The Algarve Centre for Marine Science (CCMAR) has a vacancy for a Scouting and Sponsorship Officer (M/F) to satisfy temporary needs under an uncertain term employment contract, in order to attract public and private funds for research and infrastructure programmes under the Portuguese node of the European Marine Biological Resource Centre (EMBRC).  The EMBRC is a distributed research infrastructure that aims to provide a strategic delivery mechanism for excellent and large-scale marine science in Europe. With its services, EMBRC will support both fundamental and applied research based on marine bioresources and marine ecosystems.

The Scouting and Sponsorship Officer will be part of the Business and Communication Unit and work in an international environment as a business scout to mediate companies and scientists and to attract funding, in particular contract research, in coordination with the Funding Development Officer and reporting to the CCMAR Directors.  

Responsibilities:

• Working efficiently and as a team member in the Business and Communication Unit to attract business and talent to CCMAR and EMBRC Portugal.
• Mediating companies needs with CCMAR expertise to provide products and business solutions.
• Promoting CCMAR and the EMBRC research and business agenda among potential customers such as companies, foundations, and public institutions.
• Participate in public and private events, open days, company fora, and other important business and funding-related events at home and abroad to promote CCMAR and recruit research and business partners.
• With the Funding Development Officer, identifying suitable sources of income to support CCMAR/EMBRC.PT activities, including national and international foundations (e.g., FCT, EDP), ministries, companies, governmental agencies, bi- and multilateral organizations (e.g., UNESCO, European Commission, FAO) and others.
• Spotting opportunities for funding.
• Maintaining a thorough understanding of CCMAR/EMBRC’s activities in order to identify funding prospects and to communicate about them effectively.
• Identifying CCMAR knowledge that would be attractive to different funding sources.
• With the Business and Communication Unit engaging with scientists in funding applications to increase success rate.
• Establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with SME, industry and government officials, and use these relationships to develop new business opportunities.
• Writing the EMBRC annual reports and auditing requests.

Experience/skils:

• A master degree or equivalent in a relevant science and/or business discipline with at least 5 years’ experience and demonstrated capacity for business scouting and fund raising.
• Ability to work within international, interdisciplinary and multicultural environment.
• A full command of excellent written and spoken English.

• Ability to work in teams, in a fast pace environment, where information needs to be communicated, requested and shared among several key personnel.
• Start-up mentality, with the ability to work occasionally in short-term projects, with different people, with different roles, with a broad range of functions.
• Excellent communication, networking and partnership building skills.
• Ability to develop strong and lasting relationships with industrial and commercial partners.
• Ability to work under pressure meeting tight deadlines.

Salary: Monthly gross salary of approximately 2051.40 €.

Expected start date: May 2017

Working contract conditions: uncertain term employment contract starting in May 2017.

Working Schedule: 35 hours weekly, and the possibility to work at weekends as needed.

Working Place: Gambelas Campus of the University of Algarve. Occasional trips might be required.

Application Period :  between 3 and 17 April 2017.

Selection Committee: Adelino V. M. Canário, President of the Directive Board (President), Tiago Magalhães (member) and  Deborah Power (member).

Application documents: Applicants should send their application by email to ccmar@ualg.pt, indicating the reference in the subject (Refª CCMAR/SSO/06/2017). The application should include a  detailed curriculum vitae, a copy of MSc certificate, a motivation letter in English that should address the Responsibilities/Experience/Skills requirements and e-mail contacts of up to 3 professional referees.  Applications are considered as correctly submitted only after receiving an email confirmation from CCMAR.

Selection: The candidates will be ranked based on the documents provided. Eventually a reduced number of the top ranked candidates may be interviewed.

The selection committee will exercise the right to contact and interview candidates should it require further information or clarification about their application. In the event that no applicant has the necessary profile, or the funding conditions have significantly changed since the announcement of the position, the selection committee reserves the right to close the call without any recruitment. In the event that the contract holder should resign during the contract, the jury reserves the right, upon convenience and opportunity, to assign the post to the next applicant in accordance with the ranking positions.

Communication of results: The decision of the selection committee will be communicated in writing.

CCMAR’s non-discrimination and equal access opportunities policy – No candidate can be privileged, benefited, jeopardised or be deprived of any right or exempt of any claim in regards to descendent, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, economic situation, origin, social economy, genetic heritage, disability, chronic disease, nationality, ethnicity, territory of origin, language, religion, politics, ideology or union membership.  

03-04-2017