University of Missouri Extension
Business Development Specialist
Position Description

LOCATION

Headquartered in St. Louis, this position will be responsible for the St Louis city, St Louis County, St. Charles County, and surrounding areas.

Office location: 100 N. Tucker, Ste. 530, St Louis MO 63101

SUMMARY

This position will proactively seek client relationships with companies that have a high probability of being capable and willing to apply for and win Small Business Innovation Research and the Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR) grants or similar awards with the intent of product commercialization.   In addition, the position will serve as a liaison for the Missouri Small Business and Technology Development Centers (MO SBTDC) across the state of Missouri to integrate business processes into a new project and information management software program called SIMON. 

As a member of University of Missouri Extension, this position is responsible for developing and fostering community and academic partnerships, developing revenue generation opportunities, and actively participating in activities that improve economic and societal improvements through business development programming throughout Missouri.

This position is part of the Missouri Small Business Development Center (MO SBDC) network and works as a team member with other MO SBDC offices located at other universities in the region.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES

Program Development and Delivery

• Provide management counseling services that are supportive to the commercialization process. This is through an assessment of company needs formulate into a plan for assistance which may be either direct assistance or referral to appropriate source.
• Provide targeted, research-based educational products which are focused on change management, strategic performance, and leadership development for the client or company management team, employees, and board members
• Provide research and marketing support services for SBTDC clients, primary research on small business needs and economic impact, and special projects such as small business incubator feasibility studies.
• Assist technology businesses through one-on-one management counseling with product commercialization.  Guide business clients through Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program application process.
• Assist in expediting “deal flow” to business incubators, federal funding agencies, investors, etc. by determining the stage of development and needs of client’s business model. 
• Be the "Point of Contact" and provide customer service to all MO SBTDCs to trouble shoot, provide software upgrade and customization support to all SIMON users.  Train field staff and administer the SIMON software system.  (The SIMON software provides a streamlined approach to project management and allows staff to simplify daily processes when assisting researchers and/or entrepreneurs on their commercialization endeavors.  It gives staff the capability to capture all of the historical notes and attachments that are considered mission critical objectives of the project into one single repository for all participants to access).
•  Act as the customer service coordinator to provide support and direction to the MO SBTDC staff integrating SIMON into their standard operations of project management. 
• Actively foster inclusion of diverse clients by delivering educational programs that represent the population diversity in the assigned counties. Diverse audiences may include racial, ethnic, underserved, women, veterans and people with disabilities.

Program Evaluation

• Work with supervisor and assigned teams to establish individual and team goals, ensuring local needs, regional goals, grant requirements, and partnership/stakeholder goals are met.
• Gather and document the impact of client counseling and training including the amount of SBIR/STTRs applied for and awarded, sales increase, jobs created, loans obtained and equity attracted, business started, etc.
• Achieve goals in the areas of outcomes (impact), quantity (ie. # of clients, hours of counseling, etc.),  quality, stakeholder relations and revenue generation.
• Communicate and promote economic and societal impacts to key stakeholders, councils, administrators, and targeted decision makers.
• Maintain data entry and client files on a monthly basis to provide data for individual, regional and statewide evaluation.

Resource Generation

• Seek out and develop external funding sources to enhance existing and future programs, including identifying reasonable and acceptable fee’s, new opportunities, appropriate grant or contract opportunities, and partnerships to provide growth opportunities for new and existing educational programs.
• Ensure compliance with grant/contract/other requirements and maintain fiscal accountability.

Relationships and Communication

• Collaborate effectively, within the higher education environment and with other partner organizations, to serve the general population and culturally diverse audiences through providing outstanding learning environments.
• Work in a team environment with faculty, staff, academic administrators, councils, and the community to ensure effective, positive, and professional coordination and delivery of educational programs that meet county, regional, and state-wide goals.
• Develop coalitions and partnerships with colleagues, individuals, and organizations to enhance the learning environment within the local community and state.
• Receive programmatic leadership from the state business development office.

Professional Expectations

• Keep up to date on research including current and future business trends that impact local and state business needs.
• Actively participate in professional development opportunities to remain competitive in government procurement, finance, management, marketing, demographic trends, curriculum development/delivery, and Extension faculty expectations.
• Participate in interdisciplinary teams, committees and task forces. May serve on committees and teams outside program area to meet organizational needs.
• Assume programmatic and administrative responsibilities as assigned by Director as needed.
• On a regular basis, demonstrate effective written and oral communication, public speaking, teaching, organizational, interpersonal, public relations, group facilitation, and technology skills to ensure high audience satisfaction and learning, as well as effective colleague relations.
• Develop and execute an annual work plan aligned with local, regional and state objectives of the business development program, in cooperation with regional director, program director, and colleagues.
• Travel in-state to fulfill regular job responsibilities, with some out of state travel as needed. Submit travel reimbursement paperwork on a monthly basis, ensuring compliance with travel policies.
• Work evenings and weekends as needed to meet the needs of clients, programming goals, and partnership expectations. Ensure open communication with colleagues regarding scheduling to maintain positive customer service.

Conduct all activities in accordance with the Civil Rights Acts, Title IX, Rehabilitation, Americans with Disabilities Act and local, state and region affirmative action plans.

As with all positions, involvement with other duties and responsibilities may be expected in order to support the mission and purpose of MU Extension.

SUPERVISION RECEIVED

Supervision is received from the St. Louis SBTDC director.  Programming direction is provided by the MO SBTDC FAST director. 

SUPERVISION EXERCISED

None.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

An earned bachelor degree preferably in business, engineering, business education, or related area with appropriate coursework exhibited.  Requires a high proficiency in project management software with the ability to troubleshoot and provide technical solutions to SBTDC staff members when implementing SIMON into their daily business processes.

Professional experience in applying and transferring research-based knowledge in above subject matter areas is expected. Experience in operating, managing and owning a small business, training, and/or consulting is preferred.   

Ideal candidate will have demonstrated success in building networks to bring the necessary resources to small businesses that have the potential to commercialize innovative products.  These resources will have the capability to provide management skills, technical knowledge and capitalization as needed for small businesses to commercialize new products. 

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		Human Resource Development hrdext@missouri.edu Last modified: 09/20/07
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