Deputy Director Industry Engagements & Co-Branding

Job Role: Deputy Director – CoE Industry Engagement & Co-Branding

• Applies to all CoEs across domains (Business studies, Engineering, Law and Public Policy, Liberal arts and Sciences)
• Establishes industry engagement playbooks for all CoEs
• Works in close alignment with Directors of CoE, Director – Centre for Research, and CIO
• Acts as a central enabler for industry partnerships without owning academic scope or corporate relations

Role Purpose

The Deputy Director – CoE Industry Engagement & Co-Branding is responsible for enabling, coordinating, and integrating Centres of Excellence (CoEs) through structured industry engagement frameworks, co-branding initiatives, and partnership activation mechanisms.

This role functions in close alignment with the Directors of CoE, the Director – Centre for Research, and the Chief Industry Officer (CIO) and does not assume academic or industry ownership.

The role is designed to augment the existing CoE structure and serve as the institutional execution arm for the CIO’s mandate to build a University-wide partner ecosystem. The Deputy Director ensures CoEs become industry engageable and externally visible through playbooks, packaging, coordination, and governance-compliant implementation.

This role is not a general corporate relations position; it exists specifically to operationalize and scale CoE-linked industry partnerships and co-branding.

Role Mandate

This role succeeds when:

• Industry engagement becomes systematic rather than individualdependent
• All CoEs have partner-ready engagement models
• Relationships convert into CoE-linked partnerships and funding

Key Result Areas (KRAs)

KRA 1: CoE Industry Engagement Playbook & Operating Model

Purpose

Develop and institutionalise a structured playbook for CoE-industry engagement across all domains.

Key Responsibilities

Design a University CoE Industry Engagement Playbook in alignment

with:

• CIO (industry strategy + priority partners)
• Director – Centre for Research (research governance & compliance)
• Directors of CoE (capability and academic scope)

Establish standard Industry engagement pathways for diverse CoEs, such as:

• Engineering and Science CoEs: pilots, prototypes, sponsored labs, R&D projects
• Business studies and Law & Public Policy: impact studies, analytics, consulting, ESG, CSR partnerships
• Liberal Arts: impact studies, analytics, sponsorships, cultural partnerships, residencies, festivals, productions

Key Measures

• CoE engagement playbook created, approved, and operationalised
• Percentage of CoEs onboarded onto playbook processes
• Reduction in ad-hoc/unstructured industry engagements
• The playbook structures Industry engagement; it does not determine CoE academic priorities

KRA 2: Industry Partnership Enablement & Conversion for CoEs

Purpose

Convert CIO-led initiative on partner ecosystem building into specific CoE-linked partnerships.

Key Responsibilities

Maintain a structured CoE partnership pipeline sourced from:

• CIO’s strategic partner outreach
• Alliance university Alumni network
• AU – CAN office
• Industry inbound requests
• Outbound through active networking
• CoE leadership leads routed through the playbook

Facilitate conversion of opportunities into:

• Sponsored research and problem statements (where applicable)
• Co-branded labs and platforms
• Industry-funded projects and pilots
• Partner-funded chairs/fellowships
• CSR/ESG and policy partnerships

Ensure engagements are appropriately routed to relevant CoEs based on capability and readiness and Director – CFR.

Key Measures

• Number of CoE-linked partnerships activated annually
• Value of partnership pipeline (Rs. / year)
• Lead-to-engagement conversion rate and cycle time
• Diversity of partners across sectors and CoE domains
• CIO owns strategic partner relationships; CoE leaders own academic execution.

KRA 3: Co-Branding Framework & Execution for CoEs

Purpose

Build and manage co-branding initiatives that strengthen CoE credibility and AU’s reputation

Key Responsibilities

Develop a CoE co-branding framework including:

• Co-branding levels (lab, Skill Development centre’s, chair, fellowship, Joint certification programs, WILPs etc)
• Ensure all Deliverables are clearly stated in the MoU and are realized and fulfilled YoY, through systematic review involving CIO and CFR

Ensure co-branding is backed by:

• Clear partner commitments
• Documented deliverables
• Risk review and compliance checks

Key Measures

• Number of co-branded CoE initiatives launched per year
• Compliance score (zero brand/protocol violations)
• CoE visibility uplift through partners and media

KRA 4: Industry Engagement Eventization & External Partner Experience

Purpose

Position CoEs as active public platforms for industry collaboration and ecosystem

participation.

Key Responsibilities

Plan and execute structured partner experiences such as:

• CoE showcase days (multi-domain)
• Sector-themed partner roundtables
• Demo days for technology CoEs
• Policy dialogue forums for public policy/economics CoEs
• Cultural partnership showcases for arts CoEs

Build “partner journeys” and ensure follow-up conversions

Key Measures

• Number of partner engagement events hosted (by CoE/cluster)
• Quality of industry participation (strategic partners vs transactional)
• Post-event engagement conversion rate

KRA 5: Partnership Intelligence, Dashboards & Institutional Reporting

Purpose

Provide decision-grade visibility to CIO and alignment visibility to CoE Directors

and the Director – Centre for Research.

Key Responsibilities

Maintain a CoE partnership dashboard with:

• Active partners
• Engagement status
• Funding value
• Co-branding initiatives
• Pipeline and conversion progress

Present quarterly status insights to CIO

Provide summary updates to the Director – Centre for Research and Directors of CoE for alignment

Key Measures

• On-time dashboard submission (quarterly)
• Accuracy and adoption of reporting in decision-making
• Evidence of course correction/improvement based on insights
• Does not duplicate DCR research output dashboards; focuses on CoE partner engagement ecosystem.