Global Director of Research Commercialisation (Business and Enterprise)

Job Posting Title: Global Director of Research Commercialisation (Business and Enterprise)

Salary Range: Grade 10 - Competitive

Reporting to: Deputy Principal (Research and Innovation)

Please visit the campaign here:  https://preview-heriotwatt.cloud.contensis.com/campaigns/hr-recruitment/global-director-of-research-commercialisation

Key Accountabilities

Strategy and leadership

• Own the University’s global research commercialisation strategy, aligned to Strategy 2035 and to the Global Research Institutes.
• Run the Directorate across all campuses within the Strategy 2035 globally integrated research and innovation business model.
• Set and deliver ambitious multi-year targets for industry income, consultancy, licensing, equity value and spin-out creation, benchmarked against UK HE Business and Community Interaction (HE-BCI) survey data, the Scottish Funding Council's Knowledge Exchange and Innovation Fund (KEIF) framework and international comparators.

Industry partnerships and revenue

• Build a strategic partnerships capability spanning market foresight, bid-building and delivery oversight, forming bespoke teams within the Directorate and drawing in Research Engagement colleagues where opportunities span research and commercial elements.
• Grow consultancy and contract research as revenue streams that deepen industry engagement.
• Support the development of a coherent, integrated international account management so that global partners experience Heriot-Watt as a single university, whichever campus they engage first.

Intellectual property, ventures and the Research Park

• Direct the University’s IP strategy (disclosure, protection, licensing and spin-out formation), capturing fair value while remaining a constructive, entrepreneur-friendly partner.
• Work with the Global Director of Estates & Facilities and the Head of Global Property Strategy to drive the commercial development of the Research Park, occupancy and revenue, and to connect it to the University’s research community, start-ups, investors and government and sovereign partners.
• Provide the commercial infrastructure that the University's entrepreneurial agenda requires, working with the Senior Associate Principal and Chief Entrepreneur, and the Converge team.

Operational leadership and people

• Lead, develop and inspire the Business and Enterprise Directorate across all campuses, building a high-performing, inclusive workforce with clear career pathways.
• Own budgets, cost and risk, and ensure compliance with research, financial, export-control and data-protection requirements across all jurisdictions.
• Embed consistent engagement and IP management across all Business and Enterprise pathways, supported by effective legal, marketing and digital (CRM and pipeline) capability.

Global integration and the GRIs

• Provide dedicated, agile business development support to each GRI, closing current gaps and operating in line with the TRADE (Talent, Research, Adoption, Data and Entrepreneurship) operating framework.
• Work with the Dubai and Malaysia campus leadership to align local economic-development priorities with the University’s global commercial strategy, including country-specific commercial vehicles where appropriate.
• Build durable relationships with sovereign innovation agencies, ministries, free zones and economic-development bodies in Scotland, the UAE, Malaysia and beyond, and attract inward investment and co-located industrial R&D.

Key Relationships

• Research Engagement Directorate: the closest working relationship, jointly managing the ideas-to-impact pipeline with clearly defined and separate accountabilities agreed with the Deputy Principal (Research and Innovation).
• Senior Associate Principal and Chief Entrepreneur, and the Converge team: partners on entrepreneurship and venture creation.
• Global Research Institute Directors and Schools: identifying commercial opportunities and providing tailored business development support for research and innovation activity.
• The Executive Director of University Operations and Global Director for Estates and Facilities: partners on the Research Park, aligning its commercial strategy with the management of the physical asset, and connecting to the wider University.
• Global Operations Executive: a member of the Executive, bringing a commercial perspective to resourcing, risk and cross-campus delivery.
• Professional Services Directorate: working with Finance, People, Legal, Estates and Marketing so the function delivers seamlessly across the University.