Required educational background and skills, and preferred experience:
1. A PhD in life sciences (bioscience engineering, medicine, biomedical sciences, biology…) with expertise in omics, ideally in single-cell or spatial multi-omics research. A thesis focusing on a topic with translational focus can be a plus;
2. Experience in business development, valorization and/or services;
3. Excellent organisational and information processing skills. Ability to manage a portfolio of diverse translational, often multidisciplinary, projects and drive these concurrently through to completion in terms of business development;
4. Ability to meet deadlines;
5. Ability to work independently and within a group;
6. Excellent social and diplomatic skills for optimal interaction with both academic and industrial players;
7. Excellent communication and negotiation skills;
8. Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English;
9. Next to senior business developer profiles, also talented junior business developer profiles with a necessary growth path can be considered.
Additional desirable experience and skills:
10. Experience in one or more of the following fields: biomarker identification, diagnostics, cancer and immuno-oncology, neurodevelopmental disorders, developmental disorders, rare diseases, drug screening in in vivo or in vitro disease models;
11. Acquainted with Big Data, AI/machine learning and Cloud computing analyses;
12. Experience in servicing technologies;
13. Excellent verbal and written communication skills in Dutch.
As a Business Developer you will be:
14. Interacting with Pharma and Biotech companies to attract highly innovative collaborative research as well as fee-for-service projects that require our cutting-edge single-cell and spatial multi-omics workflows;
15. Maintaining stable business relationships, and developing a helicopter-view oversight on the collaborative research as well as fee-for-service projects;
16. Establishing and fine-tuning servicing related business models in coordination with the LISCO-BIOMED consortium and KU Leuven Research & Development (LRD);
17. Promoting the maturation of research findings into products or services in coordination with our Industrial Research Fund program and Innovation Managers, aiming to bring these to the diagnostics/therapeutics market for the benefit of patients;
18. Developing and customizing consultancy initiatives for interested companies, seeking for single-cell/spatial methodological advice, developments, applications and project execution;
19. Participating in business and innovation-related events, conferences and workshops, and promoting our SCS-omics platform;
20. Expanding an international network.
Technological advancements in single-cell and spatial omics (SCS-omics) bear the enormous potential to revolutionize precision medicine. SCS-omics generates new cellular and molecular insights in the etiopathogenesis of diseases, contributing to the discovery of new higher-order biomarkers that can better guide patient stratification in the clinic or of novel druggable targets to design more effective therapies. To lead in this effort, the KU Leuven Institute for Single Cell Omics (LISCO) was founded in 2021 with headquarters on the University Hospital (UZ Leuven) campus. A state-of-the-art technology platform was recently established within LISCO for the innovation, application, and valorization of SCS-omics to empower breakthrough discoveries in biomedical research and promote the translation of such SCS-omics technologies and biomedical breakthroughs from bench-to-bedside in the clinic and the marketplace (the LISCO-BIOMED initiative). To accelerate the transfer of knowledge, innovations, capabilities and capacity of our SCS-omics platform to the market, we are recruiting a Business Developer.
Join a highly motivated and talented team shaping the future of single-cell and spatial multi-omics for biomedicine. Engage in an incredibly innovative environment within a multidisciplinary and international context. Expand your internal, external, national, and international networks.
We offer initially a temporary position, the salary is aligned with the guidelines of academic staff at KU Leuven. There is a possibility to grow to a staff scientist/research manager position (open-ended contract). You'll enjoy additional benefits such as hospitalization insurance, extra days off, contributions towards cycling and public transport, and eco-vouchers; a telecommuting allowance is also available.