Director - Startups, Incubation & Centre of Excellence

Director - Startups, Incubation & Centre of Excellence

Position Reports To:

Role Summary:

The Director will be responsible for providing strategic vision and operational leadership to the institutions startup ecosystem, Incubation Centre, and various Centres of Excellence. This role is crucial for fostering an environment of innovation, entrepreneurship, and industry-academia collaboration, leveraging the technical and subject-specific expertise of the faculty and students. The position reports directly to the Vice Chancellor.

Key Responsibilities:

• Innovation & Startups: Define clear goals and success metrics for institutional innovations. Develop strategic and business plans for institutional growth, and generate revenue through sponsorships, grants, and fee-based services. The role will be responsible for enhancing research funding, patent filings, and licensing agreements. A key responsibility will be to launch and manage the Innovation & Product Development Center, a Design Incubation Center, and other academic and industrial collaboration centers.
• Centres of Excellence (CoEs): Establish domain-specific CoEs in key areas such as startup incubation, entrepreneurship, product design, sustainable development, and coding excellence. This includes developing a Center for Capacity Building & Consulting, and setting up other specialized centers in collaboration with various department heads.
• Startup Support & Industry Collaboration: Provide structured mentoring, funding, and networking opportunities for early-stage startups. This involves engaging with investors, VCs, corporate partners, and government agencies. The Director will also promote patent filings, technology transfer, and IP commercialization, and organize events like startup boot camps, hackathons, and investor summits.
• Operational & Financial Management: Manage budgets, grants, and revenue-generation strategies in consultation with the Vice Chancellor. The role requires ensuring compliance with university policies and funding regulations and tracking key performance metrics for all incubated startups and CoEs.

Key Qualifications & Experience:

• Education: Masters Degree in Business Administration, Engineering, Science, Entrepreneurship, or related fields. A Ph.D. in Entrepreneurship or Business Management is preferred but not mandatory.
• Experience: A minimum of 18+ years of total experience, with at least 12+ years of related experience, with strong exposure to startup funding mechanisms, venture capital, and angel investments. Prior experience in setting up and managing an incubation center, startup accelerator, or CoE at a university or industry level is essential.
• Skills: Proven leadership skills with an ability to drive institutional partnerships and stakeholder engagement. The candidate must have a deep understanding of industry trends, emerging technologies, and innovation-driven enterprises. Strong business acumen and an entrepreneurial mindset are required, along with excellent networking, relationship-building, and negotiation skills. Experience in handling government grants, CSR initiatives, and multi-stakeholder projects is also necessary.

About the Institution

A leading institution in Bengaluru, Karnataka, focused on academic excellence, innovation, and holistic development.

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