Director, Engineering Research Partnerships

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Posting Information:
This posting is for an existing vacancy.

The internal posting deadline for this position is September 24, 2026, at11:59PM.

Job Description:

Primary Purpose

The primary objective of the position is to promote engineering innovation and entrepreneurship growth to exceed Faculty targets by raising the profile of research, initiating, developing, and maintaining industry relationships, and ensuring more research funding, in part by focusing on industry collaborations and partnership grant opportunities. The Director serves a vital end-to-end function in the growth, promotion, advancement, and management of engineering innovation and entrepreneurship activity on and off-campus and within the local and international entrepreneurship ecosystem, encompassing five key accountabilities:

• Planning and implementing new and ongoing innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives as part of the Engineering Research Office team.

• Participating directly in envisioning, initiating, and developing successful proposals for major research partnerships and initiatives, usually involving teams in collaboration with industry partners and other external stakeholders.

• Facilitating the establishment and success of research entities and strategic networks and supporting their growth through industry partnerships and interdisciplinary research.

• Developing industry relationships and successfully completing agreements for industry funding, in collaboration with the Office of Research, or building on opportunities arising from the efforts of Advancement and Development Officers within the Faculty and centrally, as part of large grant initiatives in strategic research areas.

• Provide leadership and direction in strategic planning to advance Engineering research as a top prospect at organizations that support commercialization and entrepreneurship, both within the University of Waterloo (UW) and outside and facilitate researchers’ access to such organizations.

Key Accountabilities

Guide and support research, innovation and entrepreneurship growth and raise the

Faculty of Engineering profile to advance the faculty’s strategic research agenda, including but not limited to:

• Provide leadership and direction in strategic planning activities to increase research, with a focus on highlighting its relevance to industry, and to advance innovation and entrepreneurship in the Faculty of Engineering in the short- and long-term. Work closely with the Associate Dean, Research and External Partnerships (ADR) and the Office of Research  to define and advance faculty research goals; in this capacity, the director monitors and evaluates progress against proposed objectives, identifies gaps in performance and capacity, and develops strategies to align Faculty priorities and exceed Faculty targets.
• Develop and oversee implementation of faculty- and department-level strategic recommendations, including communicating the Faculty’s strategies to encourage increased research funding, external research collaborations, and access to the entrepreneurship ecosystem.
• Work closely with the ADR to identify and develop opportunities to establish new research initiatives and grow existing programs. This includes increasing, strengthening and diversifying research funding sources, developing strategies to improve success rates in major federal and provincial award programs, and maintaining a working knowledge of significant developments and trends related to national and global economics, innovation, and technological development to ensure research programs are strategically positioned to respond to emerging issues. Work with the ADR to understand and connect the Engineering Faculty to University and local technology association initiatives to support entrepreneurship, including Conrad School of Business and Entrepreneurship, WatCo, Velocity, the Accelerator Centre and Communitech.
• Solicit and orchestrate direct funding opportunities from government ministries at both the provincial and federal levels.
• Manage relationships within the research community on campus, as well as interactions with external financial partners, industry, academia, and alumni.
• Leading business and financial planning to establish viable strategic, tactical, and operational targets in close collaboration with the ADR.
• Work closely with the development and communications teams to develop and maintain a clear and integrated strategic communications plan to increase visibility of research within the Faculty of Engineering and influence stakeholders.
• Work with the development and communications teams to identify Engineering research success stories, organize funding announcements and media events, develop and produce materials to promote research programs and activities, and grow the Faculty of Engineering research ‘brand’.
• Communicate potential research opportunities to departments and individual faculty researchers and assessing their viability for possible follow-up.

Provide leadership to individual researchers, support development and ongoing success of major research proposals, including but not limited to:

• Identify opportunities for major research projects, including sources of funding, potential internal team members (taking interdisciplinary collaboration initiatives into account), and external industry partners who might sponsor or use the research, as well as non-industry partners and stakeholders.
• Provide guidance and direction in preparation, coordination, implementation and reporting on major funding proposals. This may involve acting as a de-facto member of the research team to ensure the development of a high-quality proposal.
• Provide guidance and coordinate efforts related to financial and technical reporting on major projects, assisting with internal and external audits.
• Establish and communicate internal deadlines for submission and review of research proposals to department chairs, faculty, and centres/institutes.
• Develop and distribute reference material to aid proposal development.
• Organize and chair in-house workshops, information sessions, and panel discussions on upcoming government/industries funding opportunities. This includes securing relevant agency and industry speakers to instruct faculty researchers on program guidelines and proposal development.
• Conduct final reviews of applications to ensure compliance with agency evaluation criteria and university guidelines, including budgets. This includes advising the ADR on proposal quality and likelihood of success.
• Coach and mentor faculty researchers in approaching, securing and extending industry partnerships.
• Provide leadership and strategic oversight for high-profile and mission-critical funding programs within the Faculty, including the Ontario Research Fund, Canada Foundation for Innovation
• programs, and other major federal and provincial initiatives. Serve as a trusted advisor to faculty members and staff on strategic funding opportunities, institutional competitiveness, and the effective communication of research impact to sponsors and stakeholders.
• Encourage researchers to be aware of, and apply for, awards administered by the ADR and external awards.

