Position Summary
The Associate Director is a high-impact leadership position responsible for architecting the strategic growth and economic density of KAUST's Innovation Ecosystem. Serving as a key deputy to the Director, this role transcends operational excellence to position the ecosystem as a premier custodian of capital and a global hub for Deep-Tech clusters. You will represent KAUST leadership in high-stakes environments, driving the transition from a service-oriented ecosystem to a value-generating economic powerhouse.
The role is responsible for supporting the ecosystem director across multiple initiatives:
- Capital Stewardship & Ecosystem Positioning
- Sector Density& Technology Clustering
- Human Capital& Talent Pipelines
- Executive Representation & Business Development
- Reporting & Impact Assessment
This role requires a strategic leader who can manage diverse team of experts while architecting the partnerships, systems and workflows that allow the entire ecosystem to scale
Major Responsibilities
Sector Density & Technology Clustering
- Priority Sector Growth: Drive the development of critical mass in Energy and Biotech by clustering corporate R&D activity and high-growth startups within the Research& Technology Park.
- National Sandbox Programs: Negotiate and lead the integration of National Sandbox Programs to allow for regulatory-safe testing of disruptive technologies within the park.
- Synergistic Infrastructure: Coordinate technology deployment (HubSpot,ClickUp, Power BI) to ensure data insights specifically support the growth of these priority technology clusters.
Human Capital &Talent Pipelines
- EIR Management: Build and manage a high-tier Entrepreneur-in-Residence (EIR) pipeline to provide seasoned leadership for emerging KAUST ventures.
- Talent Bench: Oversee the professional development and performance of a specialized team , ensuring the ecosystem has the human capital required to support the Equity Venture Studio and Technology Investment Programs.
Executive Representation & Business Development
- Executive Representation: Represent KAUST leadership in internal strategy sessions and external global presentations, articulating the ecosystem's value proposition to government and private partners.
- Partnership Cycles: Lead the development of complex, multi-stakeholder proposals for international collaborations and government grants.
- Strategic Communication: Mastery in drafting board-level presentations, investment memos, and strategy papers that position the ecosystem as a national leader in the 4th Industrial Revolution.
Ecosystem Infrastructure & Reporting Oversight:
- Coordinate the high-level roadmap for technology deployment, ensuring that the Entrepreneurship Center, Research Park, and Investment Fund operate on a unified data architecture.
- Supervise the alignment of reporting standards to provide a single source of truth for ecosystem impact to KAUST leadership.
- Ensure that the technology stack (HubSpot, ClickUp, Power BI, etc.) supports the strategic goals of all three pillars without creating data silos or duplicate systems.
- Ensure streamlined operations for repeated requests such as:
- Snapshot of all startups in the ecosystem irrespective of touchpoint
- Startup impact metrics both financial, economic and societal impact
- Portfolio quarterly status and updates
- Startup services such as request letters, letters of support, debt letters (for SAFE and Convertible Notes), no objection letters for HR
- Drive technology adoption across the 3 teams to ensure data is up to date, and ready when needed.
Business Development &Strategic Proposals:
- Lead the development of complex, multi-stakeholder proposals for new partnerships, government grants, and international collaborations. This includes programs such as Equity Venture Studio & Technology Investment Programs (that sit between EC and KIV) as well as National Sandbox Programs(that sit between KRTP and EC) as well as Investment Forums and Investor Training & Certification initiatives (that sit between EC and KIV)
- Support the three core teams in identifying and pursuing business development opportunities that require cross-ecosystem cooperation.
- Draft strategy papers, investment memos, and board-level presentations that articulate the
ecosystem's value proposition.
Special Projects & Interim Leadership:
- Act as the lead resource for special projects awarded to the ecosystem, managing them from inception through to the point of handover to permanent teams.
- Step in as an interim project lead for short-term initiatives (e.g., launching a new corporate innovation challenge, setting up a specific venture pilot, or managing a park expansion project).
- Provide agile problem-solving for stalled projects, identifying bottlenecks and implementing recovery plans.
Strategy & Innovation:
- Stay abreast of emerging technologies and industry best practices in the field.
- Propose innovative solutions to address operational challenges and enhance the overall efficiency of the Innovation Ecosystem.
- Contribute to the strategic planning for future technology investments and system enhancements.
- Support the budget planning cycle across the teams.
Team Leadership & Management:
- Lead the day-to-day operations, priorities of the data and reporting team to ensure development projects are delivered on target.
- Oversee the professional development, onboarding, and performance management of the team.
- Resource allocation across the team to ensure that technology, reporting, and development project needs are met for all ecosystem pillars.
Competencies
- Systems Thinking: Creating scalable solutions leveraging technology, process and guidelines to support ecosystem wide growth and operational excellence.
- Project Management Excellence: Advanced proficiency in managing agile projects with diverse stakeholders and driving inclusion and adoption.
- Entrepreneurial & Investor Mindset: A focus on agilityand iteration to solve challenges, improve reporting, deploy technology solutions, and alleviate resource constraints.
- Exceptional Communication: Mastery in technical writing and storytelling, capable of drafting compelling proposals and presenting to internal and external partners.
- People Leadership: Proven ability to manage, inspire, and develop a high-performing team of specialists in a matrix environment.
- Strategic Experience: Proven experience in impact assessment, ESG reporting, and navigating the startup lifecycle or investment processes.
- Technical Fluency: Strong understanding of AI workflow automation and data intelligence to enhance ecosystem efficiency.
Qualifications
- 10 years+ experience in managing complexsystems, change management initiatives or multi- stakeholder projects.
- Familiarity with the startuplifecycle, entrepreneurship programs, investment processes, or technology commercialization.
- Master's degreein Business Administration (MBA), Engineering, or a relatedfield is preferred.
- Professional certifications or past experience in Project Management (PMP, Prince2) or Strategy (e.g., Balanced Scorecard) are highly desirable.
- Past experience in impact assessment and ESG reporting is highly desirable.
- Practical understanding of AI workflowenhancement, data insightsand intelligence and workflow automation best practices is desirable.
