Fund leader - 3 year Fixed Term Contract
Listing reference: minte_000430
Listing status: Online
Apply by: 10 July 2026
Position summary
Industry: Scientific, Research & Development
Job category: Technical Project Management
Location: Randburg
Contract: Fixed Term Contract
Remuneration: Market Related
EE position: No
Introduction
The Fund Leader is primarily tasked with raising commercialisation investment funding from external sources and managing all systems, governance, and procedures for both internal and external commercialisation-related investments into Mintek innovations. The role ensures robust decision-making, rigorous stage-gating, and reporting on project outcomes, acting as a business mirror to technical teams to ensure investments meet critical commercial milestones to unlock commercialisation.
Job description
KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS:
Leadership
- Provide active stage-gating and governance for commercialisation investments to prevent passive R&D expenditure.
- Exercise foresight, creativity, and professional judgment when making decisions or recommendations that directly impact research direction and the commercial outcomes of the Mintek IP portfolio.
- Guide technical research teams toward meeting critical, clearly defined commercial milestones.
Strategy & Innovation
- Establish and refine mandates, application criteria, and evaluation procedures for internal commercialisation funding instruments.
- Assess the local and international funding landscape to identify investment opportunities aligned with Mintek’s focus areas.
- Transform identified opportunities into high-quality proposals for externally funded commercial de-risking.
- Act as a "business mirror" to technical teams to ensure investment decisions are informed by clearly articulated commercial & market opportunities.
- Continually refine stage-gating and review procedures to ensure technologies move efficiently through the institutional commercialisation pipeline.
Financial Sustainability
- Support the development of robust internal funding proposals and systematically manage the portfolio of internal seed funds.
- Leverage internal seed funding to attract external co-investment, strategic partnerships, and DFI funding.
- Ensure that external revenue contributions from successful proposals actively support Mintek’s broader commercialisation programmes.
Execution, People and Planning
- Drive reporting mechanisms and quarterly reviews for all commercialisation investments, acting as the primary secretariat for funded projects.
- Manage large, multi-year funding programmes, executing comprehensive resource and timeline planning for funded milestones.
- Coordinate project inception meetings to closely align technical development with commercial de-risking activities.
Compliance Management
- Establish and monitor the operational systems and mandates required for sound governance of externally funded commercialisation projects and internal Seed Fund investments.
- Provide operational oversight of the work of applicants and technical staff to ensure absolute compliance with funding mandates.
- Proactively assess, profile, and manage all risks related to the commercialisation funding programs and individual projects in the portfolio.
Relationship Management and Reporting
- Prepare highly professional statistical and narrative reports for internal funding committees, Exco, and external institutional stakeholders.
- Engage deeply with applicants pre- and post-award to ensure milestones are commercially geared.
- Lead, guide, and mentor researchers and technical staff as they navigate the complex commercialisation funding landscape.
Minimum requirements
QUALIFICATION AND EXPERIENCE:
- Master’s degree in science / engineering
- PhD in a scientific or technical field and/or Business qualification (MBA qualification would be an advantage)
- 3–5 years of experience directly related to technology transfer or investment fund management.
- Nature of Experience: Proven experience within a technology transfer function in a University or Science Council managing seed-funding projects or investment funds and associated governance processes.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
- Strong knowledge of high-tech product development processes and commercialisation hurdles.
- Ability to negotiate complex funding terms and a thorough understanding of the statutory reporting requirements of the IPR Act.
- Excellent communication, organisational, and technical integration skills