Associate Director of Commercial Partnerships

Medical Research Council

Associate Director of Commercial Partnerships

Salary: £70,752 per annum

Band: UKRI Band G

Secondment welcome (host employer will be remunerated), 12 months

Contract Type: Open ended

Hours: Full-time/ Part Time (minimum 0.8 FTE) (flexible working available)

Location: London/Polaris House, Swindon - Hybrid working available

Closing Date: Sunday 18th January 2025

About the role

Forming partnerships and collaborations to fund and support biomedical research across the UK is essential to deliver impact for the UK population. Working with the Director of National Partnerships, the Associate Director of Commercial Partnerships will ensure that MRC has an effective approach to partnership and collaboration across pharmaceutical, biotech and medtech industries and with the UK wide investment community.

Alongside developing external partnerships, the role requires working in partnership across UKRI as appropriate and extensive collaboration with other members of the MRC's Senior Executive Team, supporting their portfolios through partnership.

Purpose

Developing, maintaining and publicising MRC's strategic and operational relationships with commercial partners across the financial and health and life sciences sector.

Responsibilities

• Establish new and support existing approaches to engagement with MRC's industry stakeholders across pharma, biotech, health tech, AI and medtech.
• Establish new and support existing approaches to engagement with the UK investment community including with angel investors, venture builders, venture capital, private equity and other sources of commercial investment.
• Securing partnerships that will deliver MRC's strategic priorities : supporting research that will deliver a deeper, mechanistic and integrated understanding of disease; increasing UK capability and capacity for medical research, as well as delivering precision prevention, early diagnosis and advanced treatments of disease.
• Ensure all existing and future MRC commercial partnerships deliver against their objectives and deliver on MRC priorities.
• Establish opportunities for co-funding research and commercial partnerships through the MRC's institutes, other UKRI investments and wider public sector.
• Ensure that MRC has effective engagement and communication with key industry stakeholders through trade associations and similar organisations.
• Support the exploitation and commercialisation of MRC funded intellectual property arising from MRC institutes.

Personal Specification

The below criteria will be scored during Shortlisting (S), Interview (I) or both (S&I).

Essential

• Significant experience of senior management in public, private or charity sector with business development leadership. (S)
• Extensive experience of delivering a portfolio of work at national levels. (S)
• Significant experience of building partnerships and collaboration in the medical and healthcare sector with commercial organisations a senior level. (S/I)
• A developed understanding of the role of research and innovation in delivering UK strategic research and innovation objectives, with experience of developing strategy in the medical research and healthcare sector. (I)
• Management of diverse and complex stakeholders and with the ability to negotiate successfully to meet the needs of individual parties within the experience of agreeing deals in the medical and healthcare sector including government and commercial partners. (S/I)
• A developed understanding of the international research funding landscape. (I)

Desirable

• Experience of supporting and managing discovery and applied research funding, focused on outcomes. (S)
• Experience of working with senior civil service policy professionals. (S)
• Experience of interdisciplinarity. (S)

Benefits

We recognise and value our employees as individuals and strive to provide a favourable pay and rewards package. We are committed to supporting employees' development and promote a culture of continuous learning

A list of benefits below:

• An outstanding defined benefit pension scheme
• 30 days' annual leave in addition to 10.5 public and privilege days (full time equivalent)
• Employee discounts and offers on retail and leisure activities
• Employee assistance programme, providing confidential help and advice
• Flexible working options

Plus many more benefits and wellbeing initiatives that enable our employees to have a great work life balance

For further information on our benefits please see:

Benefits of working at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)

Please apply online, if you experience any issue applying, please contact

Please note, if you will require sponsorship to work in the UK, as part of your sponsorship application, you and any dependants travelling with you, will be required to pay costs directly to The Home Office for the application before you start your role with us. UKRI is normally able to reimburse some, or all of these fees after you have become an employee and this can be discussed with the Hiring Manager. For more information, please visit or contact