Senior Portfolio Manager

School/Department:                 Research Ireland ARC Hub for Therapeutics, School of Biochemcistry & Immunology 

Job Category and Level:          Senior Administrative Officer 3

Hours of Post:                           35 hours per week

The Purpose of the Role 

The Research Ireland ARC Hub for Therapeutics, hosted by the School of Biochemistry and Immunology, is seeking to appoint a Senior Portfolio Manager (Chief Scientific Officer, Entrepreneur in Residence), who will report directly to the ARC Executive Director. This role will support the mission, vision, culture and strategic objectives of the ARC Hub to ‘accelerate academic research towards commercial success and to cultivate the next generation of innovation and entrepreneurial leaders’. 

The successful candidate will provide leadership, strategic directions and guidance for two reporting portfolio managers, be responsible for the selection of projects with commercial potential from academic groups in Higher Education Institutions (HEI) nationally, and will direct and manage their execution towards a successful commercial endpoint in the form of university spin-outs, patents and licenses to industry. Interaction of the ARC Hub with multiple stakeholders will be pivotal to ensuring successful commercialisation of academic research, requiring the Senior Portfolio Manager to forge a range of academic and non-academic relationships. 

The successful candidate must assume a high level of leadership and responsibility with respect to ownership and delivery for the commercial strategy of the project portfolio, promoting cohesion within the team and with external parties, setting shared goals and in defining targets for monitoring of performance. They will provide significant input into the the higher strategy and tactical planning of the ARC Hub through regular interactions with the ARC Executive Director (based in UCD), Senior Management team, and Advisory and Executive committees. The Senior Portfolio Manager will be the most senior appointment for the ARC Hub in Trinity and will be required to deputise when required for the ARC Hub Academic Director Prof Vincent Kelly.

Context 

The Research Ireland ARC Hub for Therapeutics is a collaborative initiative between Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin, and the RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, with the aim of guiding academic projects to commercial success on a national scale in conjunction with other Higher Education Institutions (HEI) in the Republic of Ireland. The ARC Hub is focused on the generation of high-quality spin-outs and licenses in the fields of small molecule therapies, biological therapies, biomaterials, biomarkers with therapeutic potential and in advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs). To achieve this objective, the ARC Hub will unite various elements of the Irish biopharma landscape, including venture capitalists, indigenous companies, state agencies, and a network of advisors. This broad alliance will focus on identifying, advising, and guiding academic projects towards commercial success. Additionally, the ARC Hub will focus on developing the translational research skills of academics and postdoctoral researchers. This will involve entrepreneurial training, engagement with external experts, and hands-on experience in taking research to market, thereby nurturing the next generation of entrepreneurial scientists and fostering a robust and sustainable innovation ecosystem in Ireland.

Qualifications 

• The successful candidate must have a third level PhD qualification in science/engineering or equivalent, with relevant experience in therapeutic/pharmaceutical drug discovery and development in industry (5-10 years). 

• Experience and additional graduate or post-graduate qualifications in project management would be an advantage.