Ploughshare Accelerator Fund (PAF) Panel Member

About Ploughshare:

Established in 2005, Ploughshare is wholly-owned by the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD). We have exclusive rights to a unique portfolio of MOD-developed and crown-owned intellectual property, and we exist to transform ideas into commercial opportunities.

We work with government research and development teams and industry including manufacturers, software providers and MedTech companies to turn innovation into impactful, real-life products and solutions that enhance and protect our Front Line Commands, provide new and cutting-edge solutions for our healthcare system, combat crime to make our streets safer, and make our planet more sustainable.

About PAF:

The principle objective of the Ploughshare Accelerator Fund is to enable the development of, and accelerate the commercialisation of, early stage MOD S&T Intellectual Property (IP) and Knowledge Assets (KA) to the advantage of UK security, prosperity and for wider humanitarian benefits. To traverse the ‘Valley of Death’ is a challenging journey, with many great inventions not making it. However, we know with access to appropriate funding at all stages of the journey, as well as advice, skills, and networks, we can make it. The PAF provides essential capability to unlock IP and create momentum, and over the first two years of the fund we have been able to demonstrate tangible progress for many ventures, successfully navigating early valleys of death. We have now enabled a handful of ventures to be at or close to market procurement and a high proportion of our investments are enabling capability that is of direct benefit to defence.

We are now seeking three external experts to join our diverse panel in the next phase of this exciting journey, who can play a pivotal role in achieving PAF’s mission and vision. This will be initially a three year appointment and at the end of this period further extensions of the tenure will be considered depending on the expertise required at that stage, and willingness of the candidate to continue.

What you will be doing

• Evaluate and approve funding for early spin-out proposals for equity investment and translation projects to accelerate commercialisation of IP via activities like prototype development or market analysis etc.
• Support the chair to ensure that all the decisioning making is done in accordance with PAF guiding principles and Terms of Reference.
• Provide strategic guidance and business expertise to investee projects to help them scale-up faster. This can include, but is not limited to sharing market knowledge, introductions to investor and customer networks, providing technical expertise and access to critical resources like equipment and technical support etc, and running collaborative project(s).
• Support (wherever possible) in raising the profile of and developing Ploughshare’s reputation as a technology transfer leader, acting as a spokesperson if and when necessary and creating wider collaboration and partnerships with outside investment.
• Provide (wherever possible) access to external investment communities to enable Ploughshare’s commercialisation team to gain valuable market insights and better understanding of the external factors that impact innovation acceleration.

Desired background, competencies and expertise

• You will have calibre and experience as an entrepreneur with an agile and entrepreneurial mindset.
• Track record of delivery of early stage R&D and Innovation projects in government, corporate, or start-up setting.
• Experience of raising investments, incubation, acceleration and scaling up of early stage or small businesses.
• Experience of providing guidance and advice to senior executives (e.g. chair and panel members of an investment committee).
• More of a generalist than a specialist; however we need subject matter experts for particular projects in the areas of defence & security, materials, cybersecurity, software, life sciences and climate, energy & sustainability.
• A thorough understanding of the process, risks and timescale required to commercialise early-stage technologies.
• High-level understanding of options for monetising Intellectual property and complex licensing deals.
• Excellent thinking, analytical and leadership skills.
• Strong communicator with a wide network – someone who can bring a sizeable list of investor and industry contacts with them.
• Comfortable in providing independent guidance in the best interests of PAF.
• Able to provide thought leaderships both externally and internally in technology commercialisation to raise PAF’s profile among key stakeholders.

Security clearance

Successful candidates will be required to go through relevant UK security clearance. The confirmation of the appointment will be subjected to successful passing of the clearance process.

Locations

Five to six meetings per year typically on Teams, occasionally in London or Wiltshire. Some flexibility to travel further afield may be required.

Remuneration

£5000/annum plus travel and subsistence for any travel required (within the UK).

Apply

To apply, please contact Sarah McAdden (sarah.mcadden@ploughshare.co.uk).

For enquiries about the role, please contact Kalyan Sarma (kalyan.sarma@ploughshare.co.uk).