Innovation and Enterprise Development Manager

Full-time, 35 hours per week

Abertay is a modern university with a global outlook, rooted in its local and national communities. We have made our mark with high quality, well-directed teaching and research, and a stimulating and enriching experience for our students.

We are seeking to appoint to a newly established Innovation & Enterprise Development Manager role that will play a central part in strengthening and developing the University’s research commercialisation, enterprise activity, and business development capability.

The University is making a strategic shift towards more active, systematic, and professional management of intellectual property, research translation, and commercialisation. To realise the full value of these developments, and to support an expanding portfolio of high-profile research and knowledge exchange activity, the University now requires dedicated senior expertise in innovation development including entrepreneurial support, technology transfer and business development.

This role is strategically important in light of:

• The University’s strategic pivot towards UKRI and other funding aligned with the UK Modern Industrial Strategy;
• Growth in tech-led, computing-intensive research, including flagship projects such as cQ, CoSTAR, and the forthcoming LIPF application; and
• Institutional priorities relating to research impact and income diversification, commercialisation of IP and research outputs, spin-out and start-up activity, licensing, and industry engagement and partnership development.

The Innovation & Enterprise Development Manager will provide a critical interface between academic research and commercial application, ensuring that discoveries, prototypes, and data-driven innovations are systematically assessed, protected, and advanced towards market readiness and external impact.

The role holder will contribute to the delivery of high-impact enterprise activity while providing specialist capacity in research translation and commercial development. We are therefore seeking a candidate with:

• The credibility and seniority to engage confidently with industry partners, investors, and other external stakeholders;
• A strong technical understanding of research-derived intellectual property and its commercial potential; and
• Substantial experience in commercial development, contract negotiation, and partnership building, ideally with experience of developing software-centred opportunities or other areas aligned with our RKE&I strengths.

The postholder will operate with a high degree of autonomy and will regularly lead on complex matters requiring sound judgement, influence, and collaboration across the University and with external stakeholders. Strong organisational, analytical, and interpersonal skills will be essential in order to prioritise effectively, deliver to demanding deadlines, and manage competing priorities with professionalism and authority. The University will support candidates with relevant experience to develop into the full scope of the role through appropriate training and development.

Attached candidate brief can be found on the top of the page which details the job description, person specification and application details.

If you believe you have the skills and experience for this exciting and challenging role, please submit your application by clicking apply online below.

Please note that we will only accept applications through our online recruitment system.

Committed to Equal Opportunities

Abertay University is a Scottish Registered Charity,

No: SC016040

Advert information