Senior Venture Development Specialist

AUTM; Grand Forks (ND); On-site; USD 85,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

University of North Dakota's Center for Innovation seeks a Senior Venture Development Specialist to lead the Innovation Moonshot accelerator, build mentor networks, and identify UND IP for startup coaching.

You will partner with Dakota Venture Group, guide student experiential learning in venture fund management, and coordinate mentor and Founder networks to move university innovations to market.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• 5 years of work experience.
• Experience with technology transfer that leads to commercialization of university research.
• Willingness to work evenings and weekends and travel.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development and delivery of commercialization and venture development programs that advance university innovations from discovery to market-ready ventures.
• Identify, foster, develop, and manage mentorship, founder support, and venture development resources that accelerate university innovations from discovery to market-ready solutions.
• Serve as the primary advisor and institutional liaison for Dakota Venture Group and the CFI Foundation Innovation Fund, providing mentorship, oversight, and experiential learning opportunities.

Skills

Entrepreneurship

Venture development

Stakeholder management

Team leadership

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

MS Office

Job description

This position is a critical component of the Center for Innovation’s commercialization coaching program staff with a focus on university spin outs, startups and translation of UND IP into tangible, market ready solutions. This position will have leadership in guiding the development and growth of market ready solutions grounded in university IP, ensuring they have access to appropriate learning, mentorship, and startup support.

A successful candidate for this position will: First, work as a lead project manager for the Innovation Moonshot accelerator experience.. As part of this responsibility, this position will need to understand the implementation of startup accelerator training and mentorship for faculty and university innovators using recognized best practice principles. This position will also be responsible for building and fostering a network of mentors, coordinate a formalized mentorship strategy, and help the CFI team create and manage a Founder Network to launch startups in to support the Innovation Moonshot Accelerator. Second, is to identify, foster and a strong pipeline of potential UND IP for the Innovaiton Moonshot Accelerator, this position will have designated college assignments and will be required to work collaboratively with other CFI staff to identify prospective participants for coaching from their designated college assignments. And third, this position will have lead responsibility for being the staff lead guiding Dakota Venture Group and fostering student experiential learning in venture fund management.

For the full job description, go to this link:

https://careers.und.edu/jobs/senior-venture-development-specialist-grand-forks-north-dakota-united-states

Job Requirement 1:

Lead the development and delivery of commercialization and venture development programs that advance university innovations from discovery to market-ready ventures

Job Requirement 2:

Identify, foster, develop, and manage mentorship, founder support, and venture development resources that accelerate university innovations from discovery to market-ready solutions.

Job Requirement 3:

Serve as the primary advisor and institutional liaison for Dakota Venture Group and the CFI Foundation Innovation Fund, providing mentorship, oversight, and experiential learning opportunities that develop student investment professionals while advancing entrepreneurial ventures through investment and portfolio support.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree.
• 5 year’s work experience.
• Experience with technology transfer that lead to the or commercialization of university research.
• Demonstrated passion for entrepreneurship, startups, and venture investment.
• Proven experience guiding students in real-world projects, decision-making processes, or professional practice experiences that connect academic learning to practical application.
• Ability to cultivate, build and maintain strong working relationships with individuals or organizations with diverse perspectives and backgrounds.
• Strong interpersonal and written communication skills.
• Proficiency in word processing, spreadsheets, databases and other basic business software.
• Demonstrated ability to exercise initiative, flexibility and independent judgement.
• Position requires occasional evening and weekend work and travel.