Director of Business Engagement

Position Summary

The Director of Business Engagement is a member of the Office of Business Engagement team and plays a key role in achieving the university’s goal to foster new, significant, long‑term partnerships with industry. The role of director will focus on building strategic, long‑term university relationships with prospective and emerging industry partners.

The Director works externally with representatives from companies to identify meaningful opportunities at UGA for corporate investment, support, and collaboration, while maintaining strong internal relationships with university faculty, staff, and administrators who carry out UGA’s mission. The Director also acts as an initial point of contact for companies seeking to establish a partnership with UGA and actively and continually scans the business community to identify new leads for corporate partnership, collaboration, and investment.

The Director reports directly to a Senior Director for Business Engagement. This role is full‑time, Monday through Friday, 8 am – 5 pm, in‑office, with some nights, weekends, and overnight travel required for special events and visits to company partners.

The mission of Business Engagement is to make it easy for industry partners to access the talent, expertise, and resources of the University. The Office pursues three goals aligned with that mission:

Bachelor’s degree in a related field or equivalent and 5 years of professional experience.

• A bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution of higher education and 7 years of experience in philanthropy, research & development, sales, business development, or economic development.
• A graduate degree from an accredited institution of higher education and more than 5 years of experience in philanthropy, research & development, sales, business development, or economic development.
• Understanding of higher education’s mission and how that mission intersects with economic development activity.
• Understanding of regional, national, and global industry trends and their implications for university research and education.

Relationship Management and Business Development

• Identify and qualify new industry prospect leads for the University, with a priority focus on businesses and industries in the state of Georgia.
• Manage a growing portfolio of major industry prospects with the goal of building long‑term, mutually beneficial partnerships that generate philanthropic support, research sponsorship, and student engagement. Steward industry partners who support the university.
• Develop a broad understanding of UGA’s philanthropic areas for support, areas of research expertise, instructional programs, and student activities that have potential connectivity to industry. With that understanding, the director will identify, research, and cultivate new corporate prospects, working to match University need with overarching business objectives to create new mutually beneficial relationships.
• Assist and advise faculty, administrators, and unit development directors on industry‑related projects and programs by making company introductions and assisting where needed on funding proposals, business contracts, research agreements, philanthropic solicitations, and stewardship reports.
• Plan and attend meetings on campus and off‑site with corporate representatives to build and maintain university‑industry partnerships.
• Create annual prospect engagement plans that drive mission‑focused, tangible results and take steps towards meeting the Director of Business Engagement annual metrics.
• Document all work‑related interactions with industry and faculty in the customer relationship management (CRM) system. Maintain clear, concise, and proper documentation via quantitative and qualitative data input.

Campus Collaboration

• Collaborate with university colleagues on projects and programs that involve industry partners that fall within your prospect…