Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) is one of Europe's top technological universities, situated at the heart of a most innovative high-tech region Brainport. Thanks to a wealth of collaborations with industry and academic institutes, TU/e's research has real-world impact. TU/e has around 3,000 employees and 2,300 PhD students (half of which international, representing more than 70 nationalities). Our university is at the heart of society: TU/e focuses on education and research on scientific and engineering challenges in the fields of Materials, Energy, Health and Smart Mobility, by using the latest technologies.

ICMS is one of the four institutes at the TU/e and focusses on interdisciplinary research and education in the area of complex molecular systems. ICMS is located at the heart of the TU/e campus, in walking distance from the partner Departments of Mathematics & Computer Sciences, Mechanical Engineering, Chemical engineering & Chemistry, Biomedical Engineering, and Applied Physics. ICMS facilitates bottom-up and content-driven initiatives on research, infrastructure and education to achieve a top notch fundamental understanding of complex molecular systems. Sharing and growing our knowledge and capabilities in the area of complex molecular systems jointly with academic and industrial parties is one of our key assets. Only this collaborative spirit will enables us to address academic, industrial and societal research challenges of today and tomorrow.

The Research Support Office (RSO) is the central Research Support Office of TU/e and consists of a small, close-knit team of professionals who support the scientific staff in applying for European and national research grants. The RSO team further consists of research funding advisors, grant consultants, corporate lawyers, and EU project managers. As a Business Engagement & Research Development Manager of ICMS you will be embedded in the RSO and from there be allocated to work for ICMS. You will become a key player between the ICMS expert community, the RSO network and the industry. At the same time, you will be integral part of the ICMS team and will have a physical location (office space) in the institute.

The Position of the Business Engagement & Research Development Manager

The Business Engagement & Research Development Manager holds a central position within ICMS. He or she will be pivotal in the connections between internal TU/e and external industrial parties, ensuring that opportunities are created for long-term partnerships between TU/e and industrial researchers. Collaborations can be initiated on the level of research, infrastructure, knowledge sharing and education.  Aligning parties to successfully work together to create and transfer knowledge in the broadest sense is the main objective. The manager is responsible for setting up a transparent and sustainable program to achieve these goals.  He or she will work in close collaboration with e.g. the microscopy facility manager, who coordinates analysis requests from industry. The end responsibility lies with the ICMS management team (Jan van Hest, Scientific Director; Monique Bruining, Managing Director).

To execute this role successfully the tasks will relate strongly to the following aspects:

• Create an active expert TU/e network that benefits from partnerships with industry;
• Building relationships with TU/e PIs, lab managers and experts;
• Accommodating and managing the needs of our academic and industrial partners;
• Building a lasting relationship with the industrial parties and coordination of the industrial consortium;
• Support adequate profiling of our capabilities to attract external partners;
• Initiate long- and short-term initiatives, projects, programs and collaborations between industrial parties and ICMS (researchers); 3-5 years with (inter)national partners;
• Facilitate the journey of researchers to translate knowledge into business (supported by the GATE); Facilitates value chain formation from research to validation;
• Supports knowledge transfer and contributes to the standardization and professionalization of ICMS;
• Represents ICMS in various relevant networks.

We are looking for excellent and versatile candidates who meet the following requirements:

• University education in a relevant discipline and own research experience, preferably concluded with a PhD in the materials domain;
• Relevant work experience in building multi-stakeholder consortia, independently supervising research programs and projects;
• A proven track record in defining and attracting innovative research projects and funding in international consortia;
• Understanding of developments at universities, research institutes and companies as well as on the political and social aspects of research;
• Good network of relevant contacts with universities, research institutes, companies and departments;
• Ability to partner-in and initiate consortium building for collaboration projects in national and European research funding programs;
• Experience with academic research and affinity with industrial innovation;
• Excellent networking and communication skills (both written and oral);
• Strong analytical, organizational and negotiation skills;
• Fluent proficiency in both Dutch and English;
• Excellent interpersonal skills, team player;
• Well-organized, autonomous, flexible, service- and result oriented, deadline-driven.

Competences

• Building relationships and partnerships between TU/e and industrial parties
• Planning, organizing and progress monitoring
• Networking and building relationships that are useful in achieving objectives.
• Good management of expectations.
• Persuasiveness
• Tenacity
• Identifying opportunities and acting on them.
• Being actively focused on achieving results and objectives and the willingness to intervene in the event of disappointing results.

We are looking to fill this position on a part-time basis (0,4 FTE) with a gross monthly salary (based on full-time employment) in the range of €4,814 and €6,181 (scale 12) or in the range of min. €5506 and max. €6,702 (scale 13) based on your education and level of experience. Besides that, we offer an annual holiday allowance of 8%, an annual end of the year bonus of 8,3%, a total of 41 days of paid holiday leave and a broad package of fringe benefits (including an excellent technical infrastructure, savings schemes and excellent sports facilities).