Chief Executive Officer

QUBIS is the commercialisation and investment arm of Queen’s University Belfast, a research-intensive University and a member of the Russell Group. QUBIS is a private limited company that plays a very prominent role in the delivery of pipeline discovery science through to commercialisation. It has created over 100 spin-out companies, secured £155m in venture capital investment into Northern Ireland, and is the 3rd most active seed investor in the region.

Queen’s is the leading university in the UK for Entrepreneurial Impact based on production of IP, creation of spin-outs, and portfolio realisations, relative to research funding. QUBIS is expanding its innovation programme offering to support student and graduate enterprise, with the Student Launch pre-accelerator and a Graduate Launch accelerator.

QUBIS now seeks to appoint a Chief Executive Officer to drive commercialisation of research outputs, drive innovation and entrepreneurship and provide strategic leadership to further develop the organisation.

Reporting to the Chair of the Board, the Chief Executive Officer is responsible for the overall strategic direction and execution of QUBIS’s mission. The post holder will foster innovation and entrepreneurship in Northern Ireland and execute the business of the Company on behalf of the QUBIS Board as detailed in the approved strategic and annual business plans. They will also maximise impact and commercial success by building and cultivating strategic relationships with key stakeholders and work with academic founders to realise commercialisation opportunities for Queen’s.

The successful candidate will be a strategic leader with experience working in a university commercialisation context or similar innovation-led environment within the deep tech sector and can demonstrate success in commercialising academic research, managing early-stage investment models, and driving portfolio growth. The role requires an effective and motivational leader, experienced in building high-performing teams and engaging a wide range of internal and external stakeholders.

In addition, they will have a sharp commercial instinct and experience in IP rights, licensing, and joint ventures to maximise commercial impact.