Associate Provost for Innovation and Entrepreneurship

American University in Cairo

Job Description:

The Office of the Associate
Provost for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at AUC is a new venture. The office promotes collaboration between researchers, students, and
industry, both locally and globally. Our mission is to enhance AUC's research impact by fostering industry partnerships and entrepreneurial
activities across various sectors, including, but not limited to, sustainability, climate and water, energy, urban studies and smart cities,
biomedical sciences, artificial intelligence, and data-driven research. The office will be in charge of leading and managing the Technology,
Research, and Innovation Laboratory (TRI-LAB).

Main Responsibilities:

1) Knowledge Translation Ecosystem:

• Ecosystem Development and Navigation: Establish, lead and manage AUC's Technology, Research and Innovation Lab (TRI-Lab) to be the
  central hub for translation of research, entrepreneurship, and innovation.
• Develop an ecosystem that promotes university-industry
  collaboration, nurtures young entrepreneurs, and incubates startups.

2) Commercializing AUC Innovations

• Research
  Translation: Promote the practical application of AUC's research discoveries and intellectual property, moving research output into
  commercial products.
• Intellectual Property Leadership: Oversee AUC's intellectual property licensing strategy, ensuring a
  transparent and inventor-friendly process that maximizes returns and global impact.
• Knowledge Transfer: Organize training courses,
  workshops, seminars, and student projects to transfer knowledge.

3) Entrepreneurial Culture:

• Entrepreneurial
  Integration: Integrate entrepreneurial elements into research and education, fostering partnerships between AUC and various
  sectors.

4) Inter and Intra Collaborations:

• Collaborations: Foster strategic partnerships with international and
  national companies, facilitating research collaborations, technology transfer, and industrial presence on campus.
• Synergy Building:
  Create synergies across AUC's innovative research programs to benefit faculty and students.
• Resource Alignment: Align and integrate
  existing innovation activities to ensure resources are available for students and faculty to develop their ideas.
• Partnership
  Strengthening: Strengthen partnerships among offices and units to improve the experience of AUC's innovators and reduce
  redundancies.
• Community Support: Assist the AUC community in launching companies, managing intellectual property, filing patents,
  and securing investors.

Additional Responsibilities:

• Maximize Returns to AUC: Develop strategies to maximize
  returns to AUC, supporting its public mission.
• Team Leadership: Lead a dynamic team focused on knowledge transfer, innovation,
  commercialization, and economic development.
• Senior Management Interaction: Engage with senior management on intellectual property,
  patent negotiations, and other high-level discussions.
• Fundraising: Work closely with AUC entities and individuals, as well as
  sponsors and donors, to raise funds for the TRI-LAB activities and operations.
• Other duties as assigned by the
  provost.

Requirements:

Required Qualifications:

• Significant experience in knowledge
  translation and moving ideas to market.
• Expertise in business development and financial investment models that drive innovation and
  industry transformation.
• Experience in intellectual property management.
• Experience as an entrepreneurial executive in
  private industry or a combination of industry and academia.
• Advanced skills in strategy development, systems planning, and change
  management.
• Ability to establish and align mission and goals at the macro level.
• Strong collaboration skills with diverse
  faculty in a top-tier academic setting.
• Effective leadership and motivational skills for various stakeholders.
• In-depth
  knowledge of administrative management theory and its practical application.
• Ability to establish metrics for departmental and
  employee goals.
• Conflict management and persuasive communication skills.
• Demonstrated supervisory skills.
• Ability to
  navigate complex organizational structures and policies.
• Excellent verbal and written communication and presentation
  skills.
• Advanced degree in a related area or equivalent experience/training.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Entrepreneurial experience in a revenue-generating organization.
• PhD in a STEM field, and/or MBA.
• Experience in
  research-focused higher education institutions.