Rice Venture Creation Postdoctoral Fellow
Rice Venture Creation Postdoctoral Fellow
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Job Description
Special Instructions to Applicants: Please attach two PDFs with the information below to the Supporting Documents section of the application. Should there be any issues with uploading the documents please email attachments to
PDF 1. Curriculum Vitae
PDF 2. Statement of Interest addressing the following prompts:
- Why are you interested in this opportunity over a typical postdoc
- What makes an effective translational technology
- What do you hope to accomplish in this role
- Applications that do not include a Statement of Interest will not be considered.
The Rice Biotech Launch Pad is a startup accelerator in the Office of Innovation whose mission is to accelerate the translation of Rice University discoveries and technologies into clinical practice to provide rapid patient access to leadingedge therapeutic products.
Position Summary:
The Biotech Launch Pad at Rice University and RBL LLC has two openings for a fulltime Venture Creation Fellow. We seek highly motivated and strategic Venture Creation Fellows to bridge the gap between academic research and a venturebackable startup concept. This role requires a blend of technical expertise business acumen and stakeholder engagement to ensure success. This position is for an initial term of one year with the possibility of renewal for up to three years contingent upon performance funding availability and institutional needs.
Ideal Candidate Statement:
The ideal candidate for the Venture Creation Fellow role is an entrepreneurial and strategic thinker with a passion for innovation and startup development. They are proactive adaptable and thrive in fastpaced environments where they can take initiative and drive new ideas forward. They are comfortable working with crossfunctional teams including product developers scientists and business stakeholders to build and refine innovative solutions.
Salary
We offer a base salary of $65000/year plus benefits. This position is funded by soft and/or restricted funds. Continued employment is contingent on the renewal of funding.
Start date
The selected candidate will begin employment no later than September 1 2025.
Minimum Requirements:
- Ph.D. or other doctoral degree conferred within the past 5 years
Skills Required:
- Strong technical background in inventing and developing biotechnology
- Proficiency in prototyping and data generation for risk assessment
- Ability to engage and collaborate with scientific and clinical experts
Preferences:
- Entrepreneurial Mindset
- Willingness to take risks and embrace uncertainty
- Proactive and resourceful in solving problems
- Strong sense of initiative and adaptability
- Market Research & Customer Discovery
- Ability to gather and analyze market trends
- Strong curiosity about customer needs and pain points
- Willingness to engage in customer interviews and feedback collection
- Business & Financial Acumen
- Basic understanding of business models and revenue streams
- Familiarity with financial concepts like budgeting forecasting and cost structures
- Awareness of funding mechanisms (grants investors bootstrapping)
- Product Development & Prototyping
- Knowledge of the product development lifecycle
- Basic skills in prototyping and testing to validate ideas
- Ability to assess productmarket fit
- Networking & Stakeholder Engagement
- Strong communication skills to connect with advisors mentors and industry experts
- Ability to build relationships with early customers investors and partners
- Comfort in collaborating with crossfunctional teams
- Pitching & Storytelling
- Ability to articulate business ideas clearly and persuasively
- Confidence in delivering presentations and elevator pitches
- Basic skills in creating pitch decks and business plans
- Resilience & Learning Agility
- Openness to feedback and continuous learning
- Ability to handle setbacks and iterate on ideas
- Growth mindset with a passion for innovation
Essential Functions:
- Fellows will partner with an entrepreneurinresidence at RBL LLC.
- Identify a clinical or technological unmet need; interview clinicians and experts to understand
- Develop and/or validate novel technology in Rice labs to address the identified unmet need
- Collaborate with the entrepreneurinresidence to understand the market landscape and form a business plan
- Create successful new biotechnology company to address an intractable medical need
- Perform all other duties as assigned
Rice University HR Benefits: Mission and Values:Mission and Values Rice University
Rice University is committed to ensuring Equal Employment Opportunity and welcoming the fullness of diversity into our candidate pools. Rice considers qualified applicants for employment without regard to race color religion age sex sexual orientation gender identity national or ethnic origin genetic information disability or protected veteran status. Rice also provides reasonable accommodations to qualified persons with disabilities. If an applicant requires a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application or hiring process please contact Rice Universitys Disability Resource Center ator for support.
If you have any questions please email us at. Thank you for your interest in employment with Rice University.
Employment Type
Full-Time
