Education Director - NCTI

Founding Education Director

The National Commercialization and Translation Institute (NCTI) is looking for an accomplished industry practitioner and educator to serve as its Founding Education Director. This highly visible role will shape and deliver commercialization education for a national cohort of deep-technology companies, helping founders and executive teams develop the skills, strategies, and insights needed to move groundbreaking innovations from the laboratory to the marketplace.

The successful candidate will combine real-world entrepreneurial or commercialization experience with a passion for teaching and mentoring others. Collaborating with industry experts, investors, founders, and thought leaders, the Education Director will create engaging educational experiences that strengthen the nation's innovation ecosystem while helping establish NCTI as a premier resource for NSF-funded startups and emerging technology companies.

Responsibilities:

• Design and build the EDUCATE curriculum for deep-technology commercialization: learning objectives, module sequence, session formats, and materials tailored to NSF SBIR/STTR Phase II/IIB company teams, informed by cohort triage results and founder competency and behavioral assessment findings shared by the Commercialization Director.
• Deliver cohort education: facilitate live virtual cohort sessions, workshops, and structured educational peer round tables on the program cadence; adapt delivery to cohort needs identified through triage, assessment results, and company feedback.
• Recruit, onboard, and coordinate practitioner instructors and subject-matter experts — founders, operators, and investors — drawing on the institute's Partner Council, the Edward Lowe Foundation, the GrowFL/CEO Nexus practitioner community, and the national network, in coordination with the Partnerships Director.
• Lead the ORIENT portfolio: plan, produce, and disseminate the national video and webinar series extending commercialization orientation to the broader NSF SBIR/STTR community; manage production vendors and distribution channels; track national reach metrics.
• Administer pre/post learning assessment on the registered cadence; deliver organized, research-grade education data to the Project Manager and independent external evaluator per the protocol and Data Management and Sharing Plan; support the evaluator's implementation-fidelity documentation for education activities.
• Stand up and manage the virtual delivery platform and curriculum content library: platform selection support, configuration, session logistics, recordings, and content governance.
• Document the education model (curriculum, instructor model, delivery formats, assessment instruments) for the pilot's transferable playbook; incorporate evaluator formative findings into curriculum revisions.
• All other duties as assigned.

Minimum Qualifications:

Bachelor's or Master's degree and 8+ years of relevant experience; or an equivalent combination of education and experience pursuant to Fla. Stat. 112.219(6).

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience launching, leading, advising, or supporting startup or technology-based companies through commercialization, market validation, or business growth.
• Experience designing and delivering practitioner-led education, executive learning, accelerator programming, or commercialization training for founders and company leaders.
• Experience translating complex business or technical concepts into engaging workshops, learning modules, digital resources, or short-form educational content.
• Experience facilitating cohort-based learning, peer round tables, workshops, or executive-level discussions in virtual or in-person settings.
• Demonstrated knowledge of startup assessment, commercial viability, business model development, market strategy, and growth planning.
• Experience producing professional educational videos, webinars, or other digital learning content, including coordination with production partners or vendors.
• Experience developing learning assessments, measuring educational outcomes, or supporting program evaluation and continuous improvement.

Special Instructions to the Applicants:

• This is a 0.75 FTE…