Director, Corporate Development and External Innovation

The unprecedented convergence of multi-modal data, advanced disease modeling, and computational power is revolutionizing drug discovery. insitro is harnessing this moment to redefine how medicines are developed for complex diseases. Our AI/ML-enabled platforms integrate and scale data to rapidly discover novel biological insights to redefine complex diseases and identify new targets and drugs.

Reporting to the VP of Strategy and Corporate Development, we seek a results-oriented business development leader with a strong track record in asset licensing and technology collaborations. You will be responsible for shaping strategies and transactions that drive insitro's growth and impact. If you are a creative thinker passionate about the power of data and compute to change medicine, we encourage you to apply.

This role is based in South San Francisco, with a hybrid approach of at least 3 days per week in the office and the option for the other 1-2 days working from home.

About the Role:

As the Director of Corporate Development and External Innovation, you will play a pivotal role in shaping insitro's growth and impact by identifying, evaluating, and executing strategic external partnerships and licensing opportunities. Your focus will be to deeply understand the objectives, challenges, and opportunities prioritized by our key scientific teams and leaders. Leveraging this understanding, you will be leading buy-side and sell-side prosecution of asset licensing opportunities across disease areas, including comprehensive landscaping, term sheet development and negotiation. Additionally, you will own the development and execution of technology partnering strategies to drive value for insitro. This will involve both partnering insitro's capabilities externally as well as evaluation and incorporation of external technologies into instiro.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Strategic Assessment and Landscaping: Conducting in-depth analyses of the external therapeutic and technology landscape, including identifying promising external assets and innovative technology solutions relevant to insitro's strategic priorities. This also involves maintaining a strong awareness of competitive activities and partnership trends.
• Driving Asset In-Licensing Opportunities: Lead the full lifecycle of in-licensing transactions, from initial identification and term sheet development to supporting and executing rigorous scientific and technical due diligence (with internal cross-functional teams), and skillfully negotiating deal terms.
• Driving Asset Out-Licensing Opportunities: As with in-licensing, lead the full lifecycle of out-licensing transactions, from developing external materials for the relevant assets, to initial identification and engagement with potential partners through term sheet development and negotiation.
• Technology Assessment and Partnering: Work cross functionally to identify and execute opportunities for partnering with external technology partners to accelerate internal discovery and therapeutics development
• Developing Go-to-Market Strategies: Formulating and executing effective go-to-market strategies for potential external partnerships or commercialization opportunities arising from insitro's unique platform and internally developed capabilities. This includes identifying target partners and articulating the value proposition, as well as deal process management and execution.
• Managing the Partnership Lifecycle: Supporting resulting partner engagements and working cross-functionally to drive them efficiently from initiation through milestones and/or delivery.
• Contributing to Corporate Strategy: Participating in a wide range of high-impact corporate strategy projects for insitro's senior leadership team.

This is an exceptional opportunity for a highly motivated individual who is passionate about the intersection of advanced science and strategic business development, and eager to contribute to the discovery of life-changing therapies for patients. You will leverage your expertise in drug discovery, external innovation and partnering to drive significant value for insitro and its mission to bring better drugs faster to the patients who can benefit most.

About You:

• Advanced degree (PhD or MD) in biology, chemistry, biomedical / clinical informatics, machine learning (with focus on drug discovery applications), or equivalent experience in the biopharma or tech industry
• 8+ years of professional experience in roles at the intersection of science and business
• Sell-side BD (Discovery to asset-based partnering)
  • Extensive experience in asset out-licensing across modalities
  • Experience consummating collaborations with large or medium pharma partners
• Buy-side BD (Search & Evaluation)
  • Experience with asset in-licensing including robust landscaping, partner engagement and scientific and technical diligence support as well as deal structuring and negotiation – ideally across multiple disease areas
  • Technology assessment and end-to-end transaction execution to bring in new / enabling drug discovery technologies from the outside
• Familiarity with and passion about machine learning enabled drug discovery
• Demonstrated go to market capabilities with new technologies, executing multiple transactions
• Significant exposure to new product planning and TPP development and refinement
• Demonstrated ability to communicate and collaborate with a diverse group of backgrounds and job functions to enable strong alignment and robust execution
• Ability to work well in startup environment -- including strong comfort with ambiguity and changing circumstances and under resource and time constraints
• Extensive prior use of generative AI tools / LLM technologies is a must in day-to-day work (e.g. ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity)

Compensation & Benefits at insitro:

Our target starting salary for successful US-based applicants for this role is $213,000 - $240,000. To determine starting pay, we consider multiple job-related factors including a candidate's skills, education and experience, market demand, business needs, and internal parity. We may also adjust this range in the future based on market data.

This role is eligible for participation in our Annual Performance Bonus Plan (based on company targets by role level and annual company performance) and our Equity Incentive Plan, subject to the terms of those plans and associated policies.

In addition, insitro also provides our employees:

• 401(k) plan with employer matching for contributions
• Excellent medical, dental, and vision coverage as well as mental health and well-being support
• Open, flexible vacation policy
• Paid parental leave of at least 16 weeks to support parents who give birth, and 10 weeks for a new parent (inclusive of birth, adoption, fostering, etc)
• Quarterly budget for books and online courses for self-development
• Support to attend professional conferences that are meaningful to your career growth and role's responsibilities
• New hire stipend for home office setup
• Monthly cell phone & internet stipend
• Access to free onsite baristas and cafe with daily lunch and breakfast for employees who are either onsite or hybrid
• Access to free onsite fitness center for employees who are either onsite or hybrid
• Access to a free commuter bus and ferry network that provides transport to and from our South San Francisco HQ from locations all around the Bay Area

insitro is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.

We believe diversity, equity, and inclusion need to be at the foundation of our culture. We work hard to bring together diverse teams–grounded in a wide range of expertise and life experiences–and work even harder to ensure those teams thrive in inclusive, growth-oriented environments supported by equitable company and team practices. All candidates can expect equitable treatment, respect, and fairness throughout the interview process.

Please be aware of recruitment scams: we never request payments, all recruitment communications are from @insitro.com, and if in doubt, contact us at [email protected].