Business Development
Manager
School of Mathematics, Computer Science &
Engineering and the Research and Enterprise Office
Professional Services
http://www.city.ac.uk/
August 2015
Academic excellence for business and the professions.
Role Profile
Post:
Business Development Manager
Department:
School of Mathematics, Computer Science and Engineering / Research and
Enterprise Office
School/Portfolio:
Professional Services
Grade:
7
Tenure:
Permanent
Full-time
Responsible to:
Dual reporting to the School’s Chief Operating Officer with a dotted line
professional responsibility to the Strategic Partnerships Manager in the
Research and Enterprise Office
Background information
City University London’s Vision 2016 places Enterprise alongside Research and Education. In recognition of
this, the University’s Enterprise strategy aims to facilitate innovative and challenging interactions outside the
academic environment, applying University-generated knowledge in business and the wider local communities
and agencies that help shape the capital’s social and economic life.
These initiatives in entrepreneurship and innovation include activities such as protection and
commercialisation of University intellectual property, collaborative research projects, consultancy, enterprise
education, bespoke training courses, continuing professional development, business events, facility hire and
working with leading companies to help shape our degree programmes to make them more relevant, valued,
and attractive.
The post is based in the School of Mathematics, Computer Science and Engineering. This school is
implementing a new Strategic Plan for 2017, which is designed to develop significant improvements in the
quality of our undergraduate educational offer, which will in turn attract very well qualified and motivated
students. In addition, the School is transforming its Engineering and Computer Science curricula to include far
greater emphasis on design, building on the significant advantages of City being located in the Design Quarter
of London. A unique part of the offer will be a guaranteed paid summer placement for all high achieving
students.
The University benefits enormously from being bounded by the Financial Centre of London, TechCity and
Clerkenwell. All three districts provide tremendous opportunities for our students and our research. The City
of London is home to leading international banks, brokers and insurance houses. TechCity provides a vibrant
incubator environment for numerous exciting software start-ups as well as housing major IT companies, such
as Amazon, Facebook and Google. The School has begun developing strong relationships with world-leading
structural engineering design offices located within Clerkenwell. This enabled the University to become
involved in the 2015 Clerkenwell Design Week by hosting a lively fringe event (attended by over 200
professionals from engineering and architectural practices).
Job purpose
The Business Development Manager will enable the School of Mathematics, Computer Science and
Engineering, and City University London broadly, to meet a set of linked strategic objectives via Enterprise
Performance Indicators. This means demonstrating improved Enterprise results and increasing R&D impact
by building strong ties across business, professional and civic communities which reinforce and raise the
University’s profile and reputation. The role requires the manager to have an excellent understanding of the
three disciplines (mathematics, computer science and engineering) which constitute the School.
Achieving the Enterprise outcomes will involve working in productive relationships with colleagues at all levels
in all City Schools and across shared service teams; especially within the Research and Enterprise Office, the
Professional Liaison Unit and the Development and the Alumni Relations Office. Focused on the host School,
the post-holder will lead and manage the implementation of University policy and procedures for the
development and approval of enterprise and knowledge exchange/transfer proposals and projects, and
oversee the implementation of new enterprise and knowledge transfer contracts as they are awarded.
This Business Development Manager will play a key role in enabling the School to meet its strategic objectives.
The post holder will leverage contacts with businesses and other organisations especially in our
neighbourhood to develop partnerships which will add value not only to our research and consultancy
opportunities but also to our overall educational offer.
The post holder will work closely with the Dean, other senior academic manager’s, the Chief Operating Officer
and the Head of the Student Placement Service to ensure the School’s strategic objectives are met in the area
of business engagement and educational enhancement.
The post-holder will be a specialist in academic business engagement, innovation and income generation
practices, particularly in areas relevant to mathematics, computer science and engineering. He/she will act as
a coach to support academic staff in developing their professional effectiveness.
The post holder will also work alongside Enterprise Office colleagues, particularly the Strategic Partnerships
Manager, the Marketing Manager and the KTP Manager, and sharing best practice with Business Development
Managers based in other Schools, the post-holder will lead development and management of the market
research, information monitoring, evaluation and quality control procedures for enterprise and knowledge
transfer projects in their host School, and similarly support delivery of other relevant inter-disciplinary or interSchool projects of this type as agreed.
Direct objectives of the role are to develop corporate partnerships and relationships across key industry
sectors: applied computing; civil, structural engineering and architecture; mechanical and aeronautical
engineering; electronic engineering,mobile communications and biomedical engineering. Measureable
benefits expected to flow from these partnerships will include specific sources of income from expert services
such as consultancy, increased use of specialist technology facilities and laboratories, high-value Continued
Professional Development (CPD) and enhanced educational and placement opportunities for students.
As the School’s champion of enterprise, knowledge transfer/exchange and wider research impact, the postholder will be a source of up to date and in-depth knowledge of relevant policies and procedures, and lead the
communication on these with academic and professional services colleagues, providing appropriate support
and advice. For example, this may be around opportunities to engage closely with Knowledge Transfer
Networks (KTNs) or innovation funders. The work will also contribute to the University’s complementary aims
around employability and student experience, by supporting showcases of enterprise in action to staff and to
the student body.
Key Areas:

To work closely with academic managers and leaders to facilitate and support the development of the
School’s capacity for enterprise creation, research impact and knowledge transfer and exchange.

