Programme we will also help your partner find the right job for them.

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) is an internationally oriented university with a strong social orientation in its education and research, as expressed in our mission ‘Creating positive societal impact’. EUR is home to 4.100 academics and professionals and almost 33.000 students from more than 140 countries. Everything we do, we do under the credo The Erasmian Way – Making Minds Matter. We’re global citizens, connecting, entrepreneurial, open-minded, and socially involved. These Erasmian Values function as our internal compass and create EUR’s distinctive and recognizable profile. From these values, with a broad perspective and with an eye for diversity, different backgrounds and opinions, our employees work closely together to solve societal challenges from the dynamic and cosmopolitan city of Rotterdam. Thanks to the high quality and positive societal impact of our research and education, EUR can compete with the top European universities. www.eur.nl.

Faculty / Institute / Central service
Engagement & Research Services (ERS) advances excellent research and engagement to maximize positive societal impact. ERS creates conditions for transparent, inclusive, collaborative, and impactful research through strategic and operational expertise.

We provide pathways for talents to reach their full potential and we advance fruitful collaborations, enabling Erasmus University to be a front runner in embedding excellent research in society. The following areas of support are embedded within ERS: Business Development, Grant Support, Legal Counsels, Open Science, Research Data Management, Ethics Review and Research Intelligence. ERS is a relatively young service department within Erasmus University Rotterdam and is steadily building and extending its service portfolio. ERS provides support to all faculties of Erasmus University Rotterdam (occasionally to Erasmus University Medical Center).