Job Description

Short-Term Technical Assistance (STTA)

Assess and Enhance the Research Commercialization and Intellectual Property (IP) Framework at the Partner University

Consultancy Description and Requirements

Consultancy Title

Technical Assistance to Assess and Enhance the Research Commercialization and Intellectual Property (IP) Framework at the Partner University

Background

The Higher Education for Innovation and Growth (HEIG) Activity is a collaborative initiative implemented by IREX with support from the United States Department of State. HEIG aims to empower higher education institutions to play a pivotal role in innovation-driven economic development. By enhancing research governance, optimizing institutional systems, and fostering partnerships with industry and international collaborators, HEIG seeks to build sustainable capacity within universities.

Under the HEIG Activity, IREX is providing technical support to the Partner University in areas related to research commercialization and intellectual property management.

To achieve this, IREX will engage a Short-Term Technical Assistance (STTA) consultant to assess and enhance the Research Commercialization and Intellectual Property Framework at the Partner University

1. Objective

The objective of this assignment is to support the Partner University in strengthening its research commercialization ecosystem by assessing the current commercialization framework and processes, reviewing institutional policies and practices, and developing the institutional governance, commercialization pathways, tools, procedures, decision-making mechanisms, and implementation framework required to move research and intellectual property toward market application, industry adoption, licensing, and venture creation.

2. Specific Objectives

• Review and assess the existing Intellectual Property (IP) Policy and commercialization related documentation, and assess whether the existing policy provides adequate provisions for different commercialization pathways and university–industry arrangements.
• Assess the current commercialization processes and practices, institutional roles, decision-making processes, industry engagement mechanisms, commercialization funding mechanisms, and existing pathways for translating research into market applications.
• Identify institutional, procedural, and operational gaps affecting commercialization, including gaps in authority, coordination, incentives, IP decision-making, industry engagement, venture creation and commercialization funding.
• Develop a practical commercialization framework (policies and procedures) covering multiple commercialization pathways including licensing, industry collaboration, sponsored/contracted research, joint development, venture/spin-off creation and other appropriate mechanisms.
• Strengthen institutional capacity for commercialization and IP management including clear allocation of institutional roles, responsibilities, decision rights and coordination mechanisms especially for joint projects with other universities.
• Provide capacity building for relevant university members on commercialization and IP best practices, the developed framework, mechanisms for effective implementation, tools and approaches for performance monitoring of the implemented framework.

3. Scope of Work

Phase 1: Inception Phase

The consultant shall review existing documentation related to research commercialization and IP, review HEICAT findings, and meet with relevant university stakeholders.

Deliverable 1: Inception Report, including methodology, workplan, stakeholder engagement plan, and document review plan.

Phase 2: Institutional Review and Assessment

The consultant shall review the IP Policy, existing procedures, current commercialization practices, existing documentation, and current governance arrangements. The review shall assess the roles, mandates, authorities, and interfaces of the relevant university parties involved across the research commercialization lifecycle, from research identification and invention disclosure through evaluation, IP protection, market validation, industry engagement, commercialization pathway selection, and post-commercialization monitoring. The review shall identify strengths, gaps, overlaps, missing procedures, implementation challenges, and priority areas for improvement. It should suggest improvements that can be implemented through operational procedures or that may require institutional policy, governance, legal, or regulatory changes.

Deliverable 2: Research Commercialization and IP Assessment Report, including current state analysis, gap analysis, and recommendations.

Phase 3: Commercialization Policies and Framework

The consultant shall review the existing commercialization- and IP-related policies and recommend updates or additional policy provisions, where needed, to define the institutional principles, rules, authorities, and governance requirements supporting research commercialization. The consultant shall develop a practical research commercialization framework covering the end-to-end pathway from identification of research with commercialization potential through evaluation, validation, IP and market assessment, commercialization pathway selection, and post-commercialization monitoring. The framework shall define the roles, responsibilities, decision rights, coordination mechanisms and approval processes among relevant university parties.

Deliverable 3: Commercialization Policies and Framework Document including recommended policy updates, where needed and Governance Model.

Phase 4: Standard Operating Procedures

The consultant shall develop or update commercialization procedures, including processes related to invention/research disclosure, initial screening; technical, IP and commercial assessment; market validation; commercialization pathway selection; IP protection decisions; industry engagement; licensing; sponsored and contracted research commercialization considerations; joint development; venture/spin-off creation; conflict-of-interest management; commercialization approvals; revenue/benefit sharing; and post-commercialization monitoring.

