Director, Ventures

Job Title Director, New Ventures

Agency Texas A&M University System Offices

Department Texas A&M Innovation

Proposed Minimum Salary Commensurate

Job Location College Station, Texas

Job Type Staff

The System Offices is one of several system members within the Texas A&M University System representing one of the largest systems of higher education in the nation, with a network of 12 universities, a comprehensive health science center, eight state agencies, Texas A&M — Fort Worth and the Texas A&M – RELLIS Campus. The Texas A&M University System mission is to provide education, conduct research, commercialize technology, offer training, and deliver services for the people of Texas and beyond.

The System Offices, within the Texas A&M University System, provides an outstanding benefits package including, but not limited to: competitive health benefits; paid vacation, sick leave, and holidays; a defined benefit retirement plan to include an employer contribution through Teachers Retirement System of Texas (TRS); if applicable, a defined contribution retirement plan to include an employer contribution through an approved ORP vendor: additional voluntary tax deferred annuity (TDA) options;

tuition assistance; and wellness programs to promote work/life balance.

Commensurate with experience.

The Director of New Ventures will design, operationalize, and continuously improve a structured, repeatable venture pathway that helps faculty, researchers, students, and founders move promising technologies from disclosure to company formation and early growth. The role combines platform building, process development, program design, ecosystem development, cross-functional coordination, and selective direct support to startup teams, with a strong emphasis on building systems that can scale across the entire A&M System.

• Design and manage a transparent new-venture creation process with defined stages, decision criteria, milestone maps, startup intake, and hand-offs across Licensing, Strategic Partnerships, Business Development, and Operations.
• Build and maintain startup pipeline infrastructure, including assessment tools, readiness criteria, intake forms, triage methods, templates, playbooks, stage definitions, CRM tracking practices, and regular pipeline review processes.
• Screen invention disclosures and inbound opportunities for startup potential using structured criteria, and help match opportunities to the most appropriate commercialization pathway, including startup formation, direct licensing, sponsored research, strategic partnership, or other routes.
• Support the development of internal programming for venture creation and founder readiness, including Startup 101 programming, venture readiness workshops, first-time founder coaching, educational programming, and practical founder navigation support.
• Create and scale vertical-specific incubator and accelerator programs with member universities and agencies in strategic sectors such as agriculture, energy, health, infrastructure, semiconductors, defense, transportation, manufacturing, and national security, and establish clear intake, referral, progression, and graduation pathways for participating teams.
• Lead and operationalize entrepreneurial competitions and venture-development programs, including the Texas New Ventures competition and similar business-plan, venture-pitch, or commercialization competitions; develop playbooks, timelines, templates, judging frameworks, and support services that allow system members, colleges, agencies, and departments to run local versions with shared standards and branding.
• Develop and maintain founder-facing resources, including handbooks, pathway guides, readiness…