Vice President for Venture Pathways and Chief Commercialization Officer

Rice University, one of the nation's elite universities for scholarly research and societal impact, seeks an entrepreneurial leader and deft administrator to serve as the institution's Vice President for Venture Pathways and Chief Commercialization Officer (CCO). The CCO will report directly to the Executive Vice President for Research. The CCO will activate and coordinate an enhanced commercialization ecosystem at Rice to maximize the translation of university-wide discoveries and inventions to foster concrete commercial success and ultimately contribute to the betterment of the world. Rice's Office of Venture Pathways (previously named the Office of Innovation) encompasses the end-to-end programs, processes, and partnerships required to translate Rice discoveries into startups, licensed technologies, and mission-aligned industry collaborations. The Office of Venture Pathways, led by the CCO, will aim to increase faculty and student participation in venture funding and technology licensing.

Possessing, in equal measure, the skills to envision and execute, the CCO will expand and oversee Rice's technology ventures and commercialization activities in support of the university's foundational research and educational mission. The CCO will cultivate an on-campus culture that is rooted in discovery and innovation, uniting individual faculty, post-docs, and students in the commercialization process via robust programming and a substantial service and support infrastructure. The CCO will align these efforts with broader venture creation efforts and educational programs located in Rice's Schools and academic departments. Importantly, the CCO will serve as the bridge between the university's impressive research enterprise and the broader innovation ecosystem at Rice and in Houston and the Gulf South region.

The successful CCO candidate will have the capability to serve as a strong strategic partner for research faculty, coupling entrepreneurial DNA with extensive experience in technology commercialization. In this role, the CCO will be eager to leverage Rice's world-class engineering and science research community, working within the broader Rice entrepreneurship ecosystem to advance and grow Rice's innovation portfolio.