Senior Manager

COMPANY DESCRIPTION

Singapore Management University is a place where high-level professionalism blends together with a healthy informality. The 'family-like' atmosphere among the SMU community fosters a culture where employees work, plan, organise and play together - building a strong collegiality and morale within the university.

Our commitment to attract and retain talent is ongoing. We offer attractive benefits and welfare, competitive compensation packages, and generous professional development opportunities - all to meet the work-life needs of our staff. No wonder, then, that SMU continues to be given numerous awards and recognition for its human resource excellence.

DESIGNATION : Senior Manager / Assistant Director (Contract ending 31 March 2026), ORTT

RESPONSIBILITIES
- This position is for Office of Research & Tech Transfer (ORTT)
- Work with OLGA (Office of Legal and General Affairs) on SMU’s IP (Intellectual Property) Policy for IPs related to technology transfer
- Work closely with SMU’s Schools and ICLIs (Institutes, Centres, Labs and Initiatives) to proactively identify and file invention disclosures for IP which has potential commercial interest and warrants protection or technology transfer
- Assist in the formulation of SMU’s policy on IP evaluation, carry out preliminary evaluation of the IP for patentability and potential commercial interest, manage the IP evaluation process to determine the IP protection strategy, and work with third parties to file patents when required
- Analyze prior art search results and evaluate invention disclosures to determine if they meet the requirements of patentability
- Formulate the optimal IP protection strategy for an IP taking into consideration various factors such as its intended use, the current state of the art, market trends and the university’s patenting strategy, and make recommendations to the IP Evaluation Committee where necessary
- Assist in the formulation of SMU’s policy on commercial exploitation of its IP portfolio and manage the IP commercialization process through negotiation of licensing agreements with external partners and reviewing the licensing agreements together with OLGA
- Work with various internal stakeholders to formulate and implement initiatives that will improve and facilitate the technology transfer process, such as:

- Improving the licensing process for licensing to SMU spin-off companies
- Any other new initiatives that may be required from time to time
- Maintain and monitor SMU’s IP portfolio to track costs incurred, licensing terms, revenue generated, etc.
- Continuously evaluate the performance and commercial potential of SMU’s IP portfolio to determine the IP protection and commercial exploitation strategy

QUALIFICATIONS
- At least a Bachelor’s in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Information Technology, or other computing and infocomm-related areas
- Registered Technology Transfer Professional (RTTP), Certified Licensing Professional (CLP), and other academic certifications in IP law will be an added advantage
- Minimum 7 years of working experience is preferred
- Prior experience in IP management and technology transfer related work
- Skilled in web-based IP research and IP data analytical tools
- Excellent communication skills (written and spoken) and interpersonal skills to be able to communicate effectively with and influence internal and external stakeholders
- Pro-active, independent, and resourceful with strong decision-making skills and the ability to work with mínimal supervision

OTHER INFORMATION

**#LI-JN1