Basic Function:

The VistaMilk partnership manager post is a temporary full-time position, based in Teagasc, Moorepark Research Centre, Fermoy, Co. Cork. The remit of the VistaMilk Centre is to be an agent of growth for the Irish dairy industry by being a world leader in fundamental and translational research for precision pasture-based dairying. Reporting to the Centre Manager, the primary role of the VistaMilk Partnership Manager is to lead and coordinate the development and implementation of a comprehensive funding strategy for the centre, with a particular focus on diversifying income through non-exchequer sources, including EU programmes such as Horizon Europe. In parallel, the Partnership Manager will play a key role in supporting the centre’s innovation and commercialisation agenda by overseeing IP management processes, fostering entrepreneurship, and identifying opportunities for strategic partnerships and spin-out activity. This dual focus ensures alignment between research impact, funding sustainability, and the translation of scientific outputs into societal and economic value. The successful candidate will be responsible for delivery and reporting on the VistaMilk’s ambitious targets and KPIs. The partnership manager will also collaborate and engage with the Teagasc Technology Transfer Office (TTO) and the TTO offices of the other research performing organisations (RPO’s).

Background:

The VistaMilk Research Ireland research centre (www.vistamilk.ie), which has been operating out of Teagasc Moorepark since 2018, is in its second 6-year phase (2024-2030). The VistaMilk Research Ireland Centre aims to be an agent of growth for the Irish dairy industry by being a world leader in fundamental and translational research for precision pasture-based dairying. VistaMilk’s vision for Phase II will advance the construction of a federated set of digital twins, each representing a module in the soil-to-gut pathway but with the ability for upstream and downstream communication and interaction – a system-of-systems. Such an integrated collection of independent systems for the dairy sector will enable whole system scenario modelling of a multitude of features and perturbations such as climate change adaptation, policy, farm advice, and research/hypothesis generation, the scale of which has never been achieved. The outcome is informed direction and policy on how best to tackle Ireland’s unique challenges. VistaMilk represents a unique collaboration between Agri-Food and ICT research institutes and leading Irish/multinational food and ICT companies. The Centre is hosted by Teagasc, the national agency with responsibility for agriculture and food research. The Centre consists of one Director and 13 co-applicants with skillsets in agriculture (soil, pasture breeding and management, animal breeding and management), food (processing and food for health), sensing, communications, social and behavioural sciences and analytics. The applicant group are supported by >50 funded investigators from 13 institutes and <25 industry collaborators; opportunities will be created to expand this academic and industry team through the 6-year term. Over the next 5 years, VistaMilk will hire a total of 162 research staff comprising 3 MSc, 77 PhD, 64 Post-doctoral researchers, and 20 research assistants

The core remit of the partnership manager includes:

Funding Management

• Implement VistaMilk’s strategy for securing external funding including entrepreneurship; and evaluate the centre’s performance.
• Collect information on available relevant national and international funding schemes and develop an effective and tailored communication strategy connecting available opportunities with VistaMilk researchers and industry partners as appropriate.
• Identify opportunities for VistaMilk researchers to coordinate and collaborate on Horizon Europe projects and aid them in developing consortia and writing the proposal.
• Support researchers using Teagasc internal online submission system. Contribute and participate in events, conference, seminars and workshops.

IP Management & Technology Transfer

• Liaise with the Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs) in partner organisations and other VistaMilk stakeholders to develop VistaMilk industry collaboration and commercialisation activities to their full potential.
• Work closely with VistaMilk Project Managers and Principal Investigators to ensure IP Capture from Projects and the filing of Invention Disclosures with the relevant TTOs
• Maintain the registers of foreground and background Intellectual Property (IP), invention disclosures and commercialisation activities for all VistaMilk Projects
• Prepare reports on IP management for VistaMilk Executive team, IP Committee and other stakeholders as required
• Coordinate training and workshops in collaboration with VistaMilk TTOs to educate VistaMilk researchers and students on IP management and compliance, industry engagement and entrepreneurship including managing researcher undertakings in accordance with National IP policy
• To organise meetings of the VistaMilk IP Committee and ensure all partner TTOs are updated regularly about relevant VistaMilk activities.

VistaMilk Operations Support

• Define, monitor, collect, and report all related key performance indicators to the management team, governance boards and funding bodies as required such as external funding targets.
• Liaise with VistaMilk Programme Managers and Research Performing Organisations External Funding teams to ensure effective monitoring and reporting to Research Ireland on non-exchequer funding metrics and KPIs.
• Participate and sometimes oversee the organisation of workshops, seminars, meetings and open days.

Other

• To assist Teagasc in meeting the commitments of the Quality Customer Service Charter and Action Plan.
• To actively participate in the annual business planning and Performance Management Development System (PMDS) processes.
• Fully co-operate with the provisions made for ensuring the health, safety and welfare of themselves, fellow staff and non-Teagasc staff and co-operate with management in enabling Teagasc to comply with legal obligations. This includes full compliance with the responsibilities outlined in the Safety Statement.
• Any other duties as may be assigned from time to time

* This job specification is intended as a guide to the general range of duties and is intended to be neither definitive nor restrictive.  It will be reviewed from time to time with the post holder.

 Note:  The ‘essential’ qualifications, knowledge, skills and behavioural competencies outlined above are ‘must-have’ which will be used in the selection process.