Innovation Manager

CONTEXT: The SAFTCO structure within the EPFL institution (OCP office located on the EPFL innovation park) pilots the scouting of opportunities and partners in Switzerland and Europe as part of the research and innovation initiatives of the OCP / UM6P group. The recruited person will support three priority workstreams: support for the development of startups in the OCP ecosystem (OCP, InnovX, ITX, UM6P), an applied study on nanotechnologies and fertilizers for OCP NutriCrops, and the implementation of an AI information system capitalizing on collective knowledge to disseminate technological intelligence to teams in Morocco.

AXIS 1 — Support for startup development
Purpose: help startups in the OCP ecosystem in their commercial and technological development in Switzerland and Europe
Clients / interlocutors: UM6P Ventures, Stratégie, Forge, StartX.
Tasks:

• Establishment of partnerships (institutions, laboratories, industrial players) to help with product maturation
• Market and positioning studies in Europe
• Targeted due diligence (scientific, intellectual property, business)
• Support for market access: interviews with potential clients and distributors in Switzerland (multinationals, SMEs, other startups) corresponding to their field of activity
• Support for fundraising (grants, connecting with investors)

AXIS 2 — Nanotechnology & fertilizer analysis (OCP NutriCrops)
Purpose: support OCP NutriCrops in its technological and marketing analysis of the fertilizer market, particularly organic, active component, or nano fertilizers.
Client: OCP NutriCrops
Tasks:

• Applied study of the market and technologies for fertilization
• Conducting interviews with stakeholders (EPFL laboratories, ILMAC trade fair – Beaulieu, Lake Geneva chemical ecosystem, Basel pharmaceutical industry)
• Robustification of the fertilizer classification (MECE framework) based on interviews
• Definition of promising innovation paths (technology) and identification of actors (startups, laboratories, etc.)
• Structured reporting

AXIS 3 — AI information system and technological intelligence (OCP Morocco)
Purpose: implement an AI information system capitalizing on the collective knowledge of the office and its network, in order to maximize the use of technological intelligence data and maximize the dissemination of this information to teams in Morocco.
Clients / interlocutors: OCP and UM6P teams in Morocco (CSIO, business units, R&D), OCP@EPFL office.
Tasks:

• Mapping of existing intelligence sources and flows (scouting reports, interviews, events, startup and partner fact sheets) and the information needs of teams in Morocco
• Design and deployment of an AI knowledge base (LLM, semantic search) structuring and capitalizing on the collective knowledge produced by the office
• Automation of the collection, labeling, and synthesis of intelligence data to maximize reuse
• Organization of targeted dissemination to teams in Morocco (thematic summaries, newsletters, AI Q&A assistant) and measurement of adoption
• Information governance: confidentiality, quality of sources, regular updates, and user feedback

Cross-functional contribution

• Regular reporting on office activities.
• Participation in platform animation (events, exchanges, meetings)

RESEARCHED PROFILE

• Training in chemical engineering / sciences (Master's level)
• Appetite for innovation and business development, beyond pure R&D
• Analytical rigor and structuring capacity (MECE segmentation)
• Interpersonal ease and taste for networking
• Languages: fluent French and English (Arabic, Spanish an asset)
• Tools: Office suite; notions of AI / LLM appreciated

TERMS
Contract type: permanent contract (CDI), 100% base.
Start: start date to be agreed upon following the obtaining of work and residence permits in Switzerland
Remuneration: 100K gross