Technical Licensing Officer 1

• Job Type: Officer of Administration
• Bargaining Unit:
• Regular/Temporary: Regular
• End Date if Temporary:
• Hours Per Week: 35 hrs/wk
• Standard Work Schedule:
• Building:
• Salary Range: $100,000.00 - $125,000.00

Position Summary

Columbia Technology Ventures is the technology transfer office for Columbia University and a central location for many of the technology development initiatives, entrepreneurial activities, external industry collaborations, and commercially-oriented multidisciplinary technology innovations across the university.  CTV’s core mission is to facilitate the transfer of inventions from academic research labs to the market for the benefit of society on a local, national, and global basis. Each year, CTV manages more than 400 invention disclosures, 100 license deals, and 20 - 30 new IP-backed startups, involving over 750 inventors across Columbia's campuses. CTV currently has over 1,500 patent assets available for licensing, across research fields such as bio, IT, clean tech, devices, big data, materials science, and more.   

CTV has extensive experience launching and supporting initiatives to enable promising technologies to accelerate across the “valley of death” and reach the market as quickly and successfully as possible. Many of these initiatives are explicitly multi-institutional, requiring extensive collaboration with our peer universities and their tech transfer offices. A few of the programs that CTV has been instrumental in establishing are the PowerBridgeNY clean energy proof-of-concept center, the NYC Media Lab, and the Columbia Biomedical Technology Accelerator (Columbia BiomedX), formally the Columbia-Coulter Translational Research Partnership. In addition, Translational Therapeutics (TRx) Resource was launched in 2016, in collaboration with the Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research and the Clinical Trials Office, to advance novel therapeutics from the lab towards the path of commercialization and clinical implementation.

CTV’s efforts are backed by 45 full-time staff and an additional 30+ graduate student interns (CTV Fellows), providing broad support to the Columbia community and other stakeholders with marketing, legal (patents, contracts, etc.), business start-up help, and administrative tasks. CTV also runs an Executive-in-Residence program, which brings seasoned industry executives, serial entrepreneurs, and investors to campus to support faculty and student entrepreneurial activities. 

Responsibilities

Technology Evaluation and Development

The TLO will:

• develop relationships within the Columbia University research community for purposes of identifying Intellectual Property (IP), evaluating its patentability and commercial/licensing potential. 
• be heavily involved in the process of working directly with principal investigators, patent counsel, and other parties to develop appropriate commercialization and patent prosecution strategies to protect the IP.
• recommend projects for further investment from the CTV validation fund, as appropriate.

Strategic Outreach and Marketing:

Working with the broader CTV licensing team, the TLO will:

• implement a range of marketing and market research activities, including identifying potential licensees and potential industrial research partners interested in collaborations with Columbia researchers and materials.
• develop and execute commercialization strategies.

Deal execution

The TLO will:

• with input and supervision from the CTV Senior Director, Commercialization & Licensing, negotiate and execute sponsored research agreements and licensing agreements with industry partners and university start-ups related to their technology portfolio.

Minimum Qualifications

• PhD or advanced degree required.
• 1 year related experience or an equivalent combination of education and directly related experience required. Qualifying experience may include scientific or commercial diligence, academic research with translational or commercialization exposure, technology assessment, venture development, business development, industry research and development, startup advising, investment analysis, or technology transfer.
• Demonstrated ability to evaluate complex scientific information and communicate its technical and commercial significance to varied audiences.
• Strong analytical, organizational, interpersonal, oral, and written communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple concurrent assignments and collaborate effectively with scientific, legal, business, and administrative stakeholders.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience or demonstrated exposure to technology transfer, intellectual property management, patent strategy, licensing, sponsored research, venture capital, business development, or contract negotiation.
• Familiarity with the commercialization process for life-sciences discoveries, including technology assessment, intellectual property protection, market analysis, industry outreach, startup formation, and licensing.
• Experience evaluating early-stage scientific technologies, conducting commercial diligence, or working with academic researchers, entrepreneurs, investors, or industry partners.
• Interest in developing proficiency in intellectual property, licensing structures, agreement negotiation, and University technology-transfer practices.

Equal Opportunity Employer / Disability / Veteran

Columbia University is committed to the hiring of qualified local residents.