Agritech Partnerships Manager

Union / Affiliation : Administrative and Professional Staff (APSA)

Pay range : $96,956 to $115,678 annually SFU Department Descr : Strategic Partnership Hub

Position Grade : 12

of openings : 1

Biweekly Hours : 72

Who We Are

SFU’s Partnerships Hub (SPH) helps foster growth of key university partnerships and deliver on the strategic opportunities they represent.

Working in close collaboration with the VP Advancement and Alumni Engagement, Research and International and External Relations portfolios, we help position SFU as responsive partner to industry, government and community organizations.

Our goal is to create value with and for SFU’s external and internal partners.

About the Role

The Agritech Partnerships Manager supports the BC Centre for Agritech Innovation’s (BCCAI) position as a partner of choice and promotes research and innovative product development opportunities to help solve challenges in the agriculture and agrifood sectors due to the climate crisis.

The position focuses on expanding industry partnerships and supporting translational research opportunities and innovation in the agritech sector.

Representing BCCAI, this role acts as the face of SFU and BCCAI and is responsible for establishing and managing a diverse portfolio of relationships leading to client-centric, strategic account management that fosters new and grows existing partnerships, enables innovation, facilitates revenue generation and increases research income.

The Partnerships Manager works closely with researchers to support various needs articulating an agritech vision and forging connections internally and externally to the university to develop and commercialize opportunities.

You bring five-years of experience in strategic account management and the development of collaborative partnerships in a diverse corporate environment.

You prioritize and value relationships and partnership-building. You possess strong interpersonal and communication skills, with a strong track-record of collaboration and bringing people together for successful outcomes.

You are entrepreneurial by nature and able to identify an opportunity and successfully develop a strategy to secure external funding, identifying and recommending innovative ways or solutions that meet their partner’s needs while aligned to SFU’s expertise or capacities.

You are results-oriented, and a resourceful problem-solver who is able to quickly adapt to rapidly-evolving and ambiguous situations.

You can effectively manage your time and are able to prioritize and manage multiple accounts.

Qualifications

Master's degree in agriculture or agrifood sciences, engineering, computing science or a relevant discipline with five years of related experience in strategic account management, business development, new product development, innovation, partnership, contract development, government relations or an equivalent combination of education, training and experience.

• Demonstrated knowledge of agricultural technology sector, academic and industry innovation cycles.
• Excellent interpersonal, listening, communication (oral, written, presentation), and relationship management skills.
• Proven ability to work with various external clients with competing interests, and with divergent groups to bring about positive change and facilitate consensus.
• Proven ability to successfully pitch new business and increase revenue by generating leads.
• Ability to negotiate agreements in accordance with organizational policies and procedures, as well as be compliant with BCCAI funders terms.

What We Offer

At SFU, our goal is to ensure our people are valued and supported by promoting a healthy work-life balance, professional growth and development, as well as a safe and respectful workplace.

We offer temporary employees who belong in the Administrative & Professional Staff Association (APSA) :

• An additional 7% pay in lieu of benefits & 8% vacation pay
• Employer paid extended health & dental plans
• Professional development funds (minimum contract period of 1 year)
• Hybrid-work program for eligible positions

Additional Information

The assignment end date is June 30, 2025.

The Agritech Partnerships Manager will work out of both the SFU Burnaby and SFU Surrey campuses.