Job Description

Title: Commercial Science Contracts Manager
Contract: Permanent, full-time (36 hours per week)
Salary: \xc2\xa337,230 per annum

About Us
We are a world-class visitor attraction and leading science research centre. We use the Museum\'s unique collections and our unrivalled expertise to tackle the biggest challenges facing the world today. We care for more than 80 million objects spanning billions of years and welcome more than five million visitors annually and 16 million visits to our website.

Today the Museum is more relevant and influential than ever. By attracting people from a range of backgrounds to work for us, we can continue to look at the world with fresh eyes and find new ways of doing things.

We employ 900 staff in a variety of roles, all united by our vision of a future where people and planet thrive. We need everyone to have the passion and drive to help us with our mission to create advocates for our planet and inspire millions to care about the natural world.

This is an exciting time to join the Museum as we have secured investment from the UK Government to build a new science and digitisation centre at Thames Valley Science Park, University of Reading. The purpose-built centre will house much of the Museum\'s collection and will include laboratories, digitisation suites, collaborative research spaces, conservation labs and workspaces.

Diversity and inclusion matter to us.

Our vision is of a future where both people and the planet thrive. Diversity is one of our core values and we strive to build a workplace where everyone feels a sense of belonging. All new staff who join us learn about the importance of diversity and inclusion to the Museum and how to contribute to creating an inclusive environment.

We know we have more to do, but we are committed to ensuring that everyone who works at the Museum feels they can thrive and feel valued and respected.

Job Summary

The Natural History Museum is accelerating the impact of our science to bend the curve of biodiversity loss and create a future where people and the planet can thrive. The heart of our Vision and Strategy to 2031 creates solutions from, and for, nature. We can generate more impactful solutions if we establish ways to turn our scientific knowledge into scaled products, services and data to produce real-world societal, environmental, and economic value.

The newly formed Innovation Unit at NHM aims to create a pipeline of science-based opportunities, taking ideas from proof-of-concept to market ready products and services. This will build on our existing science commercialization portfolio of consultancy, research contracts, and technical services by finding new and exciting ways to exploit our Intellectual Property (IP) assets and inhouse capabilities, for example via product development, data licensing or new venture creation.

The Commercial Science Contract Manager will be responsible for overseeing the general operations and successful delivery of the Innovation Unit\xe2\x80\x99s portfolio of live contracts, covering fields of bio and geosciences, scientific imaging and analysis, and molecular diagnostics. Our customers range from governments to global multinationals, and our projects from small-scale consultancy to long-term industry collaboration.

Core operational responsibilities include leading on the composition and submission of Museum-wide pitches/bids for contracts, creating fee and resource models, project programming, coordinating the delivery of consultancy advice through project managers and/or matrix-managed staff, managing contract performance, controlling risk and providing quality assurance.

The post would suit a dynamic self-starter who thrives in a fast-paced environment and is willing to take on new tasks with a smile on their face. There will be on-the-job learning opportunities, supported via training, relating to commercialisation of IP and technology transfer. A background in science is desirable, but a passion for exploring science\xe2\x80\x99s capabilities to answer some of society\xe2\x80\x99s biggest challenges is essential.

Main responsibilities:

• To oversee the operations of the Museum\xe2\x80\x99s consultancy business NHM Consulting, ensuring net revenue growth through expanding existing activity and developing business in new sectors.
• Act as lead point of contact for commercial and administrative matters for an agreed portfolio of medium and high-risk contracts, working closely with relevant lead scientists and using professional judgement to identify and resolve arising issues, determining the appropriate action.
• To work with Innovation Unit colleagues and Museum scientists to create and implement business plans for science commercial activities.
• To oversee financial reconciliation and reporting for the NHM Consulting business as necessary, including for Operational Plan Quarterly Reporting and surplus generation for Director of Science.
• Intellectual Property: Facilitate the protection and management of intellectual property arising from research projects. Update wider team on relevant IU IP assets.
• Project scoping: Work with science colleagues to prepare research proposals and budgets that maximise financial return to the museum, link with research impact goals and Innovation Unit objectives.
• Contract Management: Manage the entire lifecycle of research contracts, including reviewing, negotiating, and finalizing agreements with external partners, such as industry sponsors, government agencies, and other research organizations.
• Contract Administration: Monitor contract performance, deliverables, and milestones, ensuring adherence to agreed timelines and budgets. Coordinate with internal stakeholders to facilitate project progress and resolve any contract-related issues.
• Collaboration: Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including legal, finance, research administration, and compliance, to ensure alignment and coordination of contract management activities.
• Licensing: Oversee portfolio of licencing contracts, liaising with external licence holders and updating tracking information

