Innovation Catalyst (Logic)

National University of Singapore; Singapore; On-site; SGD 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

National University of Singapore (NUSX) invites experienced Innovation Catalysts to advance promising breakthroughs from NUS into real-world impact. You will build trusted relationships with faculty, identify opportunities early, and help researchers navigate the path toward commercialisation.

Working with a global network of operators, investors, and industry partners, you will bring market, venture, and translational perspectives to the research environment, shaping which opportunities move

Qualifications

• 7+ years of operating experience in startup venture, tech transfer, translational research, or new product development.
• A systems mindset driving end-to-end outcomes and impact.
• Curiosity, emotional intelligence, and disciplined follow-through to build trust and deliver.
• Bold, early‑stage ideas with experimentation, uncertainty tolerance, and action bias.
• Deep respect for science with urgency and action orientation.
• Excellent communication and storytelling to make research accessible.
• Technical fluency across AI, computing, software systems, and related digital technologies.
• Strong relationship builder driving alignment across faculty, operators, clinicians, and partners.
• Comfort operating through influence in complex ecosystems with cross‑mandates.

Responsibilities

• Build trusted partnerships with faculty and local innovation teams exploring ideas for real-world impact.
• Partner with embedded innovation enablers to align priorities and translate early-stage research.
• Scout and surface promising ideas across the university in collaboration with researchers.
• Communicate insights, risks, and needs to accelerate projects with speed and clarity.
• Craft compelling narratives with inventors from abstract discoveries and data.
• Maintain an ecosystem view to flag and guide the most promising projects.
• Connect internal labs, departments, and institutes to surface cross-disciplinary capabilities.
• Act as a system-level connector among researchers, market-facing teams, IP strategists, and external partners.

Skills

Startup/Tech transfer

Systems thinking

Curiosity & EQ

Experimentation mindset

Science literacy

Communication/storytelling

AI/Computing fluency

Relationship building

Influence in ecosystems

Education

MS/PhD/MBA

Job description

About Us

NUSX is where NUS talent, research, and ideas meet the people, pathways, and resources that can take them further. That includes founder development, research translation, venture creation, industry partnerships, and access to capital and global networks. Across NUSX, our programs and people bring different capabilities to a shared ambition: helping more NUS talent, research, and ideas create real-world impact at scale.

We're hiring Innovation Catalysts for our Logic track, a team focused on identifying and advancing promising breakthroughs emerging from NUS in AI, computing, software systems, control systems, and related digital and computational technologies.

Innovation Catalysts work in close partnership with embedded innovation enablers across NUS, strengthening local commercialisation capabilities and helping researchers navigate the journey from discovery to impact. As part of an integrated, globally connected venture-building ecosystem, the team collaborates closely with venture builders, market discovery specialists, IP strategists, operators, investors, and industry partners to help bring world‑class research into the real world.

The Role

Great ideas often begin in the lab — but they rarely reach the world on their own.

As an Innovation Catalyst, you'll help researchers take the first steps from discovery toward real-world impact. You'll build trusted relationships across the research community, identify promising opportunities early, and help researchers navigate the path toward commercialisation.

Working closely with colleagues across NUSX and our global network of operators, investors, and industry partners, you'll bring market, venture, and translational perspectives into the research environment. Through your judgment, curiosity, and ability to connect people and ideas, you'll help shape which opportunities move forward and how.

Think of it as a baton relay. You’re the first leg — spotting signals early, earning trust fast, and preparing ideas for acceleration.

What You’ll Do

• Build trusted partnerships. Become a go‑to partner for faculty and local innovation teams curious about turning ideas into real-world impact.
• Partner with embedded innovation enablers. Align priorities, share insights, build fluency, and reinforce best practices in early‑stage translation and commercialisation.
• Scout and surface early‑stage innovation. Work with researchers and embedded innovation enablers to identify promising ideas emerging across the university.
• Enable momentum. Share early insights, risks, and needs to enable projects and teams move with speed, clarity, and conviction.
• Build compelling narratives. Collaborate with inventors to craft compelling lay narratives from abstract, complex scientific discoveries, and technical data.
• Track and guide. Maintain a live, ecosystem‑level view of emerging projects; help flag, guide, and champion the most promising ones.
• Link and leverage internal expertise and capabilities. Surface synergies across labs, departments, and institutes by connecting and facilitating multi‑disciplinary translation efforts.
• Act as a system‑level connector. Link researchers, market‑facing teams, IP strategists, regulatory insight, and external partners to reduce friction and accelerate progress.

Please be informed that only shortlisted candidates will be notified.

Qualifications

What You Bring

• 7+ years of relevant operating experience in a start‑up venture, institutional/corporate tech transfer, translational/applied research, or new product development context.
• A systems mindset — you design and drive work based on end‑to‑end outcomes and real‑world impact.
• A mix of curiosity, emotional intelligence, and disciplined follow‑through — you build trust quickly and deliver reliably.
• A love of bold, early‑stage ideas and comfort with experimentation, uncertainty, and failure.
• Deep respect for science paired with a sense of urgency and bias toward action.
• Excellent communication and storytelling skills — you make research legible and accessible to the world.
• Technical domain fluency across AI, computing, software systems, control systems, and related digital and computational technologies — you understand the language of the labs and the direction of the fields.
• Strong relationship‑builder who drives alignment and execution through influence, clarity, and trust across faculty, operators, clinicians, and partners.
• Comfort operating through influence in complex ecosystems, including working with peers who have their own mandates, incentives, and leadership structure.

Bonus Points For

• Advanced degree (MS, PhD, MBA).
• Track record of turning ideas into action, whether as a founder, scout, operator, or connector.
• Cross‑disciplinary experience applying digital and computational technologies, including AI, in non‑traditional industry settings, or working at the intersection of computing and biotechnology, advanced manufacturing, energy, materials, infrastructure, mobility, communications, or other deep‑tech sectors.
• Relevant teaching, mentoring, or coaching experience.

Why Join NUSX

This is a rare chance to shape the future of innovation in Asia — from Singapore, with global reach. You’ll sit at the intersection of technology, entrepreneurship, and capital, with the freedom to take big swings and the platform to land them.

Ready to Build the Future

Share your resume with us! While no formal cover letter is required, we’d love to know how you heard about us, what drives you, and what you’re excited to build at NUS.