Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst (SBC) was established in 2012 as a joint venture between the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, GlaxoSmithKline, Wellcome and Innovate UK. SBC is located on GSK’s UK Research Campus. It is home to major organisations including the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult Manufacturing Centre, LifeArc and Cytiva alongside a growing cluster of over 40 start-up companies. SBC-based companies have raised £2.9bn in funding over the last 10 years.

SBC's vibrant ecosystem is based on bringing together a range of organisations throughout the innovation pipeline from start-ups to major multinationals. It does this by creating a supportive environment that provides access to the facilities, skills and finance that companies need to grow. This has created an exciting, knowledgeable and collegiate community where interaction and collaboration are the norm.

GSK has recently announced that it aims to build on this success by expanding the campus to become one of Europe’s largest ‘clusters’ for biotechnology and other early-stage life science companies. The vision for the new campus has been developed in partnership with SBC and will build on the existing presence of GSK, the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult and other SBC-based companies on the site.

Responsibilities

The Entrepreneurship and Business Development Director will be a critical part of the executive management team and will report directly to the Chief Executive Officer. This is a leadership role which aims to help deliver the aspirations of SBC as it works to consolidate the Stevenage campus as a world leading therapeutics cluster.

The Director will work closely with all groups across the campus involved in research and business and have significant responsibility to build strategic relationships with and between these organisations. The role will support the establishment and growth of existing companies. This will include the attraction of further inward investment though the creation of a supportive environment that adds value to biotech businesses through provision of shared facilities, business support and managed access to third party funding.

Key activities

Strategy development

• Contribute to the development of and deliver the long-term business strategies of SBC
• Prepare annual plan for entrepreneurship and business development and ensure delivery against agreed targets
• Prepare associated budgets for these activities and manage the spend against budget
• Represent SBC at relevant internal and external events

Growing the campus

• Liaise with local and national stakeholders including occupiers, GSK, local community, stakeholders and government bodies to grow the campus
• Assist in the preparation of compelling proposals for national funding initiatives with input from the occupiers, GSK, local community, stakeholders and government bodies
• Support and develop strategic themes in key sectors on the campus eg Cell and Gene and digital/AI
• Identify potential new collaborators/occupiers in key sectors in alignment with the strategic themes and sectors on the campus
• Assist with the development of promotional material and manage messaging for scientific and business audiences via the website, digital channels etc.

Supporting occupiers

• Act as first point of contact for occupiers and be responsible for management of SBC’s relationship with them
• Manage and develop the annual Accelerator Programme and attract high quality applicants
• Manage a range of support services for occupiers including access to scientific facilities, skills training, business mentoring, potential sources of finance etc
• Organise and host regular events for occupiers both within SBC and across the campus to encourage interaction, support technology transfer and speed up commercialisation.

Personal attributes

• Interest in or experience of start-up and scale-up entrepreneurship or early-stage fund raising/venture capital
• Scientific background with credibility in scientific, technology innovation and investment networks
• Proactive approach to action planning
• Ability to build coalitions in complex environments
• Excellent organisational, interpersonal and presentation skills
• Strong numeracy, ability to understand financial data and experience of grant funding/access to finance
• Familiarity with digital media and other promotional channels.

Please send a copy of your CV and covering letter to i.hopper@proclinical.com. Closing date for applications is 20 June 2022.