Develop and maintain external partnerships, including but not limited to:

• Initiate and cultivate meaningful and productive interactions with prospective industry, academic, and government partners. This includes delivering the Engineering research value proposition, helping potential partners identify and articulate a business problem, then connecting them with engineering and entrepreneurship research talent on campus who can provide research support.
• Cultivate long-term relationships to understand the industry partners’ business and challenges, to anticipate the partners’ needs which our researchers can fill and describe those opportunities in larger grants and other supporting documentation.
• Prepare draft agreements tailored to the specifics of a given research collaboration with a company or other partners.
• Liaise with the Office of Research to initiate and manage research agreements, including facilitating the resolution of disputes related to contractual terms, conditions, or requirements.
• Steward existing relationships, including managing and growing partnerships and tracking outcomes.
• Coordinate and provide direction to UW Industrial Liaison Officers, departments/school, and Faculty liaison staff to build an effective network of industry partnerships.
• Collaborate with development and alumni affairs teams within and outside the Faculty, to ensure relationships with current and potential supporters include research collaboration and sponsorship wherever possible.
• Coordinate and participate in campus visits, events, workshops, and conferences that bring together potential partners and Faculty of Engineering researchers.

Ensure commercialization and entrepreneurship:

• Guide and facilitate individual faculty, labs and research groups in accessing pathways for commercialization and entrepreneurship.
• ·Share best practices and experiences of others in protecting their intellectual property and exploiting it through commercialization.
• Participate in activities in the entrepreneurship ecosystem, including Conrad School of Business and Entrepreneurship, WatCo, Velocity, the Accelerator Centre and Communitech, to keep research in the Faculty of Engineering “top of mind” at these organizations, and to continuously update researchers in Engineering about the opportunities to benefit through initiatives at these organizations including partnerships, start-ups, and collaborative laboratories.

Required Qualifications

• Master’s degree required; doctoral degree, Master of Business Administration, or MBET (Master of Business, Entrepreneurship and Technology) degree strongly preferred.
• 5-10 years in research administration, including experience in research commercialization and industry partnerships. Experience in an academic institution is preferred.
• Proven experience building relationships and establishing strong connections within local and international entrepreneurship ecosystems.
• Effective communication skills (both written and oral), including the ability to prepare and deliver presentations to large, diverse audiences.
• Outstanding interpersonal skills, including the ability to manage both internal and external relationships. The incumbent must have the ability to move seamlessly within academic, business, industrial, and governmental communities, being equally comfortable with students, faculty researchers, senior executives from small, medium, and large, multinational corporations, and government officials.
• Strong managerial skills, including the ability to manage and motivate personnel.
• Proven leadership skills, including the ability to define and implement strategic plans for advancement of large programs, and to build collaborative research opportunities with diverse groups.
• Excellent analytical skills and business acumen, including the ability to identify and articulate significant trends affecting economic, social, and environmental priorities and how they will impact innovation and technologies development.
• Effective critical thinking and decision-making skills.
• Ability to prepare and manage a complex budget.
• Ability to balance competing demands on tight deadlines within a results-oriented environment.
• Advanced knowledge and proficiency in a Microsoft Office Environment.

Equity Statement

The University of Waterloo acknowledges that much of our work takes place on the traditional territory of the Neutral, Anishinaabeg, and Haudenosaunee peoples. Our main campus is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land granted to the Six Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River. Our active work toward reconciliation takes place across our campuses through research, learning, teaching, and community building, and is coordinated within the Office of Indigenous Relations.

The University values the diverse and intersectional identities of its students, faculty, and staff. The University regards equity and diversity as an integral part of academic excellence and is committed to accessibility for all employees. The University of Waterloo seeks applicants who embrace our values of equity, anti-racism and inclusion.  As such, we encourage applications from candidates who have been historically disadvantaged and marginalized, including applicants who identify as First Nations, Métis and/or Inuk (Inuit), Black, racialized, a person with a disability, women and/or 2SLGBTQ+.

Positions are open to qualified candidates who are legally entitled to work in Canada.

The University of Waterloo is committed to accessibility for persons with disabilities. If you have any application, interview, or workplace accommodation requests, please contact Human Resources at hrhelp@uwaterloo.ca or 519-888-4567, ext. 45935.