Director/Senior Director, Business Development

Affinia Therapeutics is a cutting-edge biotech company developing next generation gene therapies. We are backed by a strong syndicate of life science investors and strategic partner Eli Lilly and have ambitious plans to dramatically impact the lives of patients around the world.

You will be working alongside the executive leadership team which has a successful track record of success of drug approvals and company build. We have a series of transformational next generation AAV capsids that we are leveraging to develop differentiated first in class and best in class gene therapies for cardiovascular and neurological diseases. Our initial focus is on helping patients with BAG3-associated dilated cardiomyopathy, a devastating genetic heart disease affecting tens of thousands of patients worldwide.

Position Summary

Reporting to the Chief Business & Financial Officer, you will help lead Affinia’s BD and licensing activities. You will be responsible for assisting with strategic evaluation and development of corporate and business development strategies. In addition, you will be responsible for implementing various strategic initiatives by leading deal making efforts, such as out-licensing the company’s proprietary best-in-class AAV capsids, pipeline candidates and technology platform as well as in-licensing technologies and programs that are complementary with Affinia’s overall strategy.

This position is located at the Affinia Therapeutics site in Waltham, MA with 4 days per week (M-Th) in the office.

Primary Responsibilities

• Identify and evaluate new business opportunities to partner Affinia’s discovery platform, validated capsids and product opportunities
• Lead a cross-functional team including R&D, commercial, legal, finance and strategy colleagues while performing an in-depth evaluation (due diligence) of opportunities
• Prepare, evaluate and present robust financial modeling and analyses to value assets and deal terms
• Structure, negotiate and close business deals aligned Affinia’s strategy
• Support the development of corporate, therapeutic area and product strategies
• Develop and maintain competitive intelligence insights and routinely communicate this information to leadership. Lead any market research or strategic assessment projects on behalf of Affinia
• Establish and foster external relationships aligned with business opportunities.Represent Affinia’s business development efforts at partnering and medical conferences
• Routinely prepare and communicate business development updates and opportunities to Affinia’s executive leadership team
• Build and maintain product and company data rooms to support deal making
• Domestic and global travel up to 30%

Minimum Qualifications

• Graduate degree in scientific (MS, MD, PhD.) discipline is a must. Graduate business degree (MBA) is a plus
• 10+ years working in pharma/biotech, including a minimum of 5+ years of transactional experiences in BD or investment banking
• Sell-side transactional experience is a must (as is evidenced by a deal sheet) which demonstrates successful record of leading all phases of a transaction, from initial engagement to cross-functional diligence, financial/commercial valuation, term sheet negotiation, deal closing and executive reporting
• Experience working in gene therapy is preferred
• Experience with cardiovascular, CNS, neuromuscular or orphan disease areas is preferred
• Robust strategic, analytical, quantitative and financial modeling skills
• Excellent written and oral communication and presentation skills; ability to effectively influence a broad range of stakeholders (internal and external)
• Significant attention to detail and strong organizational skills; ability to work on multiple projects in parallel with consistent high quality and a sense of urgency
• Personal attributes: team player, talent for networking, driven, passionate, curious, ability to deal with uncertainty, strategic thinker, effective problem solver, analytical, business acumen

EEO Statement: Affinia Therapeutics is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please let us know.