[Hiring] Director of Partnerships @Sage Bionetworks

Role Description

Sage Bionetworks is seeking a Director of Partnerships to help shape and grow our work beyond our historically government funded portfolio. This is a scientific leadership and partnership role and not a traditional business development or sales role. We are looking for someone with hands-on training and/or experience in biomedical data and technology who can develop partnerships with:

• Pharmaceutical companies
• Biotechnology companies
• Medical technology companies
• Health technology companies
• AI companies
• Foundations and other mission-aligned organizations

Successful partnerships at Sage begin with substantive scientific and technical conversations. The Director must be able to engage scientists, technical leaders, and executives as a credible peer, understand what they are trying to accomplish, and translate that understanding into a focused opportunity that draws on Sage’s distinctive capabilities.

Our mission is to break silos in biomedical research and drive a new age of discovery through truly open science and radical collaboration. The Director will work across organizational boundaries to connect:

• The challenges and opportunities emerging in the external market
• The underlying needs of prospective partners
• The scientific and technical capabilities Sage is best positioned to provide

The Director will also lead scientific and technical discovery and develop strategic initiatives that demonstrate Sage’s capabilities and increase its visibility. They will directly contribute analyses, prototypes, demonstrations, and business cases that advance partnership opportunities and position Sage for future funding.

Qualifications

• Advanced degree in a biomedical, behavioral, public health, data science, engineering, or related discipline
• A PhD or equivalent scientific leadership and industry experience is strongly preferred

Requirements

• Significant experience (10+ years) across biomedical science, data, technology, and external partnerships
• Demonstrated success originating and advancing funded partnerships with life science, health technology, or AI organizations
• Experience translating partner needs into focused solutions and developing the proposals, scopes, budgets, agreements, and negotiations needed to move opportunities forward
• Hands-on experience with health data and data-intensive technologies; AI/ML experience preferred
• Strong scientific communication, cross-functional relationship building, and an established industry network
• Sound judgment, personal accountability, and the ability to advance opportunities amid ambiguity

Benefits

• Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, life, AD&D, and long-term disability
• Robust retirement plan and flexible spending accounts (FSA)
• Paid time off and flexible work arrangements

Key Responsibilities

• Develop and grow a diversified portfolio of new and existing external partnerships across pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical technology, health technology, AI, and philanthropic organizations
• Identify scientific, technological and market developments that create opportunities for Sage’s research, data, governance, and technology capabilities
• Build relationships with scientific, technical, executive, and funding decision-makers, translating priority relationships into a qualified pipeline of proposals and funded agreements
• Develop a clear portfolio of compelling, repeatable solutions that connect external needs with Sage’s distinctive scientific, data, governance, technology, and AI capabilities
• Evaluate and shape opportunities based on strategic alignment, scientific value, differentiation, feasibility, funding potential, and organizational capacity
• Lead hands-on discovery with prospective partners to understand their scientific questions, data, technical environments, constraints, and intended outcomes
• Apply practical expertise in biomedical data, research workflows, analytics, and AI to develop credible solution concepts, analyses, prototypes, demonstrations, and proofs of concept
• Serve as the bridge between external partners and Sage’s scientific, technical, operational, and leadership teams
• Lead the development of realistic concept notes, proposals, presentations, scopes, and budgets
• Build trusted relationships with Sage’s principal investigators and scientific, technical, and operational leaders