MANU Entrepreneurship Graduate Academic Assistant-1

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Note: Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the Posting End Date.

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Position Type: Part-time (Graduate Academic Assistant)
Location: Remote, University of British Columbia, Vancouver or Okanagan campus
Start Date: ASAP

Time and duration: 4-8 hours per week, 1 year, renewable contract

At UBC, we believe that attracting and sustaining a diverse workforce is key to the successful pursuit of excellence in research, innovation, and learning for all faculty, staff and students. Our commitment to employment equity helps achieve inclusion and fairness, brings rich diversity to UBC as a workplace, and creates the necessary conditions for a rewarding career.​​​​​​

Position Type: Part-time (Graduate Academic Assistant)
Location: Remote, University of British Columbia, Vancouver or Okanagan campus
Start Date: ASAP

Time and duration: 4-8 hours per week, 1 year, renewable contract

Manufacturing Engineering is a multidisciplinary field focused on transforming ideas, materials, and processes into scalable products and systems. It connects design, production, automation, materials, quality, supply chains, and operations, making it closely linked to entrepreneurship, innovation, and technology commercialization. Many manufacturing challenges create opportunities for new ventures, improved processes, industry partnerships, and product-focused innovation.

This role is open to applicants in Applied Science, Business, and Education. We are seeking Graduate Academic Assistants (GAAs) to work closely with a team of professors to support an initiative to develop an entrepreneurship option within the manufacturing engineering undergraduate program. This role involves, research, stakeholder engagement and project coordination.

Assistants will lead research comparable entrepreneurship programs at UBC and other institutions, synthesize findings to inform the development of a proposal that outlines how the option could be structured and integrated within the existing curriculum.

Beyond research and writing, assistants will play an active role in building an industry network by reaching out to and engaging with external companies and professionals, documenting interactions, and maintaining a database of potential partners.

Assistants will also support day-to-day project management activities — scheduling meetings, tracking progress, and maintaining clear records throughout the project lifecycle.

As the initiative advances, assistants will contribute to rolling out the entrepreneurship option to students, supporting implementation as plans move from proposal to practice.

Responsibilities

• Research and summarize findings to inform the design of a MANU entrepreneurship option.
• Support development of a proposal for integrating an entrepreneurship stream into the existing curriculum.
• Identify and engage industry contacts, companies, alumni, and potential partners.
• Document stakeholder interactions and maintain a database of external partners.
• Support project coordination/management, including meetings, progress tracking, and record keeping.
• Assist with implementation and student-facing rollout of the entrepreneurship option.

QUALIFICATIONS

Students must be enrolled in graduate studies at UBC, with good academic standing and have the ability to work independently, manage time effectively, and collaborate in a small interdisciplinary team. The ideal candidate would have a strong interest in manufacturing, entrepreneurship, interacting with industry, and education.

Preferred qualifications include experience with academic research, project coordination, stakeholder engagement, and technical/professional communication. The ideal candidate will be able to work independently, synthesize information from multiple sources, and prepare clear written materials for faculty, students, and external partners. Experience with curriculum development, entrepreneurship, innovation, manufacturing, and/or engineering education would be considered an asset.

Candidates should have strong organizational skills, be comfortable scheduling meetings, documenting discussions, tracking action items, and maintaining structured records such as contact lists or company databases. Experience interacting with industry, alumni, student groups, or community partners would also be valuable. Familiarity with the Manufacturing Engineering program, undergraduate engineering education, or entrepreneurship programming is preferred but not required.