Person Specification

• Degree and/or relevant experience in a science subject or business development.
• Proven knowledge of a breadth of science disciplines in the universities sector and scientific services sector.
• Demonstrable expertise of science commercialisation and experience of leading a business unit.
• Ability to identify new commercial opportunities and to contribute to the creation of business plans to exploit them.
• Experience of assessing and protecting Intellectual Property (knowledge of the UK patent process is desirable).
• Excellent financial skills, with experience of budget management and detailed planning, reporting and analysis.
• Experience of developing and negotiating high-value contracts and of monitoring contract performance.
• Experience of project programming and management, particularly risk assessment.
• Ability to maintain a high level of accuracy in preparing information while working to a tight deadline.
• Highly proficient in Microsoft Office suite, especially MS Word and Excel. Experience of managing databases.
• Ability to work well in a fast fluid team environment and to always maintain a professional manner.
• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written, and the ability to interact with internal stakeholders and external suppliers and clients - including those that do not have English as a first language.
• Excellent negotiation and relationship management skills.
• Excellent organisational skills, highly motivated with the ability to plan and deliver own workload and to work on own initiative.

Thriving at the Museum: the way we work
We are proud to work at the Museum and have identified the qualities we all need to embody to reach our shared ambition. This sits alongside the Museum\xe2\x80\x99s values and forms the framework for the way we work.

We are ambitious. To make a difference on a global scale we are big and bold in our thinking and set goals which may seem impossibly high. We act with integrity, but we are not rigid or inflexible. We are excellent at what we do and look for opportunities to make a difference for the Museum wherever we can.

We are curious. We never stop learning. We look outwards beyond the Museum and ask questions to advance our understanding. We seek out and actively listen to different perspectives. We take time to reflect, are thoughtful and open to new ideas.

We share the wonder. We are captivated by the natural world, proud of our treasures and trusted guardians of our collections. We are passionate about the Museum, enjoy telling its stories and sharing our knowledge and expertise to inspire others. We don\xe2\x80\x99t take this for granted; we feel proud to work here.

We are pioneering. We are not afraid to try something new and use good judgment and evidence to take risks. We experiment, innovate, and embrace complex problems by adapting our approach. We do not dwell on setbacks or get preoccupied with problems. We find solutions.

We team up. We respect the expertise of others and recognise that we produce the strongest outcomes when we put the best ideas together. We trust each other, keep things simple and make it easy for others to do the right thing. We share information and skills so everyone is equipped and enabled to succeed. We never let bad moments grow into bad relationships. We inspire and empower each other to give our best.

We act with pace. We focus our efforts where we know we can make the biggest impact. We take tough decisions and once a plan is set, we all get behind it to make it happen. We take responsibility and don\xe2\x80\x99t wait to be told what to do. We are racing against time in this planetary emergency, so we work with a sense of urgency.

General Information

All positions at the Natural History Museum are conditional subject to receipt of:

• Proof that you are legally entitled to work in the UK

• A Basic Disclosure Check from the Disclosures and Barring Service (DBS)

• Satisfactory references covering the last 3 years of your employment or education

• Health clearance

The Museum supports flexible working.

How to apply

If that sounds like you, please apply online on the Natural History Museum\xe2\x80\x99s careers portal.
Closing date: 9am, 6th October 2023

Interviews expected: w/c 16th October 2023

Natural History Museum