Director of Diligence and Program Strategy
Chicago, Illinois
On-site / Hybrid
About the Chicago Biomedical Consortium
The Chicago Biomedical Consortium (CBC) project is a nonprofit translational venture platform for academic biotherapeutics and biotech products. The CBC advances academic discoveries from our Member Universities into clinical and commercial pathways for public benefit.
The CBC works with universities, technology transfer offices (TTOs), and, most importantly, faculty inventors to validate early scientific findings, draft development plans, build and run scientific operations, set strategic positioning, and establish the commercial groundwork that turns a laboratory finding into an investor-ready asset. The CBC’s goal is to hand off the work to a Seed or Series A investor. We provide the advisory infrastructure, scientific translation, regulatory strategy, and commercial framing that convert a research program into a licensable asset that can be brought into a company and financed — and we train the next generation of translational-biomedicine entrepreneurs in the process.
The CBC is funded by philanthropy and Federal dollars to “patiently” build scientific projects into investable data packages and companies that will benefit Illinois, and eventually, the Midwest. While we retain some ownership of programs that run through our unique “Greenhouse” model, our goal is to build value for founders, investors, and the Illinois biotech ecosystem. We are the missing link that turns the “Valley of Death” into a navigable journey that ends with early-stage, institutional, or pharma investment.
About the Diligence & Program Strategy Team
The Diligence and Program Strategy (DPS) team is responsible for (1) delivering comprehensive assessments to determine which academic translational biotech innovations are attractive for CBC investment and development, and (2) addressing key strategic questions to support program advancement once a program is in flight. The team uses structured evaluation frameworks and “reasons to believe” analyses to conduct rigorous scientific, clinical, and commercial assessment of relative program attractiveness.
The DPS team works in close partnership with the Program Management and Scientific Operations (PMSO) team. DPS leads all evaluation and pre-funding stages with PMSO support; PMSO leads all post-funding execution with DPS strategic support. Both teams contribute to program sourcing.
The DPS team reports to the SVP of Diligence and Program Strategy. The Manger/Senior Manager role is an individual-contributor position — it does not have direct-report personnel management responsibilities — but is a core member of the team and is expected to grow as the CBC and the team mature.
About the Role
Reporting to the SVP of Diligence and Program Strategy, the Director of Diligence and Program Strategy is a senior individual contributor responsible for independently leading diligence and strategic workstreams across the CBC’s pipeline of academic biotech Programs. The Director runs end-to-end diligence on candidate Programs — scientific, clinical, regulatory, and commercial — and is a primary point of engagement with faculty principal investigators, KOLs, and Member University partners on diligence and strategic questions.
This is the more independent and PI-facing of the CBC’s DPS individual-contributor roles. The Director is expected to scope diligence projects, drive them forward with limited supervision, manage junior team members and Entrepreneurial Fellows working on those projects, and bring back defensible recommendations to the SVP and to the CBC’s Scientific Review Board / Venture board. The Director does not have direct-report personnel management responsibilities but routinely supervises the work of analysts, Managers/Senior Managers, fellows, and interns assigned to their projects.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead end-to-end diligence on Programs: Conduct rigorous scientific diligence of target biology, mechanism, and translational impact, identifying key risks and proposing “killer” experiments (in collaboration with PMSO). Assess clinical differentiation and feasible development pathways. Develop target product profiles and define product differentiation and positioning.
- Commercial and competitive assessment: Estimate market opportunity size, incorporating competitive landscape and pricing assessment. Analyze recent financings and M&A / licensing transactions in relevant therapeutic areas and comparable companies.
- PI and KOL engagement: Serve as a primary CBC point of contact with faculty PIs at Member Universities for diligence and program-strategy conversations. Design and conduct primary research with key opinion leaders, clinical experts, and industry advisors. Translate scientific and clinical input into structured decision documents.
- Strategic support to Programs in flight: Once a program is funded, provide ongoing strategic input — pivot decisions, indication selection, regulatory positioning, and partnership/financing pathway analysis — in support of PMSO’s execution.
