Description

Reporting to the Head of the ESA BIC and Φ-LabNet Office, you will support, coordinate and expand – as part of a team – a network of 3rd party economic operators (i.e. Commercialisation Network partners) that execute ESA Commercialisation activities on behalf of the Agency in support of valorisation and business incubation activities in ESA Member States.

Duties

Your tasks and responsibilities will include:

• Managing Commercialisation activities according to the Directorate’s best practices and supporting daily management of the assigned ESA Commercialisation network partners, currently comprising ESA Business Incubation Centres (ESA BICs), Φ-Labs (Φ-LabNet) and members of ESA’s Partnership Initiative in Commercialisation (EPIC);

• Being responsible for the technical/project management of the assigned contracts with ESA’s Commercialisation Network partners, which includes:
  • implementing best practices according to ESA’s common approach to ESA BICs and Φ-LabNet;
  • interfacing daily with local business partners, local authorities and government agencies;
  • chairing local start-up evaluation boards for ESA Commercialisation network partners, including ESA BICs and Innovation Seed Funding calls;
  • executing contract management, including obtaining quarterly reports, holding yearly reviews, obtaining required deliverables, etc.

• Supporting the strengthening of current ESA Commercialisation Network partner activities as well as supporting the setting up of new activities – such as ESA BIC and Φ-LabNet – as needed.

This includes:

• supporting new procurements and making changes to current contracts;
• contractually consolidating activities where possible – such as ESA BIC and Φ-LabNet activities – and;
• if desired by national delegations, ensuring locally driven stakeholder meetings lead to strong and sustained ESA Commercialisation activities;

• Supporting other ESA Commercialisation activities as required, such as ESA’s technology broker and investor network activities.

Your specific duties may also include, for example:

• supporting the current business development lead officer in the CIP-CB team with the Φ-LabNet business line, i.e.
• maintaining and safeguarding the Φ-LabNet Common Approach;
• linking Φ-LabNet to other directorates in ESA with the objective of forming research development between these directorates and Φ-LabNet;
• quality control of PhiLabNet performance.

Technical competencies

Behavioural competencies

Result Orientation
Operational Efficiency
Fostering Cooperation
Relationship Management
Continuous Improvement
Forward Thinking

Education

A master’s with practical experience in technology and innovation, or a master’s in engineering with practical experience in business management is required.

Additional requirements

You possess good interpersonal and communication skills. You have the ability to work autonomously, effectively, and cooperatively in a diverse, international team environment and are able to chair evaluation boards effectively. In addition, you have demonstrated good analytical, organisational, and reporting skills. The latter includes the capability to report on KPIs and trends through statistical analyses and hence a good understanding of such principles and tools are an advantage, as are a proactive attitude to solving problems and an interest in innovative technologies and innovation in general. Experience in business-driven innovation programmes such as business incubation centres and technology commercialisation programmes is considered an asset.