Deliverable 4: Commercialization SOP Manual.

The consultant shall identify the standard agreements required to support commercialization (e.g., confidentiality, sponsored/contract research, joint development, licensing and venture-related agreements) and recommend standard institutional principles and approval processes for their use.

Phase 5: Planning and Monitoring

The consultant shall support the Partner University in developing commercialization objectives, annual targets, key performance indicators (KPIs), and a practical monitoring approach for the research commercialization pipeline. The consultant should also develop a reporting mechanism and template to support periodic review and institutional decision-making.

Deliverable 5: Commercialization Monitoring Framework including KPIs, annual targets, pipeline monitoring and reporting templates.

Phase 6: Implementation Validation and Operationalization

The consultant shall facilitate a practical validation and operationalization workshop with the Partner University working team and relevant responsible university stakeholders to validate how the developed commercialization framework, SOPs, governance arrangements, monitoring framework, KPIs, tools, and templates will be applied in practice.

The consultant shall support the responsible university stakeholders in understanding and testing how to operationalize the developed outputs, including institutional roles and responsibilities, decision-making and approval processes, application of the SOPs, use of monitoring and reporting tools, and the practical steps required to initiate implementation.

Feedback and implementation considerations identified during the workshop shall be incorporated into the final framework, procedures, tools, and implementation roadmap, as appropriate.

Deliverable 6: Implementation Validation and Operationalization Workshop, including workshop materials, documented feedback and implementation considerations, and finalized implementation guidance.

Phase 7: Capacity Building and Knowledge Transfer

The consultant shall develop capacity-building and knowledge-transfer materials covering IP, research commercialization, commercialization procedures, industry engagement, institutional roles and responsibilities, and the practical application of the developed commercialization framework.

The consultant shall conduct practical capacity-building session(s) and/or workshop(s) to strengthen their understanding of the developed framework, procedures, tools, and their respective roles in supporting effective research commercialization.

Deliverable 7: Capacity building and knowledge transfer package, including training materials and delivery of capacity-building session(s) for relevant university stakeholders.

4. Final Deliverable

The consultant shall submit a Final Report including a summary of work completed, final recommendations, all developed frameworks, procedures, tools, and templates. The final report shall include a practical implementation roadmap.

5. Expected Outputs

• Inception Report
• Research Commercialization and IP assessment and Gap Analysis
• Research Commercialization Framework
• Updated policies, and recommendations, where needed.
• Commercialization SOP manual and supporting templates
• Commercialization Monitoring Framework including KPIs and annual targets.
• Capacity building and knowledge transfer package.
• Implementation roadmap
• Final Report

6. Required Qualifications, Skills, and Experience

• Advanced university degree in innovation management, technology transfer, intellectual property, business administration, law, engineering, or another relevant field.
• At least 5 years of relevant professional experience in research commercialization, technology transfer, or intellectual property management.
• Demonstrated experience developing or reviewing commercialization frameworks, IP policies, governance models, standard operating procedures, or related institutional systems.
• Demonstrated experience working with universities, research institutions, technology transfer offices, or innovation ecosystems.
• Experience in university-industry collaboration, licensing, sponsored or contracted research, joint development, or research-based venture creation.
• Experience developing implementation plans, monitoring frameworks, KPIs, tools, and templates.
• Demonstrated experience delivering capacity-building workshops and facilitating consultations with institutional stakeholders.
• Strong analytical, stakeholder-engagement, facilitation, and report-writing skills in English.
• Previous experience in Jordan or the MENA region is preferred

7. Timeline

The assignment will require up to 25 consultant working days. The specific implementation schedule and allocation of working days across deliverables will be agreed upon with IREX during the inception phase.

8. Application Requirements

Interested applicants should submit:

1. An updated CV demonstrating relevant qualifications and experience.
2. A brief technical proposal describing:

• Understanding of the assignment;
• Proposed methodology and approach;
• Proposed workplan and allocation of working days.

1. A financial proposal indicating the proposed daily professional fee and total proposed professional fee.
2. Details of at least two similar assignments, including the client, assignment description, and completion date.
3. A sample of relevant work, such as a commercialization framework, IP policy, SOP manual, assessment report, or similar deliverable, subject to confidentiality restrictions.

9. Evaluation Criteria

Applications will be evaluated using the following method:Evaluation componentWeightTechnical evaluation70%Financial evaluation30%Total100%

Application deadline: October 1, 2026, at 4.00 PM Jordan time