To facilitate the School’s role in developing and delivering Knowledge Transfer and research impact
to industry.
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To raise the profile of the University and the School and build relationships with external organisations,
professional and funding bodies and sponsors

To maintain a strong working knowledge of major programmes such as Knowledge Transfer
Partnerships (KTPs), Smart, Catapult Centres, CASE studentships, Industrial Fellowships, Follow-on
Funding, EU funding schemes (for KT projects), and Innovate UK and EPSRC Knowledge Exchange
schemes.

To take responsibility for Enterprise income generation by the School, agreeing annual targets with
the Enterprise Office and monitoring performance against them.
Main Duties and Responsibilities:
Enterprise/Knowledge Transfer

Lead the development and co-ordination of Enterprise, Knowledge Transfer and Knowledge Exchange
activities across the School. Monitor initiatives in the School(s), contribute to management of the
Enterprise budget to both School and Enterprise Office.

Build and develop relationships with organisations at executive level to support the School’s strategy
and ambitions. This will include obtaining introductions to relevant organisation for The Dean and other
academic staff

To assist the Dean in building and maintaining relationships with businesses and other organisations
which will provide external input to inform the strategic direction of the School and its research
consultancy and educational opportunities.

To work with the University’s marketing and events team to mount events which build bridges to the
business community including organisations in the City, Clerkenwell and TechCity and which raise
external awareness of the School and University.

Identify opportunities for bids and tenders for external income generation and guide the formation of
teams and preparation of plans to take them forward where required.

Liaise with the KTP Manager to effectively facilitate the creation of new, and existing, project-based
relationships between business partners, academics and any others involved in KTPs.

Enhance City’s profile in relevant priority sectors and showcase its range of research expertise. Lead
on the production of internal and external knowledge exchange newsletters, web-based information
on Business Development, and materials for School Committees or other relevant University groups.
In association with colleagues across the scope of knowledge transfer develop relationships with
business, industry, professional and other organisations for the purposes of Knowledge
Transfer/Exchange and research impacts.

Provide supporting analysis and recommendations to academic colleagues as they develop bids and
tenders for funding and external income generation, such as Research Councils’ KT schemes, CASE
studentships, Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs), and approved consultancy, also advising on
costing/pricing, publicity and contractual aspects, and helping Faculty compose successful Impact
Statements for various bids.

Develop relationships with major funding bodies, in particular Innovate UK, the Research Councils,
the EU Commission, and sector-specific funding bodies to raise awareness of the University’s
research strengths and expertise

Organise and manage Knowledge Transfer events in the School, in collaboration with the KTP
Manager and other Business Development Managers, to raise the profile of KT in all Schools, with
collaboration particularly focused on clearly interdisciplinary or cross-school activities (e.g. digital
economy, medical devices, clean technology).

Build on REF Impact (output based, originating from publications, eligible under current REF criteria);
contribute work on impact statements for research bids as requested.

Using insights gained from work in the School, contribute expert subject matter input and advice to
influence and refresh the University’s Enterprise strategy via the Enterprise Office. Communicate the
strategy to academics and relevant professional services colleagues so that it can be implemented
and evaluated, including recommending suitable annual metrics.
Management

Participate in the development of Enterprise and KT management capability in the School and
University.

Represent the Enterprise, Knowledge Transfer or Exchange functions on related committees and
working groups as required.

Act as liaison between the School and central professional services (e.g. Enterprise and Research
Office, Marketing, Development and Alumni) on Enterprise matters

Other relevant administrative or project support may be allocated to the Business Development
Manager as the role develops to assist in the organisation and management of enterprise, research
impact, and knowledge transfer and exchange programmes, events or other development work.

Provide commercial insight and support for market-oriented teams, such as those offering services
related to Interactivity, Software Reliability, Compressors and Fluid Dynamics, as well as others with
strong capacity for consultancy.

Act as the School’s lead for academic and enterprise engagement with London’s Tech City community
of rapidly growing entrepreneurial firms, spanning many sectors of the digital economy. Coordinate
with University colleagues to ensure partnerships, events, and related enterprise education and
outreach activities are effectively linked and cross-promoted in the School.
Additional information

The post holder must at all times carry out their responsibilities with due regard to the University’s
Equal Opportunities Statement.

