Working/Functional Title
Assistant Director, Physical Sciences
Position Summary
The Assistant Director is responsible for supervising the team of Technology Managers in the physical sciences disciplines, including mentoring and advising on daily tech transfer matters. Additional office-wide leadership aspects include agreement management, input on strategies, and being lead on special programs. This position will also serve as a Technology Manager with their own portfolio, which focuses on advancing technologies developed by MSU research activities to commercial use, responsible stewardship and commercialization of MSU intellectual property by supporting researchers, complying with the Bayh-Dole Act, and advancing technologies for societal benefit. This position requires excellent verbal and written communication, collaboration, organization, working knowledge of intellectual property management procedures, time management, a commitment to intellectual property protection, and an ability to advise and mentor to junior and senior level licensing personnel. The level of responsibility in this role is high and requires multi-tasking to manage complex portfolios with many projects, and the ability to work independently and in small to large groups.
This position offers a hybrid schedule, requiring in-office presence a minimum of 3.5 days per week, and requires occasional off-site travel for conferences, stakeholder events, and other related activities. The Assistant Director, Physical Sciences most frequently interacts with internal stakeholders within MSU Technologies, MSU Business Connect, the Innovation Center, Office of Research and Innovation, faculty members, chairs, and Deans of the relevant Major Administrative Unit (MAU), and service units on campus. This position frequently communicates with external stakeholders such as the MSU Research Foundation, Spartan Innovations, State of Michigan, Michigan Economic Development Corporation, US federal funding agencies, licensees and professionals from other institutions. This position reports to the Executive Director of MSU Technologies. Candidates must have the capacity to comply with federally mandated requirements of U.S. export control law.
• Education: Knowledge equivalent to that which would normally be acquired by completing a four-year college degree program, preferably in a life science, engineering, business, or legal field.
• Experience: Eight or more years of progressively responsible experience in technology transfer, intellectual property licensing, or a related field, including prior experience supervising or leading professional staff; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Duties and Responsibilities:
• Supervisory – 15%
o Provide mentoring, guidance and direction to physical science Technology Managers in their day-to-day operations and tasks, including faculty engagement, technology assessment and creating marketing and licensing strategies;
o Assist in hiring, being lead on training, mentoring, and advising physical science Technology Managers on questions, challenges, negotiations, draft agreements and draft translational funding proposals
• Leadership – 15%
o Assist and advise Executive Director with management of the physical sciences technology portfolio, including distribution of cases amongst the physical sciences team; managing statuses in the database, patent deadlines and patent expenditures
o Assist and advise Executive Director and Associate Director on various matters, including agreement templates, office SOPs, translational funding programs and general strategy; review and sign CDAs and MTAs when they are not available
o Oversee an additional, significant MSUT program, such as the commercialization intern program or a future effort such as a faculty ambassador program.
• Innovation Management – 15%
o Identify areas of campus research of high commercial interest and potential
o Establish key faculty relationships
o Mine innovative technology from research and support faculty in submitting invention disclosures
o Work with faculty to understand and develop research/development plan to move technology toward a commercial-ready state
o Understand and make timely decisions
o Work with Patent Administration team on federal reporting
o Work with Executive Director to manage technologies with complex histories and challenges
• Patent Protection and Strategy – 15%
o Develop and execute domestic and international (if applicable) intellectual property protection strategy to achieve commercial goals
o Manage portfolio by taking appropriate and timely procedural steps with outside counsel
o Meet objectives for patent filings and other patent related targets
o Assess invention disclosures for commercial potential including screening, market research, customer discovery, and working with mentors-in-residence
o Make decisions on IP protection strategy and work with outside attorneys to ensure patent applications are filed, maintenance fees are paid, and office actions are responded to
• Marketing Technologies – 5%
o Manage the development of a marketing strategy and supporting materials for technologies using applicable resources (interns, patent and business intelligence data sources, mentors-in-residence, etc.) as applicable
o Implement marketing strategy to deliver high quality information to interested leads via non-confidential summaries
o Develop appropriate technology valuation, negotiation positions, and deal terms to support marketing plans
o Use online partnering platforms, and email campaigns to market technologies
• Licensing and Agreement Compliance – 20%
o Identify reasonable deal valuation in context of relevant market(s) and prior deals while maximizing the value of the technology
o Identify other party’s anticipated positions, needs, and wants during negotiation to finalize deal
o Evaluate potential licensee business/technology development plan in support of risk assessment
o Identify optimal licensee(s) and appropriate deal structures
o Implement licensing strategies (e.g., bundling, inter-institutional, multiple agreements per technology) in context of the technology and applicable market(s)
o Negotiate term sheets and draft agreement language
o Establish and maintain relationships with industry partners/collaborators
o Work with Agreement Compliance team to support and meet objectives for agreement compliance; undertake primary role in addressing licenses that are out of compliance
o Leverage existing relationships to support additional partnerships with MSU, including research, student recruiting, and further licensing opportunities with relevant MSU offices (e.g., Business Connect)
• Faculty Support – 10%
o Develop and manage strong relationships with faculty inventors and prospective inventors
o Provide guidance on material transfer, confidentiality, and data use agreements
o Assist as necessary regarding intellectual property policies and procedures in support of grant applications with OSP/CGA
o Collaborate with Spartan Innovations and other relevant groups in support of MSU researcher-led and MSU technology-based startup companies
o Participate in educational and in-reach programs to MSU faculty and researchers including department seminars, research symposiums, and university programs/committees
• Continuous Improvement, Strategic Initiatives and Professional Development – 5%
o Continuous improvement of skills, tools, and systems in support of MSUT
o Support key initiatives of other MSUT functions
o Collaborate with other offices in the MSU Innovation Center, such as Business Connect to support sponsored research agreements and other types of collaborations developed via marketing activities
o Develop annual Professional Development and Improvement Plan
Minimum Requirements
Knowledge equivalent to that which normally would be acquired by completing a four-year college degree program, preferably in a life science, engineering, business, or legal field; eight or more years of progressively responsible experience in technology transfer, intellectual property licensing, or a related field, including prior experience supervising or leading professional staff; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Desired Qualifications
• Preferred Education: Advanced degree (e.g., MBA, PhD, Master’s degree, JD)
• Preferred Experience: Experience in industry or academia, including progressively more responsible, independent and expansive work experience in the physical sciences or a related technical field; in-depth knowledge of and experience in the management and development of intellectual property, including knowledge of United States and foreign patent and licensing laws and regulations; history of successful licensing activities; supervisory experience leading professional staff. *Up to two years of required experience can be satisfied with the following qualifications: CLP or RTTP certification can be credited as one year of experience; a PhD in a relevant technical discipline can be credited as one year; experience as a licensing assistant, tech transfer fellow or similar full-time position can be credited at a 50% rate of the time in such position.
Equal Employment Opportunity Statement
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, citizenship, age, disability or protected veteran status.
Required Application Materials
Resume and Cover Letter
Work Hours
STANDARD 8-5
Website
https://innovationcenter.msu.edu/tech-tr
Bidding eligibility ends July 21, 2026, 11:55 PM
