Director of Innovation Services

KU Center for Technology Commercialization; Kansas City (KS); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

KU Center for Technology Commercialization seeks a Director of Innovation Services to lead outreach, education, and pipeline development across KU campuses and KU Medical Center. The role collaborates with licensing, innovation partners, and university units to grow tech transfer and entrepreneurship impact.

The position emphasizes collaboration, program leadership, and developing funding pathways to support early-stage innovations, pre-license activities, and external partnerships.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required in a relevant field.
• Four years of experience in technology transfer, IP, and higher education innovation ecosystems; substitution rules apply.

Responsibilities

• Innovation Scouting – identify discoveries with commercial potential and raise IP awareness.
• Training/Education – partner with KU units to deliver IP, tech transfer, and entrepreneurship training.
• Pipeline Building – develop a robust project pipeline for KU programs and external opportunities.
• Gap Fund – assist in securing resources for early validation, POC, prototyping, or maturation.
• Collaboration & Connections – work with licensing, Innovation Park, and I-Corps to drive impact.
• Track – maintain startup metrics and connect KU startups with partners and resources.
• Consultation & Navigation – guide researchers on tech transfer and new venture pathways.

Skills

Communication

Presentations

Customer service

Innovation

Intellectual Property

Technology transfer

Collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field of study

Job description

The Director, Innovation Services supports all of KU including the KU Medical Center in Kansas City, the KU Center for Technology Commercialization (KUCTC) seeks to manage discoveries and innovations arising from KU research so that they may have greater impact, benefit the public, and promote economic development. Reporting to the Executive Director of KUCTC, the Director, Innovation Services, is a senior member of KUCTC working alongside the KUCTC licensing team and in collaboration with other KU units to grow the innovation and commercialization pipelines resulting from research for KU. The Director plays a key role and force multiplier, increasing engagement, building capacity, and assisting innovators in navigating internal and external innovation resources.

Hybrid work modality, but must reside in Kansas or Missouri.

Key Roles and Responsibilities

Innovation Scouting – Works with academic and clinical researchers to raise Intellectual Property (IP) awareness, foster innovation, and identify discoveries, inventions, and other innovations with commercial potential for disclosure to KUCTC. Develops and executes outreach strategies to increase engagement with KUCTC and disclosure of new inventions across KU campuses and disciplines

Training/Education – Leads collaboration with other KU innovation ecosystem partners (examples – School of Business, Research Administration, Office of Economic Development, KU Innovation Park) to create and deliver formalized IP, technology transfer, and entrepreneurial training programs to university research communities.

Pipeline Building – Cultivates a pipeline of prospective projects for internal KU innovation and commercialization programing as well as specific external opportunities.

Gap Fund – Will assist in the seeking of resources to support the creation of a “gap” or other early innovation funds at KU to support pre-license validation, POC, prototyping or technology maturation efforts. Will lead KUCTC efforts to engage with external opportunities for gap funding.

Collaboration & Connections – Work collaboratively with KUCTC’s licensing team, KU Innovation Park partners, university I-Corp team, and others within the KU innovation ecosystem to achieve impact from technology transfer, commercialization, and new venture creation activities.

Track - Serves as a consistent resource and point of contact within the University for KU startup companies. Maintains metrics regarding KU startups (examples - investments, follow-on funding, employment numbers, location). In collaboration with KU Innovation Park, works to connect KU startups to partners and resources to aid their growth and development.

Consultation & Navigation – Serves as an early point of contact for researchers, providing guidance and assistance as they explore technology transfer, commercialization, entrepreneurship, and new venture creation. Serves as an valued resource for researchers regarding University policies and practices related to new venture creation. Serves as a connector to supporting resources within and external to KU.

Required Qualifications

Education:

Bachelor’s degree in a relevant field of study.

Work Experience:

Four (4) years of experience in position that required knowledge of technology transfer, intellectual property, university research environments, innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystems, startup formation, SBIR/STTR funding, innovation programming, research administration, and higher education organizational structures. Education may be substituted for experience on a year for year basis.

Preferred Qualifications

Work Experience:

• Prior experience working in higher ed or university research.
• Prior experience in licensing IP, technology transfer, or new venture creation.
• Prior experience delivering workshops, presenting commercialization concepts, developing outreach materials, building collaborative relationships.

Skills

• Communication
• Presentations
• Customer service
• Innovation
• Intellectual Property
• Technology transfer
• Collaboration

Required Documents

• Resume
• Cover Letter