The post holder must accept responsibility for ensuring that the policies and procedures relating to
Health and Safety in the workplace are adhered to at all times.

The post holder must respect the confidentiality of data stored electronically and by other means in
line with the Data Protection Act.

The post holder must carry out their responsibilities with due regard to the non-smoking environment
of the University.

Sustainable Development
The University is committed to a policy of best practice to assist in building a sustainable way of life by
taking a positive, solutions-orientated approach. All post holders are encouraged to contribute through
their roles to improving the environment, for the University and the wider community.
Details of policy, information and staff development supporting the policy on the environment and
sustainability can be found at www.city.ac.uk/green-policies.
The above list is not exclusive or exhaustive and the post holder will be required to undertake such duties as
may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the post. All members of staff are required to
be professional, co-operative and flexible in line with the needs of the post, Department, School and the
University.
Job descriptions should be regularly reviewed and at least prior to the annual appraisal, if applicable or on a
regular basis to ensure they are an accurate representation of the post.
Candidate Specification
Post:
Business Development Manager
Department:
School of Mathematics, Computer Science and Engineering / Research and
Enterprise Office
School/Portfolio:
Professional Services
Grade:
7
Tenure:
Permanent
Full-time
Responsible to:
Dual reporting to the School’s Chief Operating Officer with a dotted line
professional responsibility to the Strategic Partnerships Manager in the
Research and Enterprise Office
Knowledge, Skills and Experience
Qualifications
 Educated to Degree level in relevant discipline
 Demonstrated technological domain knowledge from IT and/or applied engineering including
knowledge of related interdisciplinary areas i.e. UX, innovation management and Architecture
Skills
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Project management, troubleshooting and strong negotiation skills
Ability to communicate University terminology and complex concepts to lay audiences while also
credible within the academic community
Well-developed written and verbal reporting skills
Ability to manage a budget and provide reports where required
An excellent self-starter requiring minimum supervision and direction
Ability to take the initiative in order to secure relevant business opportunities
Excellent ability in establishing and developing networks both internally and externally
Customer-focused, with the ability to interface with people at all levels of the University and external
organisations including Deans and Executive level industry professionals
Focus on delivery to meet organisational and school based goals and objectives
Ability to work in multiple teams, including those blending internal and external colleagues around
specific shared project objectives
Understanding and experience of the essentials of marketing including hardcopy materials and
online
Excellent event management skills; ability to deliver, design and manage new and innovative events
Good IT skills including data manipulation, presentation, and preparation of clear and engaging
presentations with a strong visual content
An understanding of contracts management including the ability to interpret terms and negotiate
where necessary
Experience
 Experience of building new partnerships and developing new sources of income through industrial
and professional networks including research
 Experience and knowledge of the industries relevant to engineering and computer science and fully
aware of the tremendous opportunities associated with applying advanced mathematics knowledge
to a wide range of businesses
 Demonstrated experience in knowledge transfer programme management in a science and
technology setting. Alongside this, in-depth knowledge of existing and emerging Knowledge Transfer
funding programmes and of current UK best practice policies and procedures in higher education for
securing and delivering enterprise and knowledge transfer initiatives with industry participation.
Salary and Conditions of Service
The salient features of conditions of service for Senior Administrative, Senior Library & Computer Staff are as
follows:

Salary: will be within the range of £42,067 to £50,200 per annum. This is on Grade 7 of the salary scales
for Senior Administrative, Library & Computer Staff.

Annual Leave is 27 days, plus 8 statutory and 4 additional days during the Christmas holiday period.

You will be automatically entered into the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) with the option to
opt out.

All offers of appointment are subject to the University receiving satisfactory references and medical
clearance.

All posts at City University are subject to reasonable adjustment under the Equalities Act (2010).

All appointments at City University are subject to a probationary period.

The appointment is terminable by three months’ notice on either side.
Applications
When preparing your application, you should address carefully the post details enclosed and in particular the
qualities outlined in the Person Specification. Please include examples where appropriate.
All applications must be received by 11:59pm on 7 October 2015.
Further Information
We operate a no smoking policy.
The University offers an excellent pension scheme, generous leave allowance, season ticket loan, a good
working environment, and access to our student fitness and social facilities.
City University confirms its commitment to equal opportunities in all its activities. It is intended that no job
applicant or employee will receive less favourable treatment on the grounds of political belief, sex, sexual
orientation, disability, marital status, race, nationality, ethnic origin, religion or social class. Selection and
promotion criteria will be kept under review to ensure that individuals are treated on the basis of the job
requirements and on their relevant personal merits, and are not disadvantaged by conditions or requirements,
which cannot be shown to be justifiable.
If you have a disability and are interested in this post, your application is welcomed. For an informal discussion
you may wish to contact the Recruitment Team on:
Telephone:
E-mail
020 7040 3081
recruit@city.ac.uk