Vice President Venture Pathways and Chief Commercialization Officer

Rice University seeks an entrepreneurial leader and adept 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 and will activate and coordinate an enhanced commercialization ecosystem at Rice to maximize the translation of university-wide discoveries and inventions.

The Office of Venture Pathways (formerly 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 CCO will lead this office and aim to increase faculty and student participation in venture funding and technology licensing.

By expanding and overseeing Rice's technology ventures and commercialization activities, the CCO will cultivate an on-campus culture rooted in discovery and innovation, uniting faculty, post‑docs, and students in the commercialization process through robust programming and a substantial service and support infrastructure.

The CCO will align these efforts with broader venture creation endeavors and educational programs in Rice's schools and academic departments, and will serve as the bridge between the university's research enterprise and the broader innovation ecosystem in Houston and the Gulf South region.

The successful candidate will have the capability to serve as a strong strategic partner for research faculty and an extensive history of technology commercialization, alongside an entrepreneurial DNA. They will leverage Rice's world‑class engineering and science research community and advance and grow the university’s innovation portfolio.

Rice University is an Equal Opportunity Employer with commitment to diversity at all levels, and considers for employment qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, genetic information, disability or protected veteran status. Rice University is committed to ensuring Equal Employment Opportunity and the full inclusion of all qualified persons in the workplace.

This commitment includes providing reasonable accommodations to persons with disabilities. For applicants with disabilities who require a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application or hiring process, please contact Rice University's Disability Resource Center at  or adarice for support.