OceanWorks Senior Business Development & Partnerships Manager

Job Summary

Job Description

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) is hiring an  OceanWorks Senior Business Development & Partnerships Manager  to support OceanWorks, WHOI’s hub for innovation, industry engagement, and research translation. This full-time, on-site role is responsible for leading the development, structuring, and advancement of external engagement opportunities that connect WHOI’s scientific capabilities with commercial and industrial partners.

This position plays a central role in growing industry- and commercially funded research, working across WHOI researchers, OceanWorks leadership, and external stakeholders to translate scientific capabilities into fundable collaborations, consortia, and partnership-based initiatives. The Senior Business Development & Partnerships Manager leads complex, multi-stakeholder engagement efforts from early-stage opportunity identification through project formation and launch, while also ensuring effective coordination, continuity, and relationship management across the broader body of associated work.

This role requires extensive engagement with WHOI researchers and research teams to understand their scientific capabilities, interests, and readiness for external collaboration, particularly with commercial and industrial partners. The position also requires sustained external outreach and relationship development with prospective partners and funders. The successful candidate brings relevant domain knowledge and an existing network of relationships that can be leveraged to accelerate partnership development and funding growth.

This role operates with significant independence and is responsible for ensuring that projects, partnerships, and multi-party engagements are well-structured, aligned, and effectively supported over time, particularly in cases involving multiple stakeholders, funders, or interconnected activities.

Reporting to the Chief Innovation Officer, this role works closely with Principal Investigators, OceanWorks staff, Communications, and external partners to expand WHOI’s engagement portfolio and strengthen long-term external relationships.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities

Business Development & Opportunity Leadership

• Lead the identification, development, and advancement of external engagement opportunities with commercial and industrial partners

• Translate WHOI scientific capabilities into structured partnership opportunities, including sponsored research, pilot projects, technical collaborations, and consortia

• Define opportunity scope, value proposition, engagement approach, and potential deliverables in collaboration with researchers and leadership

• Drive opportunities from initial concept through stakeholder alignment to project formation and launch

• Build and maintain a pipeline of engagement opportunities aligned with OceanWorks priorities

• Serve as the primary point of coordination and accountability for advancing opportunities to funded outcomes

Internal Researcher Engagement & Alignment

• Engage deeply with WHOI researchers and research teams to understand scientific capabilities, research priorities, and interest in commercial or industrial collaboration

• Identify and assess opportunities where research activities align with external partner needs and funding opportunities

• Help researchers articulate externally relevant value propositions and engagement pathways

• Advise on positioning, timing, and structuring of engagements based on researcher readiness and partner expectations

• Facilitate alignment across researchers, OceanWorks leadership, and external stakeholders to ensure opportunities are well-scoped, feasible, and strategically aligned

External Engagement & Relationship Development

• Serve as a key external-facing representative for OceanWorks in interactions with industry and institutional partners

• Conduct sustained, proactive outreach to prospective commercial and industrial partners to identify and develop new engagement opportunities

• Lead engagement discussions, exploratory meetings, and follow-up activities with prospective partners

• Align partner needs with WHOI capabilities, timelines, and engagement models

• Build and maintain a portfolio of external relationships that support long-term partnership development and funding growth

• Leverage existing professional networks and industry knowledge to accelerate opportunity identification and engagement

• Maintain ongoing engagement with partners and prospects to understand evolvi