Contracts & IP Licensing Specialist

Location: Babraham Research Park, Cambridge

Type: Full time, permanent 

Start: Immediate

Salary: Competitive

Office (Cambridge) based role with hybrid working available

Your role in our team:

We are seeking a Contracts & IP Licensing Specialist to support the drafting, review and negotiation of agreements related to the licensing, transfer and optimisation of our intellectual property (IP) portfolio. This role will play a key part in enabling the commercialisation of innovations originating from bit.bio as well as in-licensed from third parties.

The successful candidate will work cross-functionally with scientific, finance, IP, legal and commercial teams, ensuring agreements are structured and maintained effectively to support strategic partnerships and commercial collaborations.

Your key responsibilities will include:

IP Licensing and Contract Management

• Draft, review, and support the negotiation of commercialisation and pre-commercialisation agreements, including:
• IP licence, option, and evaluation agreements with third parties 
• Material Transfer Agreements (MTAs) covering biological and non-biological materials.
• Data access and data sharing agreements supporting collaborative research activities

Portfolio and Agreement Management

• Manage a portfolio of technologies and associated licence agreements, ensuring contractual obligations are clearly understood and appropriately managed.
• Support the business in optimising the use of in-licensed technologies to enable the successful commercialisation of the company’s products and services.
• Monitor and support performance obligations under licensing agreements, ensuring compliance with contractual commitments.
• Support the negotiation of commercialisation agreements, amendments and extensions where required.

In-Licensing and Commercialisation Support

• Work closely with the legal team to draft and finalise agreements for the in-licensing of new technologies.
• Support internal teams in evaluating and structuring licensing opportunities that align with the organisation’s strategic objectives.
• Work collaboratively with the legal and commercial teams to develop value propositions for prospective licensing partners.

Royalty and Commercial Reporting

• Maintain and monitor the royalty stack associated with licensed technologies.
• Support royalty reporting obligations and ensure accurate and timely payments to licensors.
• Assist with commercial reporting related to licensing agreements and technology partnerships.

Stakeholder Relationship Management

• Build and maintain strong relationships with licensors, licensees, academic partners and collaborators.
• Act as a key point of contact for stakeholders involved in technology licensing and commercialisation activities.
• Work cross-functionally with legal, scientific and commercial teams to support partnership and licensing activities.

Contract Administration

• Maintain accurate records of agreements and supporting documentation within internal systems.
• Support contract lifecycle management, including amendments, renewals and compliance tracking.
• Contribute to the development and improvement of contract templates and internal processes.

You…

• Will have a minimum Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent experience) in a scientific or technology related subject.
• Have proven experience drafting, reviewing and managing commercial agreements and/or IP-focused contracts, ideally within life sciences, biotechnology or technology commercialisation.
• Are collaborative and able to work effectively with scientific, legal and commercial teams.

With essential experience in…

• Dealing with IP licensing, within a technology transfer office (TTO), research institution or Life Sciences R&D company with IP translation activities.
• Understanding of intellectual property rights, licensing structures, and technology transfer principles.
• Experience supporting or managing licence agreements or technology portfolios, including tracking contractual obligations.
• Understanding of commercialisation agreements and collaborative partnerships between academic institutions and industry.
• Familiarity with technology in-licensing, IP commercialisation, and academic–industry collaboration agreements.
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to manage multiple agreements, stakeholders, and deadlines simultaneously.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to explain and interpret legal and commercial concepts to non-legal stakeholders.
• Commercially aware with an interest in translating scientific innovation into commercial opportunities.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office (particularly Word and PowerPoint) and experience using contract or document management systems (e.g., SharePoint, Salesforce, or similar platforms).

...and possibly.....

• In-house experience within the start-up or scale-up biotechnology industry. 
• Legal qualification, legal training, or experience working closely with legal.
• Experience supporting royalty tracking, royalty reporting, or financial obligations linked to licensing agreements.