Business Development Manager: Manchester Metropolitan University

Are you looking to develop your career in business development and innovation? Do you want to develop great R&D collaborations between university researchers and external partners in a wide range of sectors? Do you want to see high quality research turn into real world impact on society, the economy, health, and the environment?

We are looking for a talented and professional Business Development Manager to join the Directorate of Research and Knowledge Exchange (RKE).

This is an exciting time to join Manchester Met. The past five years have seen significant achievements in driving high-quality, impactful Research and Knowledge Exchange. In the Business and Partnerships Development team, our focus is on R&D and building commercial income streams such as contract research.

Role

The role requires an experienced B2B Business Development Manager, with experience working within a Higher Education setting, to help deliver an ambitious strategy to increase Knowledge Exchange activities with external partners in the public, private and third sector. You will be joining an established, professional and collaborative team of Business Development Managers, and you will:

• Focus on increasing and diversifying income streams from contract research, consultancy, KTPs, growth of Intellectual Property income and other entrepreneurial activities
• Generate leads and develop good working relationships with key partners to help identify additional opportunities and build long-lasting partnerships
• Provide expert advice to academics and guide them through university processes for developing funding proposals (full training can be provided). You will provide liaison between the academic team and the external partner during proposal development and the contract agreement stage, working closely with our specialist RKE Contracts team
• Be a natural team-player, with a collaborative approach to your work; have strong commercial acumen and good numeracy skills
• Have an understanding of funders of innovation and enterprise such as Innovate UK

Manchester Met

Manchester Met research is fundamentally interdisciplinary and innovative. Our thematic areas of Knowledge Exchange expertise include Industry 4.0; the Circular Economy and Sustainability; Sport and Health; and Creative, Digital & Technology. More information on our 14 University Centres of Research and Knowledge Exchange can be found here. While the team is structured to work across different academic disciplines as required, it's likely that the initial focus for this role will include areas such as advanced computational science and applied social sciences.

Hybrid working options are available and the role is fixed term to 31st August 2024. While we cannot provide any certainty at the moment, we are seeking to make the role permanent.

Please apply through the Manchester Metropolitan University jobs portal and include a covering letter with your application.

If you would like an informal talk about the role, please contact Clare O'Neill via clare.oneill@mmu.ac.uk.

Manchester Metropolitan University is committed to supporting the rights, responsibilities, dignity, health and wellbeing of staff and students through our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.

We promote applications from all sections of the community, irrespective of background, belief or identity, recognising the benefits that a diverse organisation can bring and particularly encourage applications from groups which are underrepresented in the University workforce.

We recognise the benefits and importance of an environment that supports flexible working and are open to conversations about this throughout the application process.