Role summary:

The Director of Intellectual Property for the Life Sciences will work closely with ASU faculty and staff, in-house counsel, and AzTE business development professionals on obtaining invention disclosures, evaluating them, and monitoring the preparation of patent applications. Additional responsibilities may include presentations to faculty, IP report generation and analysis, managing interns, and special projects.

 Who we are and what we do:

Since 2002, Arizona State University President Michael M. Crow has been guiding the transformation of ASU into one of the nation’s leading public research universities, one that is directly engaged in the economic, social, and cultural vitality of its region. Under his direction, the university pursues teaching, research, and creative excellence focused on the major challenges and questions of our time. ASU maintains the principle of accessibility to all qualified students and serves as a pipeline connecting students to the public and private sectors—central to building a sustainable environment and economy for Arizona. However, ASU’s impact extends beyond Arizona through our commitment to global engagement and setting a new standard for public service. This innovative and creative energy reverberates across ASU and creates an excitement to support our ambitious aims.

ASU Enterprise Partners is a private, 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization that raises and invests resources for Arizona State University, while advocating for and advancing ASU’s transformative mission and brand. Though a separate entity from ASU, Enterprise Partners is recognized for its unique approach to supporting the most innovative university in the country through entrepreneurship, research, and discovery. The core of this unique approach is a partnership of focused organizations whose committed employees impact the community locally and globally through a diversity of expertise, including philanthropy and development, applied research, technology transfer, realty, and collaborative research.

AzTE is in the process of rebranding itself as Skysong Innovations. It is ASU’s exclusive intellectual property management and technology transfer organization. It is a private, limited liability company whose sole purpose is the wide dissemination of ASU discoveries and inventions to the marketplace. It is a unit of ASU Enterprise Partners. By working with faculty, investors, and industry partners, Skysong Innovations increases the flexibility and speed of translating ASU innovations and discoveries from the lab to the market. Through this entrepreneurial model, ASU is one of the top-performing US universities in terms of intellectual property inputs and outputs relative to the size of the university’s research enterprise.

Skysong Innovation’s team of passionate and highly qualified professionals is marked by success. Since its inception in 2003, it has delivered more than 2,000 invention disclosures, 80 launched startups, 175 active license and option agreements, and has generated $500 million in venture capital.

We are seeking candidates who are eager to apply their technical expertise, their passion to succeed, and their entrepreneurial spirit for the advancement of ASU’s commitment to impacting its community through discovery and innovation. Join us!

What you’ll do:

• Interact closely with ASU faculty (with an emphasis on building long-term relationships) to monitor their research activities and to solicit and assist with the completion and submission of invention disclosures
• Proactively meet and work with faculty to explain ASU’s technology transfer activities, solicit invention disclosures, and explain the patent application process and Skysong Innovation’s standard procedures and practices
• Perform technical evaluations of invention disclosures
• Make presentations to faculty and student groups
• When needed, work with in-house patent counsel and ASU inventors in crafting responses to patent office actions and other information requests
• Work with internal leadership and the Skysong Innovations business development team to prepare reports and presentations communicating strategies, activities, and results obtained in the solicitation and management of intellectual property
• Support researchers on intellectual property matters related to grant proposals for funding from public and private sources
• Provide due diligence support to the Skysong Innovations business development team to assist in formulating strategies and action plans to bring innovations to market
• Conduct prior art searches and other analysis

What you’ll need:

• Ability to evaluate a wide range of Life Science based technologies with respect to their commercial potential and application as/to products and processes in real world applications
• Provide best-in-class IP services to faculty and staff
• Team-oriented strategist able to effectively manage complex situations involving numerous and sometimes competing constituencies
• Collaborative and kind style, combined with the ability and desire to work in a team-based environment
• Ability to maintain a high-degree of confidentiality and responsibility regarding information related to Skysong Innovation, the Foundation and University business and confidential prospect information
• Strong and collegial interpersonal skills and an ability to communicate effectively in person, writing, and by phone with co-workers, faculty, researchers, administrators and industry (with an emphasis on the ability to listen carefully, speak tactfully, and write professional-quality emails and other written correspondence)
• Ability to speak in public with technical competence, confidence, and humility
• Ability to work both independently and as part of a team
• Proactive problem solver who can and will identify potential issues, take initiative, and set priorities all while being flexible and adaptive to dynamic, shifting, and competing projects and timelines
• Ability to represent and promote the institution as an advocate of the vision of ASU as the New American University
• Attention to detail and thoroughness in completing assigned duties
• Highly organized and able to handle multiple projects
• Adept at navigating complex environments with evolving priorities and communication plans

Relevant Qualifications:

An advanced technical degree in the Life Sciences (preferably a Ph.D.) is required. The incumbent will also be expected either to have, or to obtain within one year, admission to the US Patent Bar as either an agent or attorney. Experience in university technology transfer is a plus.

Please contact us today.

Skysong Innovations, through ASU Enterprise Partners offers a competitive compensation and benefits package, including medical, dental and vision insurance; a 401(k) plan and reduced tuition at ASU.

For more information on Skysong Innovations, visit our existing web site at www.azte.com. If interested in the Director Intellectual Property Services position, please apply online at http://www.azte.com/about/job-opportunities.


                                                                                                             Skysong Innovations is an Equal Opportunity Employer