Assistant Director of Ventures

University of Colorado Anschutz

Department: CU Innovations

Job Title: Assistant Director of Ventures

Position #: 00846286 – Requisition #: 39391

Job Summary:

The Assistant Director of Ventures is a strategic, entrepreneurial leader responsible for driving the creation, development, and commercialization of high impact health technologies across the CU Anschutz Medical Campus. This role unifies leadership of the Healthcare Innovation & Entrepreneurship Initiative (HIE) with oversight of Innovations Ventures, integrating accelerator operations, venture development, faculty support, and commercialization pathways into one cohesive portfolio.

The Assistant Director will lead the ongoing execution of both the HIE and Ventures programs, both of which are designed to advance pharmaceutical, digital health solutions, diagnostics, medical devices, AI enabled tools, and other innovations addressing urgent clinical, research, and public health needs. They will oversee the commercialization support activities, coordinate advisory and mentorship networks, and guide promising faculty driven innovations from early concepts toward market readiness. Responsibilities include managing day-to-day operations such as proposal solicitation and evaluation, advisory committee coordination, engagement of external expert networks, project funding oversight, and hands on mentorship of CU Anschutz innovators.

In this role, the Assistant Director of Ventures will guide early-stage academic discoveries from concept to market, cultivate a robust venture pipeline, support spinout formation, oversee the SPARK program, and build partnerships with industry, investors, and clinical collaborators. They will manage complex stakeholder relationships and collaborate closely with faculty innovators, clinical partners across UCHealth, Children’s Hospital Colorado, and the VA, as well as entrepreneurial programs across the campus and throughout Colorado’s vibrant health innovation ecosystem.

The ideal candidate brings deep experience in health technology innovation, startup formation, commercialization strategy, and partnership development; combining technical fluency with the ability to mentor faculty, build cross campus collaborations, and accelerate CU Anschutz Innovations toward advanced development and early piloting. Above all, the Assistant Director of Ventures will be driven by a passion for translating scientific discoveries into real world healthcare solutions that improve patient outcomes and public health.

Key Responsibilities:

• Execute the strategic vision for the Healthcare Innovation & Entrepreneurship Initiative and Innovations Ventures.
• Expand organizational infrastructure to support venture creation, accelerator programming, and commercialization pathways.
• Lead annual accelerator cycles, including proposal solicitation, evaluation, cohort selection, milestone planning, and progress tracking.
• Oversee delivery of commercialization services such as business model development, regulatory strategy, clinical validation planning, and go to market strategy.
• Evaluate early-stage discoveries and guide faculty through venture formation, SBIR/STTR readiness, licensing pathways, and capital strategy.
• Build project plans and milestones for selected teams in collaboration with mentors and external experts.
• Build long-term relationships with industry partners to accelerate early-stage scientific discoveries into products.
• Collaborate with innovation focused programs across CU Anschutz (CCTSI I Corps, SPARK, Startup Toolbox, Inworks) to create a unifie