Job for Researchers: Team Leader in Legal & Tech Transfer — Technical University of Denmark

Original title: Teamleder i DTU Jura og Tech Transfer – Afd. for Forskning, Rådgivning og Innovation

About the role

DTU’s Legal & Tech Transfer unit is seeking a legal team leader to support the negotiation of the university’s many complex research collaboration agreements. The unit operates at the interface between world-class research and industry, partnering with leading Danish and international companies within biotechnology, future healthcare solutions, space missions, sustainability, quantum technologies and more.

As team leader, you will have personnel responsibility for 12 colleagues while also participating directly in operational casework as a “playing coach.” You will work closely with the rest of the management group in Legal & Tech Transfer and, together with the team leader of the other legal team, take particular responsibility for developing competencies and building knowledge across the two legal teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a team of 12 highly specialised legal colleagues
• Facilitate and support negotiation of DTU’s research collaboration agreements
• Participate in operational work and case handling as a playing team leader
• Support, optimise and further develop collaboration within the team and with DTU institutes and external partners
• Build bridges between researchers, industry partners and the university’s administrative units

Requirements

• Solid legal background and well-developed professional judgement
• Management experience and a genuine desire to grow as a leader
• Experience as an advisor and negotiator on complex agreements
• Ability to work fluently in both Danish and English at a high level
• Outgoing, proactive and comfortable in a role with many professional contacts
• Ability to navigate between strong personalities and deep professional expertise, knowing when to hold firm on a legal assessment and when to seek a good compromise
• Curiosity, good energy and the ability to drive matters forward independently

About the workplace

Legal & Tech Transfer is a unit with four teams under the Department for Research, Advice and Innovation (AFRI). Of the unit’s approximately 50 employees, about 25 are lawyers; the rest are patent specialists, business developers and GDPR specialists. The unit plays a role in more than 1,800 research agreements annually, provides general legal advice across DTU, and handles commercialisation of DTU inventions and software.

The workplace is DTU Lyngby Campus, offering an international, energetic environment. The unit values integrity, a good working atmosphere, helpfulness and knowledge sharing, with an informal culture that leaves room for humour.

We offer

• Opportunity to further develop your leadership, negotiation and advisory skills
• A large and rewarding professional network across research and industry
• A dynamic workplace with inspiring challenges in a unit in constant development
• Salary and employment terms in accordance with the collective agreement for academics in the state, with supplements negotiable under DTU’s salary structure for AC TAP

How to apply

Applications must be submitted online no later than 16 August 2026 and must include a motivated application, CV and examination certificates. Applications received after the deadline will not be considered.

Questions about the position may be directed to legal team leader Kamilla Gibson, Legal & Tech Transfer, phone 2464 9477 or email [email protected].

All interested candidates are encouraged to apply regardless of age, gender, disability, race, religion or ethnic background. As DTU conducts research in critical technology, special rules on security and export control apply, and open-source background checks may be carried out on qualified candidates.

About DTU

DTU is one of Europe’s leading technical elite universities, founded by H.C. Ørsted nearly 200 years ago. The university has 13,800 students, 1,600 PhD students and 6,500 employees. It operates in an international environment with an inclusive, developing and informal working culture, with campuses across Denmark and in Greenland.

Original vacancy