Senior Financial & IP Management Specialist, OTC

Occupational Summary

Support financial and intellectual property (IP) management operations by performing complex accounting, patent management and government compliance tasks for the Office for Translation & Commercialization (OTC). Excellent customer service skills are required to interface effectively with attorney firms, external business partners, Duke departments, faculty and staff, and OTC team members.  

OTC is responsible for patents, technology licenses, translation, new venture development and angel investing for Duke University. OTC is also responsible for billing, collecting and distributing large amounts of dollars through a myriad of diverse transactions.  Through direct, daily interaction with faculty, small and large businesses, and venture investors, we build strong relationships and enter into agreements to translate academic discoveries into commercial products that benefit society, impact public health, and improve the quality of life.

This position will report to both the Director of Legal Affairs and the Director of Operations & Finance.

Work Performed

Financial

• Perform monthly reconciliation of OTC’s accounts including reconciliation of OTC’s database to SAP and monitoring credit card transactions.
• Prepare journal entries in SAP and make necessary updates in OTC’s database.
• Assist with departmental expense management including setting up Purchase Orders and budget reporting.
• Prepare payments for attorney and co-owner invoices using OTC’s database and Duke Accounts Payable check requests.
• Prepare travel and expense reimbursement reports for OTC staff in Concur.
• Support other financial staff in a variety of tasks, document review and management projects as they arise to ensure accuracy and data quality.

IP Management

• Review of correspondence received by outside counsel and docketing/recordation of said correspondence within the OTC database.
• Assist in the gathering of inventor signatures for time-sensitive patent office documents
• Manage requests from sponsoring agencies and Duke’s Office of Research Support (ORS), including grant close out invention reports.
• Complete intake review and approval of Invention Disclosure Forms (IDFs) in the Cayuse Inventions database
• Assist in Duke’s compliance requirements for IP: (i) sponsored by government funding by entering appropriate data and documents into the government’s iEdison database; (ii) co-owned by outside entities by working with said outside entities to notify them of submitted invention disclosures and any associated intellectual property; and/or (iii) sponsored by 3rd party funding by working with said 3rd parties to notify them of submitted invention disclosures and any associated intellectual property.
• Support other IP Management staff in a variety of tasks, document review and management projects as they arise to ensure accuracy and data quality.
• Perform reception duties to greet and direct office visitors.
• Perform other related duties incidental to the work described herein.

The above statements describe the general nature and level of work being performed by individuals assigned to this classification. This is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all responsibilities and duties required of personnel so classified.

 

Required Qualifications at this Level

Education/Training:

Work requires knowledge of basic mathematical, research and communications principles normally acquired through two years of postsecondary education.

 

Experience:

Work generally requires four years of clerical or research experience to acquire strong skills in administrative or project research responsibilities as well as accepted office management, communications and research practices.

A bachelor's degree in a field of study directly related to the specific position may be substituted for the education and two years of the experience requirement.

OR AN EQUIVALENT COMBINATION OF RELEVANT EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE  

 

Skills:

Excellent customer service, interpersonal, team work, written/verbal communication, time management and organizational skills.

Detail-oriented and accurate in all tasks.

Strong accounting skills and experience.

Experience and aptitude in working with complex databases.

Experience with Duke accounting systems and processes.

Proficiency with SAP and MS Office (Word, Excel, Powerpoint) software.

Familiarity with technology transfer, licensing, contract language, legal terms, patent prosecution and intellectual property matters.

     

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