Business Development

• Support development of an annual Corporate Engagement Strategy to maximize near- and longer-term industry engagement per the KPIs to support the HWCOE Strategic Plan and key industry needs and trends.  This includes staying abreast of target industry trends, market dynamics, and corporate needs.
• Develop, recruit, and engage a portfolio of targeted industry relationships that expands HWCOE research and education endeavors per the Annual Corporate Engagement strategy.  This includes visits, calls, industry days at UF, etc.
• Create and maintain “industry front door” resources to streamline initial contacts to HWCOE for general industry inquiries.  This includes working with appropriate UF offices (e.g., HWCOE Marketing and Communications) to maintain an “industry front-door” web portal and collateral materials as well as maintaining an internal database of HWCOE researcher expertise to expedite connections as appropriate to UF researchers.
• Serve as an initial point of contact for corporate engagement and implement scalable processes to appropriately triage industry inquiries before connecting to UF faculty, students or administrators.

Relationship Management

• Coordinate with appropriate UF, State and Federal Agency stakeholders (e.g., HWCOE Office of Advancement, UF Office of Government and Community Relations, UF Office of Research, UF Career Connections Center, Florida Dept. of Economic Opportunity, Florida Dept. of Education) to maximize industry engagement activities to the benefit of UF and the State of Florida.  This includes service on appropriate advisory boards and committees internally and externally with regards to industry engagement.
• Work especially proactively with the college Office of Advancement in coordinating corporate contacts and transferring corporate giving opportunities to Development Officers for consummation.
• Maintain collaborative relationships with key UF leadership and colleagues to enhance corporate relations and engagement, including assuring the corporate engagement-related communications and messaging are clear and consistent.

Performance Benchmarking

• Benchmark annually against national best practices in industry engagement and contribute to the national industry engagement discussion.
• Annually assess and report progress and challenges against the Corporate Engagement Strategy and work with stakeholders to update the Strategy for the coming year(s).

Perform related duties as required or deemed appropriate to the accomplishment of the responsibilities and functions related to this position.

• Master’s degree in an appropriate area and six years of relevant experience.
• Proven track record (Minimum 3 years; Preferred 5+ years) in corporate relations, business development, or related fields.
• Excellent oral/written communications, time management, organization, negotiation, and relationship-building skills.
• Excellent analytical and research skills and competency in problem solving.
• Ability to strategize, plan, and execute initiatives that align with organizational objectives with minimal daily supervision.
• The ability and willingness to travel.

• Experience working in a complex environment serving many internal clients and external constituents with the ability to network.
• Strong network within corporate sectors, with experience in establishing and managing partnerships.
• Experience in higher education, engineering, or STEM-related fields.
• Demonstrated success in fundraising, sponsorships, or securing corporate support.
• Collaborative mindset with the ability to work effectively with diverse stakeholders.