About the role
You build lasting relationships between researchers and a product full of unanswered questions, and you make collaboration genuinely worth the university's time. Respect for academic independence is the whole basis of this working: a partnership that treats a lab as an outsourced team will not last or produce anything.
The work
Develop faculty collaborations, visiting appointments, internships and scoped sponsored research. Match each relationship to a named internal technical owner. Coordinate publication, IP, data access, student supervision and equipment commitments with the institution.
What good looks like
In your first 90 days, establish a research brief, a repeatable collaboration process and three qualified laboratory conversations.
Evidence we look for
Bring experience in research partnerships, academic programs or scientific operations. Strong listening, dependable follow-through and respect for academic independence are essential.
What we need to see
- Research partnerships, academic programs, or scientific operations experience
- Strong listening and dependable follow-through, which is most of what makes these relationships survive
- Genuine respect for academic independence, including publication rights
- You can align a research agenda with a product question without distorting either
Nice to have
- Existing relationships with Stony Brook, Purdue, or the IITs
- You have run a funded research program or a grant
- An academic background
The exercise
Design a small university collaboration with a publishable question, useful engineering deliverable and a fair division of responsibilities.
Where and how we work
Customer-facing, so remote-friendly: base yourself in any major US city with good airport connections. Offices in all nine cities if you want one.