Life Science Licensing Specialist — Deals & Partnerships

Phase2 Technology; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 85,000 - 115,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of Texas at Austin is seeking a Licensing Specialist, Life Science to actively manage the university’s life science portfolio, including therapeutics, diagnostics, devices, research tools and software‑enabled technologies. You will negotiate licenses and coordinate with inventors, industry partners and internal teams to move technologies to market.

Responsibilities include drafting and negotiating agreements, managing a pipeline toward execution, and contributing to licensing

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in life sciences, biomedical engineering, biotechnology, pharmacy, chemistry, biology, neuroscience, molecular biology, biochemistry, or a related field.
• Experience in life science research, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, diagnostics, university technology transfer, intellectual property, contracts, business development, venture/startup support, or commercialization of early‑stage technologies.
• Strong ability to understand and communicate life science concepts to both technical and non‑technical audiences.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills, including the ability to write clearly, summarize complex issues and communicate professionally with faculty, companies, startups, attorneys and internal stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple projects, track details, follow through on deadlines and move work forward independently.
• Strong judgment, intellectual curiosity, problem‑solving ability and willingness to learn licensing, patent strategy, deal structure and university commercialization practices.
• Ability to work collaboratively with colleagues across licensing, intellectual property, business development, collaborative research, compliance, finance, inventors and external partners.

Responsibilities

• Draft, review, negotiate, and manage life science agreements, including license, option, evaluation, material transfer, biological material, confidentiality, inter‑institutional, data use and technology validation agreements, along with amendments, letters of support and other commercialization‑related contracts.
• Manage a pipeline of agreements toward execution, coordinating with inventors, companies, startups, legal counsel and university stakeholders to resolve issues while preserving UT Austin’s long‑term interests.
• Support the Licensing team in managing agreement workflows, portfolio activity, partner communications, and commercialization priorities. Take increasing ownership of selected technologies, relationships and workflows over time.
• Coordinate with the Intellectual Property and Business Development teams on invention disclosures, patent portfolio decisions, market feedback, licensing strategy, potential partners and startup opportunities.
• Build relationships with faculty, licensees, startups, investors and industry partners, and serve as a responsive point of contact for agreement‑related questions.
• Improve team templates, workflows, agreement tracking and licensing operations. Participate in training, AUTM programming and professional development to deepen expertise in technology transfer, life science commercialization, patent strategy, startup licensing, equity and negotiation.

Job description

The University of Texas at Austin is seeking a Licensing Specialist, Life Science to actively manage the university’s life science portfolio, including therapeutics, diagnostics, devices, research tools and software‑enabled technologies. You will negotiate licenses and coordinate with inventors, industry partners and internal teams to move technologies to market.

Responsibilities include drafting and negotiating agreements, managing a pipeline toward execution, and contributing to licensing