Business Development Officer - Commercialisation Venture Support 3-year fixed-term contract

Job Description

To support the Company’s Commercialisation agenda by supporting partner engagement, pipeline coordination, documentation, and operational delivery across licensing and spinout activities arising from Wits research and innovation outputs.

To support the development of a Commercialisation approach per innovation opportunity, ensuring a smooth handover from pre-commercialisation activities led by the Wits Innovation Centre to Commercialisation activities led by Wits Commercial Enterprise, to help surface industry licensing and spinout opportunities through research, outreach, and basic due diligence.

To support the commercial assessment of innovation opportunities transitioning from pre-commercialisation to commercialisation, including conducting preliminary commercial due diligence on market readiness, business potential, commercial pathways, and resourcing requirements.

To provide coordination and administrative support between the Company and key Wits innovation ecosystem stakeholders (Wits Innovation Centre, Wits Commercialisation Forum, Adhoc Innovation Committee, inventors/entrepreneurs, external advisors/consultants, funders, and industry partners).

To provide secretariat support to the Wits Commercialisation Forum (scheduling, document collation, minute-taking, action tracking, and data room administration) under the direction of the Business Development Manager.

To support the coordination and rollout of the Wits Researcher-to-Founder Development Programme aimed at preparing researchers for entrepreneurial and venture-building pathways.

Key Responsibilities

• Commercialisation Pipeline Support and Documentation
• Partnership Development
• Licensing Support
• Spinout Support
• Commercial Due Diligence
• Researcher-to-Founder Programme Coordination and Rollout
• Commercialisation Forum Secretariat Support
• Reporting, M&E and Benefits Tracking

How to Apply

To apply: please submit a cover letter clearly outlining your skills and experience, indicating the post that you are applying for, together with a CV and the names and contact details including email address of at least three (3) references to: https://wits-enterprise.co.za/vacancies/68454/business-development-officer-commercialisation-venture-support-3-year-fixed-term-contract/

For queries: contact Sonti Masike, Executive PA/HR Officer, by email on recruitment.witsenterprise@wits.ac.za