Job Description

The Leiden Bio Science Park is the economic engine of the Leiden region, a pearl of the Dutch knowledge economy and global hotspot of Life Sciences & Health. Your role as innovation manager / business developer is to inspire and facilitate interaction between Life Science and Health researchers in Leiden and companies or spin-offs to create innovation programs with impact. You map the connections between all relevant parties to craft and implement a strategic roadmap to increase synergy between research activities. Your day-to-day activities also include giving presentations, organizing meetings and workshops to create matchmaking between researchers at Leiden University and startups, SMEs, larger corporations and government agencies, resulting in a solid ecosystem from which more and more joint research and business opportunities will develop. You will not do this alone, you will work closely together within a team of business developers and grant advisors of Leiden University, who can introduce you quickly to the relevant researchers and help you with the acquisition of funding.

Tasks/Goals:

• Connect state of the art companies and relevant Leiden academics in the Life Science and Health sector
• Assist researchers and external parties in scouting and actively shaping novel research, pilot and scale-up projects that fit within (existing) large scale programs.
• After the initial exploration phase, take the role of the daily project manager in further developing the public private collaboration, always to be co-led by a company and an academic coordinator
• Contribute to bringing cohesion to the regional innovation clusters in collaboration with (academic) experts, societal organisations, startups and corporates.
• Connect our research to (inter)national knowledge and innovation roadmaps and research alliances.

Profile

You bring a tangible track record showing that you have an innovative and entrepreneurial mindset and favor creative solutions to challenges. You act comfortably as a coordinator and sparring partner for researchers. You have a clear insight in challenges faced by startups, SMEs and larger corporations. You bring an analytic mind-set that enables you to quickly assess the crux of research and project ideas. You feel at home in a dynamic and innovative academic environment. You have a broad knowledge of innovation processes, project management and have feeling for the dynamics and different interests in a complex ecosystem.

You have strong listening and communication skills and are at ease talking to top scientist and corporate management. You have a relevant network, or can build a network quickly. You can act in a team, but are individually results driven. You can identify separate roles and tasks of participants in the development of research or entrepreneurial projects or programs. And despite differences in their backgrounds, you can connect people and parties through their joint interests in content, motivation. You have a hands-on approach, are flexible and able to work with absolute deadlines.

Additionally you have:

• An academic education and experience in the life science and health sector
• Three to five years of experience at a corporation or startup
• A good command of both Dutch and English in speaking and writing

Terms and conditions

The appointment will be project based and is secured for the upcoming two years. Continuation will depend on the successful acquisition of follow-up funding. The salary depends on previous experience and ranges from € 3.794,- to € 6.181,- gross per month (pay scale 11/12) on fulltime basis, in accordance with the Collective Labor Agreement for Dutch Universities.

Leiden University offers an attractive benefits package with additional holiday (8%) and end-of-year bonuses (8.3%), training and career development. Our individual choices model gives you some freedom to assemble your own set of terms and conditions.