Director of Technology Ventures

About the Opportunity

Summary:
The Center for Research Innovation (CRI) at Northeastern University is seeking a dynamic and entrepreneurial Director of Technology Ventures to lead the development and acceleration of Northeastern's spinout portfolio. This role carries two closely linked mandates. First, the Director will directly oversee a portfolio of life sciences and physical sciences spinouts, working hands-on with founding teams to sharpen product-market fit, define go-to-market strategy, and move ventures from formation through launch. Second, the Director will design and run scalable programming, internal and external, that extends CRI's support across the full portfolio of roughly 50 spinouts at varying stages, including entrepreneurial training and education, pitch training, grant writing support, and structured connections to venture capital and other investors.

The Director will act as a hands-on venture builder and a program architect, balancing individualized company support with repeatable infrastructure that allows CRI's impact to scale beyond what one-on-one engagement alone could achieve. This position reports to the Executive Director of CRI and works in close coordination with the Commercialization, Marketing, and Contracts teams to ensure a holistic, cross-functional approach to spinout success.

The ideal candidate combines venture-building instincts (evaluating markets, stress-testing business models, and coaching founding teams) with the discipline to build programs, curricula, and investor networks that serve many companies at once. A deep understanding of the startup life cycle in science-based ventures, strong relationship-management skills across faculty, investors, and industry, and a genuine passion for developing the next generation of entrepreneurial researchers are essential.

Key Responsibilities & Accountabilities

1. Venture Development & Acceleration (Portfolio Management) – 40%

Lead venture development activities across a portfolio of life sciences and physical sciences spinouts, partnering with founding teams from early formation through launch and initial growth, and overseeing the execution of portfolio-level initiatives and priorities.

- Venture Formation and Launch: Lead the design and execution of a scalable, repeatable venture creation process spanning opportunity identification, venture assessment, founding team formation, company launch, and transition to independent operation. Partner closely with CRI's Commercialization team to align venture formation activities with intellectual property strategy, licensing negotiations, and commercialization objectives. Build and maintain a robust pipeline of future spinouts by working with faculty and the Commercialization team to identify high-potential research and invention disclosures, evaluate venture readiness, and advance promising opportunities through company formation and launch.
- Portfolio Oversight:  Directly oversee a portfolio of life sciences and physical sciences spinouts, managing company-level progress, milestones, and support needs while establishing strategic priorities, resource allocation frameworks, and operating processes for the broader venture portfolio. Lead and direct staff responsible for portfolio monitoring and execution to ensure consistent, data-driven oversight across companies. Build and maintain the pipeline of future spinouts by partnering with the Commercialization team and faculty to identify high-potential research and invention disclosures, assess venture readiness, and advance promising opportunities toward company formation.
- Product-market Fit: Work directly with faculty founders and early management teams to test and refine value propositions, target markets, and customer/end-user assumptions before and after formation.Go-to-market strategy: Guide spinouts in developing commercialization pathways and go-to-market plans, including regulatory strategy considerations for life sciences ventures and market entry planning for physical sciences ventures.
- Founder and Team Support: Provide direct coaching to academic founders and startup leadership on business model development, competitive positioning, and de-risking technical and commercial milestones.
- Talent Network: Set the strategic direction for how the Venture team builds out and maintains CRI's talent network of advisors, executives-in-residence, and potential management team members, drawing on relevant relationships to help seed it.

2. Scalable Programming – 35%

Provide strategic leadership for the design, positioning, and continuous evolution of CRI's venture support ecosystem to maximize the quality, readiness, and long-term success of Northeastern spinouts. Develop scalable programs, resources, and investor engagement strategies that systematically strengthen venture formation, accelerate company growth, and extend high-impact support across the full portfolio.

Design and operate programming that extends CRI's venture support across the full spinout portfolio through the following areas:

- Training and Education: Develop and deliver structured entrepreneurial training and education for faculty, researchers, and founding teams across the stages of the venture life cycle, both within Northeastern and, where relevant, for external audiences.

- Venture Resources: Develop and oversee a comprehensive venture support ecosystem that equips spinouts for successful formation, growth, and fundraising. Build, scale, and continuously enhance a portfolio of internal and external resources, programs, and service providers to address the evolving needs of ventures across stages of development. Manage and expand key support offerings, including I-Corps programming, grant writing assistance, pitch coaching, marketing and branding support, Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) matching, build-space resources, spinout co-op programs, and investor engagement initiatives such as venture capital office hours, while identifying and establishing new resources to accelerate venture success.

- Investor Connections: Design structured mechanisms, such as investor days, curated introductions, and stage-based funding pathways, to connect the portfolio's ~50 spinouts with venture capital, corporate, and angel investors appropriate to each company's stage.

- Program Measurement and Improvement: Track program participation and outcomes across the portfolio, and continuously refine programming based on founder feedback and portfolio performance.

3. Ecosystem and External Engagement – 25%

- VC and Investor Relationships: Direct CRI's investor-relationship strategy and cultivate CRI's institutional relationships with venture capital firms, corporate investors, and angel networks from the ground up, while setting the framework within which portfolio-specific investor engagement is carried out, serving as a trusted connector between investors and CRI-affiliated ventures.

- Internal Partnerships: Coordinate closely with CRI's Commercialization, Marketing, and Contracts teams, and with Northeastern's broader entrepreneurial ecosystem (e.g., venture mentoring, hub-based entrepreneurship programs, I-Corps), to ensure spinouts have coordinated access to resources.

- Thought Leadership: Represent CRI externally at conferences, peer-institution forums, and industry events, and share best practices for university venture development.

Qualifications:
The minimum education, experience, and skills required to perform the job successfully.

- Advanced degree required ; STEM background (life sciences, physical sciences, or engineering) strongly preferred given the composition of the portfolio.

- 8–10 years of experience in venture development, technology commercialization, or startup building, including direct experience evaluating product-market fit and go-to-market strategy for early-stage, technology-based companies.

- Demonstrated experience designing and running scalable programs, such as accelerators, training curricula, or structured investor-engagement initiatives, that serve a portfolio of companies rather than single engagements.

- Track record of building and maintaining relationships with venture capital firms, corporate investors, and angel networks, with the ability to match investors to companies at the appropriate stage.

- Experience with non-dilutive funding pathways for early-stage science and technology companies (e.g., SBIR/STTR, foundation grants) and the ability to build support programming around them.

- Direct experience in an academic technology transfer or research commercialization setting, working with faculty inventors and understanding the constraints of university-affiliated venture formation.

- Strong financial and business acumen, including familiarity with cap tables, equity structures, and the financial mechanics of early-stage fundraising.

- Excellent relationship-management, coaching, and communication skills across a range of stakeholders, including faculty, founders, investors, and university leadership.

- Comfort operating in ambiguity and building new infrastructure in a fast-evolving field.

Position Type

Research

Additional Information

Northeastern University considers factors such as candidate work experience, education and skills when extending an offer.

Northeastern has a comprehensive benefits package for benefit eligible employees. This includes medical, vision, dental, paid time off, tuition assistance, wellness & life, retirement- as well as commuting & transportation. Visit https://hr.northeastern.edu/benefits/ for more information.

All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

Compensation Grade/Pay Type:
113S

Expected Hiring Range:
$113,865.00 - $165,105.00

With the pay range(s) shown above, the starting salary will depend on several factors, which may include your education, experience, location, knowledge and expertise, and skills as well as a pay comparison to similarly-situated employees already in the role. Salary ranges are reviewed regularly and are subject to change.