About the Role

Tarsus Pharmaceuticals is seeking to hire an experienced and visionary Associate Director Innovation Lab, to drive internal innovation and creation of one or more disruptive, new anterior segment eye care pipeline programs for Tarsus. The individual will engage with project teams, executive leadership, and the wider community of strategic partners, and KOLs in the eye care field to lead identification and evaluation of unmet needs, advance business planning activities, and create at least one new pipeline program for clinical proof-of-concept evaluation, somewhat analogous to an entrepreneur-in-residence. The individual will bring strategic and tactical experience to enable Tarsus to accelerate creation of new pipeline programs. The ideal candidate has experience in a pharmaceutical, biotech, or MedTech startup environment and is driven to find disruptive business opportunities and then take a key role in forming and scaling a new pipeline program.

Let's talk about some of the key responsibilities of the role:

• Work very closely with cross-functional executive and senior leadership as resources to critically identify and evaluate unmet needs in eyecare in the anterior segment
• Establish a business plan in sync with early technical development
• Iteratively test and refine the business model
• Conduct market analyses for potential commercial indications of the innovation; assess the competitive landscape
• Analyze the clinical, regulatory, reimbursement pathways
• Engage with cross-functional teams in early-stage testing, validation, and refinement of business ideas to ensure product-market-fit
• Identify early in-license opportunities, if required, and specifically related to the innovation
• Initiate and further develop business relationships
• Partner on intellectual property diligence and filings relating to the innovation
• Initiate and further develop business relationships with them, and participate in the structuring, drafting, and negotiating of term sheets and agreements, partnering with Legal, BD, Finance, and others.
• Contribute to a culture of innovation, translation, and entrepreneurship within Tarsus.

Factors for Success:

• Master's degree in Bioengineering, Life Sciences or other related field, ideally combined with startup experience or MBA degree, PhD/MD is a plus
• ~3 years of work experience in medical device, biotech or pharma innovation, business development and/or strategy
• Strong interpersonal skills and demonstrated experience in leading innovation
• Demonstrated experience of being a key contributor to a development team
• Ability to leverage own network of contacts in the innovation pharma community
• Ability to operate at both the strategic and tactical levels
• Ophthalmic industry experience a plus

A Few Other Details Worth Mentioning:

• The position will be based in our beautiful Irvine office, complete with a courtyard, table tennis, snacks and drinks, and occasional catered meals. We provide a hybrid work environment and remote is an option
• We are passionate about our culture! Our Tarsans live our values of commitment to patients, empowerment to champion innovation, and teamwork to amplify impact!
• This position reports directly into the C-Suite
• Some travel may be required – up 30%

The expected base pay range for this position is $149,200 – &194,000 plus bonus, stock equity and comprehensive benefits. This base pay range reflects the target range for this position, but individual pay will be determined by additional factors such as job-related skills, experience and relevant education or training.

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