The RoleAmae is hiring its first Head of Life Sciences Partnerships. This is a senior, hands-on individual contributor role focused on originating and closing our first pharma and biotech partnerships. You will work directly with the CEO to identify where Amae's clinical, research, measurement, and data capabilities solve meaningful problems for life sciences companies. The right buyers and initial offerings are still taking shape; your job is to turn that ambiguity into commercially viable opportunities.
Some conversations you will lead alongside the CEO, and others you will lead independently. In both cases, you will own preparation, follow-up, stakeholder navigation, and deal progression from initial meeting to signed agreement. You will explore medical affairs, HEOR, R&D, commercial, and other teams without assuming which buyers will emerge first. Our clinical and research experts will lead scientific scoping and delivery. The immediate priority is closing deals, not hiring a team. The position is based in San Francisco, with travel of up to 30%.
What You Will Own- Open doors. Build a focused target list with the CEO and secure meetings with relevant pharma and biotech decision-makers. Draw on existing relationships where useful, but be equally effective opening new accounts.
- Discover the buyer and need. Lead conversations across medical affairs, HEOR, R&D, commercial, and other groups to uncover priority problems, identify decision-makers and budget owners, and qualify where Amae has a credible commercial opportunity.
- Own the deal process. Prepare substantive meetings with the CEO, lead follow-up, map stakeholders, coordinate internal input, and drive clear next steps. Turn early interest into qualified opportunities with identifiable champions, budgets, and a path forward.
- Structure and close deals. Translate buyer needs into a clear opportunity brief for our clinical, research, and data teams. Partner with them on feasibility and scientific scope; own the commercial proposal, pricing discussions, negotiation, and contracting alongside Legal and Compliance, with clinical independence and patient trust at the center.
- Learn and focus. Maintain a disciplined, lightweight pipeline and use market feedback to refine which use cases and buyer groups deserve focus. As the business matures, the role may expand into partner growth and building the function.
In your first year, success means access to relevant decision-makers, a qualified pipeline with identifiable buyer needs, budget owners, and actionable next steps, and Amae's first signed, revenue-generating pharma or biotech collaborations. The emphasis is on opportunity quality, deal progression, and commercial outcomes, not headcount or process for its own sake.
What You'll Bring- Typically 7+ years in life sciences business development, partnerships, or related commercial roles, with substantial hands-on experience selling to pharma or biotech.
- A demonstrated individual contributor track record of personally sourcing, developing, and closing pharma or biotech business. Be prepared to discuss specific deals, how you gained access, identified budget, navigated decisions, and brought the opportunity to signature.
- Experience creating opportunities while the offering, buyer, or use case was still being defined, rather than relying on a mature product and established sales motion.
- Demonstrated ability to gain access to relevant decision-makers, build relationships from scratch, identify budget owners, and navigate complex pharma buying processes.
- Commercial judgment to explore medical affairs, HEOR, R&D, commercial, and other functions without assuming in advance where the strongest demand will be.
- Scientific and clinical fluency sufficient to ask good questions, triage opportunities, and collaborate credibly with psychiatrists, researchers, data scientists, and pharma leaders. You do not need to scope studies independently.
- Strong commercial execution, including meeting preparation, persistent follow-through, proposals, negotiation, and the ability to sustain momentum through long, multi-stakeholder sales cycles.
- The independence and judgment to operate as a senior partner to a founder CEO: comfortable challenging ideas constructively, working through ambiguity, and taking ownership without a large team or established playbook.
An advanced scientific degree is not required.
Nice to Have- An existing network in CNS and psychiatry at pharma or biotech
- Familiarity with real-world evidence, HEOR, digital biomarkers, novel endpoints, or the current psychiatry pipeline
Compensation and BenefitsAmae Health is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices. The base salary range for this role is $160,000 to $190,000 per year, plus variable compensation tied to contracted partnership revenue and meaningful equity. Final pay depends on experience. Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage. Parental leave and programs built around well-being. We'll share specifics during the interview process.
