Venture Development & Startup Strategy Lead

Utah; Salt Lake City, Northern (UT, KY); Hybrid; USD 75,000 - 85,000; Full time

Job summary

The University of Utah is building the future of innovation and we’re seeking a connector, strategist, and startup champion to turn promising technologies into successful companies. The Manager, Venture Portfolio identifies university technologies with startup potential and develops the initial strategies needed to move those opportunities toward company formation.

This role leads startup viability assessment and early commercialization planning, collaborating with faculty inventors, licensing

Qualifications

• Equivalency statement: 1 year of higher education can be substituted for 1 year of directly related work experience.
• Senior Supervisor: bachelor’s (or equivalency) + 4 years or a master’s (or equivalency) + 2 years of directly related work experience.
• Manager: requires a bachelor’s (or equivalency) + 6 years or a master’s (or equivalency) + 4 years of directly related work experience.
• Experience in venture development, market research, management consulting, product strategy, startup development, or related field.
• Excellent communication, relationship management, and presentation skills.

Responsibilities

• Review commercialization assessments to identify technologies with startup potential.
• Conduct or coordinate commercial due diligence to outline startup viability, including market assessment, competitive analysis, customer identification, technology differentiation, and commercial pathway evaluation.
• Lead portfolio strategy and prioritization through standardized evaluation frameworks, opportunity scorecards, commercial readiness rankings, decision criteria, and go/no-go recommendations.
• Develop initial commercialization strategies that identify target customers, entry markets, business model hypotheses, key milestones, commercial risks, and strategic priorities.
• Work with faculty inventors to clarify the value proposition and identify the evidence, partnerships, and resources needed to reduce commercial risk.
• Prepare selected opportunities for review through the Startup Design Studio and lead the Startup Design Studio, guiding discussions related to market opportunity, differentiation, business models, startup viability, and commercial risk.
• Maintain startup portfolio data and reporting that provide visibility into opportunity quality, readiness, decisions, and progress through the commercialization pipeline.
• Monitor market and industry trends to identify emerging areas of commercial opportunity across the University’s research portfolio.

Skills

Venture development

Market research

Business strategy

Communication

Relationship management

Education

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent

Master’s degree or equivalent

Job description

The University of Utah is building the future of innovation and we’re seeking a connector, strategist, and startup champion to turn promising technologies into successful companies. The Manager, Venture Portfolio identifies university technologies with startup potential and develops the initial strategies needed to move those opportunities toward company formation.

This role leads startup viability assessment and early commercialization planning, collaborating with faculty inventors, licensing