Manager, Commercialization Partnerships, Praxis Spinal Cord Institute
Gerard Search, Canada
Job Description
The Praxis Spinal Cord Institute (formerly Rick Hansen Institute) is a Canadian-based not-for-profit organization that leads global collaboration in spinal cord injury (SCI) research, innovation, and care. We advance ground-breaking ideas that can be put into practice, making lives better. We actively engage people with spinal cord injuries and other world-class experts to work together to identify and solve the most urgent challenges to make exceptional improvements in the health of people with spinal cord injuries. Praxis is an ancient Greek word, a process by which theory is applied practically. This is exactly the work that we do: moving knowledge into action. The Praxis Spinal Cord Institute is proudly accredited by Imagine Canada and was named one of Canada’s Top 100 Charities by Maclean’s and Money Sense magazines, achieving an A+ rating.
The Praxis Spinal Cord Institute (Praxis) Commercialization Program focuses on facilitating and increasing funding for the development of innovative therapeutics, medical devices, diagnostics and health-IT related technologies with direct application to SCI towards commercialization. The program leverages the strengths and resources of Praxis’ Network in SCI research and care to gain development and commercialization expertise through a number of programs, including SCI incubate and SCI Accelerate. The goal of the program is to bring a greater number of innovations to market that will directly benefit people with SCI.
Reporting to the Director, Commercialization, the Manager, Commercialization amp; Partnerships will assist in managing Praxis’ Commercialization Program to expand and strengthen Praxis’ network for commercialization and fundraising strategy purposes, evaluate technologies and implement mechanisms for policy and advocacy. This individual will be expected to execute on Praxis’ fundraising strategy to meet initial targets for the Commercialization Program/Innovation Fund from various sources, including government, people of high net worth, and corporate giving from industry. The Manager will also grow and manage partnerships with corporate, institutional and government funders, and the role will include developing and managing grant agreements and submissions. This position will also work on other related initiatives as required, in pursuit of Praxis’s organizational objectives.
The Manager, Commercialization amp; Partnerships will work internally with Praxis program directors and project leads and externally with the Praxis research partner network, advisory committees, key national and international SCI groups and associations, key donors/funders, and individuals with SCI.
JOB ACCOUNTABILITIES
- In consultation with the Commercialization Program Advisory Committee, assist in the implementation of the Commercialization Program’s strategic roadmap.
- In consultation with the Fundraising Lead assist in executing on the fundraising strategy, outreach and other fundraising activities for the Commercialization Program and broader Praxis initiatives.
- In consultation with Praxis Senior Management, operationalize and execute the tactics related to the strategy of the Commercialization Program, including implementing mechanisms related to the program’s three areas of focus.
- Develop partnerships and relationships with industry, investors and inventors/innovators in support of the Commercialization Program and Praxis’s Network Development strategy.
- Help identify, research and recruit potential SCI innovations to participate in Praxis programs and serve as corporate partners as relevant.
- Assist in negotiating agreements with new recipients of Praxis-funding in order to implement terms that can earn Praxis return on investment arising from the successful commercialization of Praxis-funded projects, such as donation of shares to Praxis and royalties from commercial revenue.
- Organize occasional meetings of the Commercialization Program and Fundraising Advisory Committee and lead the discussions at the meetings.
- Assess the suitability of alternative models for which Praxis can provide support, such as crowd-sourcing solutions to problems faced by people with SCI for cash prizes (similar to InnoCentive, Ansari X-Prize) and crowd-funding mechanisms (similar to KickStarter, Indiegogo), and implement suitable models into Praxis’s operations.
- Other duties related to the qualifications and requirements of the job.
Requirements
QUALIFICATIONS
- Life Sciences or Healthcare-related undergraduate degree. Life Sciences, Healthcare-related and/or Business graduate degree would be considered an asset. Or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
- Five (5) years of experience in a comparable role, preferably in a health scienc