Senior Manager, Therapeutics Acceleration

The Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation (‘Foundation’) is a leading patient advocacy organization and research funder dedicated to accelerating towards cures for inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) and alleviating the suffering caused by these diseases. To further this mission, the Foundation created, in 2017, IBD Ventures, a venture philanthropy program to fund and accelerate the development of innovative research-based products with the potential to address unmet needs of patients with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. The IBD Ventures program include:

• Venture investments: highly competitive funding of companies and academic organizations to advance novel and differentiated product-oriented R&D projects
• Therapeutics incubator: drug discovery activities executed collaboratively between academic organizations, a drug discovery CRO and Foundation’s translational research scientists
• IBD Innovate: the premier international conference dedicated exclusively to novel product development in the IBD space

IBD Ventures is part of a translational research portfolio focused on addressing gaps in the IBD research field and maximizing the likelihood that research advances will result in concrete benefits for patients as quickly as possible. The translational research portfolio is part of the Foundation’s larger research continuum, which includes basic, clinical, patient-facing and healthcare services research. These programs comprise a wide range of support mechanisms, from traditional investigator-initiated grants to consortium-based projects actively managed by Foundation research staff.

For more information about the Foundation’s programs and portfolio, please refer to the Foundation’s website, including the following links, as well as our recent peer-reviewed open-access publications:https://www.crohnscolitisfoundation.org/research/grants-fellowships/entrepreneurial-investing

https://www.crohnscolitisfoundation.org/research/grants-fellowships/entrepreneurial-investing/portfolio

https://www.crohnscolitisfoundation.org/ibd-innovate

https://www.crohnscolitisfoundation.org/research/current-research-initiatives/ibd-plexus

https://academic.oup.com/ibdjournal/article/27/Supplement_2/S1/6428475

The Role

The Foundation seeks to recruit an exceptionally motivated individual for the full-time role of Senior Manager of Therapeutics Acceleration. As Senior Manager of Therapeutics Acceleration you will be responsible for the management of the day-to-day activities of the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation Therapeutics Incubator Program, a new arm of the Foundation’s venture philanthropy program, IBD Ventures. The Therapeutics Incubator is a program focused on providing drug discovery resources for promising therapeutic targets discovered and validated in academic laboratories. In this incubator model, the Foundation collaborates with selected academic researchers to advance drug discovery and development activities, which are outsourced to a selected contract research organization (CRO). After a successful proof-of-concept project through which lead drug-like compounds were identified for the regulation of a potential target for IBD disease modification, the Foundation is now seeking to expand this therapeutics incubator program via a worldwide request for proposals (RFP) for identification of novel and differentiated drug targets that warrant a dedicated drug discovery campaign.

The manager will be responsible for launching the RFP and ensuring that high-impact projects are selected, funded, and executed according to the highest standards of scientific rigor, innovation, efficiency, and ethics. The ideal candidate will be a highly organized, disciplined, and productive team player with a strong drug discovery and development background, exceptional written and oral communication skills, solid judgment, ability to take initiative, ability to set and adhere to organizational priorities, ability to think and learn quickly, and a sense of pace and urgency and dedication to the Foundation’s mission.

The Senior Manager will report to the Vice President of Translational Research, who oversees the IBD Ventures program and who has led research in all stages for drug discovery and development in pharma and biotech. The Senior manager will also work closely with the Director of Research Innovation, the Chief Scientific Officer and additional Foundation colleagues focused on research and industry relations. The Manager will also interface with external expert advisors and stakeholders from diverse sectors.

Key Responsibilities

Job functions include, but are not limited to:

• Work with VP of Translational Research to define the scope of the Therapeutics Incubator RFP
• Publish & launch the RFP, and proactively create interest in the Therapeutics Incubator RFP through various forms of outreach
• Solicit applications via a dedicated Foundation’s portal that uses the ProposalCentral platform
• Identify and recruit members of the review committee and organize the review committee meeting
• Provide critical input to applicants regarding alignment of proposed drug targets with the scope of the RFP and the Foundation’s target selection criteria
• Identify investment opportunities, guiding applicants, soliciting proposals, managing review processes, and negotiating & closing funding agreements
• In collaboration with VP of Translational Research and Director of Research Innovation, define, for selected projects, drug discovery objectives, R&D approaches & go/no-go milestones
• Track progress, recommend next steps and reach go/no-go decisions
• Responsibility for the timely execution of research activities and setting up of timelines that are clearly defined, trackable and achievable.
• Oversight and project management for drug discovery activities outsourced to contract research organization(s)
• Track expenses and ensure timely payment of CROs services
• When applicable track progress and provide oversight of research activities that could be performed at academic laboratories in parallel or in support of CRO drug discovery activities
• Support of additional product-oriented activities within the IBD Ventures program as required
• Generate and deliver reports and presentations for diverse audiences, including industry, academic and donor audiences

Qualifications:

• Ph.D. in biomedical sciences, pharmacology, medicinal chemistry, or related discipline
• 3+ years’ experience in drug discovery and development in pharmaceutical or biotech industries
• Understanding of the drug discovery and development process
• Experience in program/project management
• Experience working with, or for, contract research organizations (CROs)
• Experience in coordination, organization, analysis, and documentation related to drug discovery processes
• Excellent organization skills
• Exceptional oral and written presentations skills, including ability to rapidly integrate and summarize complex scientific topics for diverse audiences
• Team player with ability to work in a matrixed organization
• Demonstrable willingness and ability to shift attention in a flexible fashion and to proactively identify and address challenges as they emerge
• Motivated by Foundation’s mission
• Experience with technology licensing (preferred but not required)
• Experience in developing, writing, and managing RFPs and proposal review (preferred but not required)

This position is an exceptional opportunity for an individual with an industry R&D background and a desire to obtain experience in life sciences investing and portfolio management from a mission-driven philanthropic perspective, and to actively support the advancement of potential novel therapies for IBD.

The Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation has been a world-leading nonprofit since 1967, is well-managed and well-funded, and provides a supportive work environment and comprehensive benefits. The Foundation considers the diversity of its workforce to be vital to our organization’s success in meeting its mission. We strongly encourage applicants from all cultures, races, educational backgrounds, life experiences, socio-economic classes, sexual orientations, age, gender, and physical abilities to apply, recognizing that individuals from a wide range of backgrounds can bring valuable life experience to this role, even if not precisely meeting the stated requirements. We are interested in every qualified candidate who is eligible to work in the United States. However, we are not able to sponsor visas.

Subject to state and local law and any legally required accommodations, the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation requires that all employees be fully vaccinated prior to the date of hire.

CROHN’S & COLITIS FOUNDATION RESERVES THE RIGHT TO ADD, DELETE, CHANGE OR MODIFY THE JOB DUTIES.