Head of Research & Development Staff Unit 60 - 70 %

About the job

Head of Research & Development Staff Unit 60 - 70 %

Help us shape a strong science location: In this versatile role, you operate at the interface of research and administration and accompany projects from the initial idea to successful completion – efficiently, structured, and effectively. Does this sound like your next challenge? Then we should get to know each other.

Department: Life Sciences and Facility Management

Start date: November 1, 2026

You lead the Research & Development staff unit and, together with your team, ensure professional, efficient, and quality-assured framework conditions for research and transfer.

• Technical, personnel, and financial management of the Research & Development staff unit (budget, QM documents/processes, intranet/internet presence, direct management of 2 employees)
• Support and advice for researchers (e.g., information about funding organizations, project management, patent applications, organization of training offers, legal framework such as Nagoya Protocol, Human Research Act, export control, data protection, etc.)
• Responsible for the following central support services:

• Contract review (e.g., research contracts, confidentiality agreements, material transfer agreements, license agreements)

• Contract management (maintenance of the contract database and the e-signature tool)

• Review and approval of project initiations

• Data preparation for the directorate (e.g., doctoral candidates)

• Representation of the Department of Life Sciences and Facility Management in the ZHAW commission for the Research & Development division
• Support of technology transfer and spin-off promotion as a management board member of the "grow" foundation
• Representation of the Department of Life Sciences and Facility Management in the ZHAW Quality Commission; responsible for implementing the department's quality strategy

For this responsible leadership position, we are looking for a professionally competent, organizationally strong personality with a solid university education and experience in the research environment. Ideally, you bring the following profile:

• Bachelor's or master's degree in a scientific, technical, business, or legal field
• Experience in research management and/or technology transfer
• Understanding of academic structures and regulatory requirements as well as the ability to mediate between academic freedom and legal or administrative compliance requirements

You have pronounced organizational and leadership skills as well as confident handling of administrative and operational processes. Your good communication skills (German and English), your advisory strength, and your assertiveness characterize you as much as your commitment, independence, and high reliability.

The ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences, with over 14,000 students and over 11,000 continuing education participants as well as around 3,700 employees, is one of the largest multi-disciplinary universities of applied sciences in Switzerland.

ZHAW is committed to gender-mixed and diverse teams to promote equality, diversity, and innovation.

Life Sciences and Facility Management: Study and research in Wädenswil: practice-oriented, creative, passionate, and reflective. With our competencies in Life Sciences and Facility Management, we make an important contribution in the fields of Environment, Food, Health to solving our societal challenges and improving our quality of life.

We offer university-appropriate working and employment conditions and actively promote the personnel development of our employees and managers. A detailed description of the benefits can be found on the "Working at ZHAW" website. Here are the main points:

Dr. Diyana Petrova

Head of Staff Education, Research & Resources

Manuela Laure

Recruiting Manager