- Project management of diligence workstreams: Scope diligence projects, define timelines and deliverables, and project-manage DPS analysts, Managers/Senior Managers, Entrepreneurial Fellows, interns, and external contributors. Review their work products and develop them through the process.
- Non-dilutive funding and proposal support: Identify, write, and review potential non-dilutive funding applications to support program advancement, in collaboration with PMSO and Member University grant offices.
- Team building and onboarding: Support onboarding and education of Manager/ Senior Managers, Entrepreneurial Fellows, and other support functions joining the DPS team.
Qualifications
- PhD in a life-science discipline (or experience-equivalent qualification).
- 4+ years of post-graduate experience:
- Strategy and commercial functions (e.g., corporate or business development, R&D strategy, commercial strategy, new-product planning, competitive intelligence, portfolio strategy) are strongly preferred, but we will consider candidates with experience across other in-house or external business services functions.
- Adjacent experience in venture diligence, drug development consulting, technology transfer, or other academic innovation roles is also welcome as a complement to in-house experience.
- Direct exposure to drug discovery, development, and/or commercialization workflows (whether through an in-house, consulting, venture, or tech-transfer lens).
- Demonstrated ability to scope and drive analytical projects independently from an ambiguous starting point to a defensible recommendation.
- Comfort and credibility engaging directly with faculty PIs, KOLs, and senior industry advisors.
- Detail-oriented, highly analytical, and structured thinker, with clear and concise written and verbal communication.
- Highly curious but also skeptical; motivated by learning and professional growth.
- Comfort with AI research tools, Microsoft Office, and investor and drug-development databases (e.g., PitchBook, GlobalData, BiomedTracker, BCIQ); prior hands-on experience with these tools is a plus.
- Prior experience supervising junior team members on analytical projects is a plus.
What You’ll Gain
- An opportunity to drive academic translational research toward therapies that could benefit patients.
- The ability to work across diverse therapeutic areas and treatment modalities, including steering emerging drug discovery platform technologies toward high-unmet-need indications.
- A systematic understanding of how to evaluate potential therapeutic technologies on technical and commercial merits.
- A structured approach to project management that scales across tasks and industries.
- Direct exposure to scientific and business advisors from venture capital, industry, and academia, and to the CBC’s Member University faculty inventors and partner institutions.
Growth Path
This role is scoped today as a senior individual-contributor role. As the CBC and the DPS team scale, there is a clear path for the Director to take on broader scope — including formal team leadership, ownership of a sub-portfolio of programs, and deeper engagement with the CBC’s Scientific Review Board and venture-creation partners — based on performance and the evolving needs of the organization.
Compensation
Target base salary: $105,000-115,000, plus a comprehensive benefits package.
To Apply
Submit your resume and cover letter. Your cover letter should be maximum 1 page, explaining why you are an exceptional candidate for this position. Your letter should address the following:
- Why do you want this role at the CBC?
- What unique skills, experiences, and perspectives would you bring to this role, and how would they enable you to make meaningful contributions?
- What evidence demonstrates that you will succeed in this position? Describe specific accomplishments or experiences that illustrate your ability to perform the responsibilities outlined in the job posting.
- The CBC is a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing academic discoveries into startup companies, accelerating the development of new therapies for patients, and strengthening the biotechnology ecosystem in Chicagoland. Why is this mission meaningful to you, and why do you want to work for a mission-driven nonprofit organization?
Please tailor your letter specifically to this position.
▸ Apply for this job
Equal Opportunity Employer
The CBC is committed to creating a diverse work environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. The CBC provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.
If you need assistance or accommodation to complete an application due to a disability, please contact us.
The CBC is currently under fiscal sponsorship of the Edward Charles Foundation DBA the Chicago Biomedical Consortium project. Edward Charles Foundation is an independently audited, IRS-approved 501(c)(3) public charity serving philanthropists, advisors, and family offices since 2008. The employer on record for this position is TriNet, a professional employment organization.