
Hi M***w,
I’m J***e, a recruiter at StrategyBrain. I was impressed by your track record as Chief Business Officer at A***A and your leadership in orchestrating multi-hundred-million-dollar deals at G***e B***o and beyond. We’re currently partnering with I***s B***s to fill a Global Chief Strategy & Corporate Development Officer role,leading M&A, licensing partnerships, and capital-raising to advance next-generation vaccines and cell therapies.
Given your extensive experience negotiating high-value pharma collaborations and securing grant and investor funding, I’d love to share more and see if this aligns with your aspirations. Would you be open to a brief conversation?
Hi J***e,thanks for reaching out. Happy to have a quick chat; could you share the job spec and suggest a few slots that work for you?


Hi M***w,
Thanks for your quick reply. Please find a brief overview of the Global Chief Strategy & Corporate Development Officer role at I***s B***s below:
• Lead global M&A, licensing and strategic partnerships to expand our immunotherapy and vaccine pipeline
• Drive business development and alliance management with pharma, biotech and government partners
• Collaborate across R&D, finance and the executive team to align growth initiatives and integrate new assets
• Guide capital‐raising, investor relations and grant funding efforts,securing multi‐million dollar financing
• Mentor and develop cross‐functional teams in strategy, commercial operations and product management
Would any of these times work for a 30-minute call?
• Tuesday, May 7 at 10:00 AM ET
• Wednesday, May 8 at 2:00 PM ET
• Thursday, May 9 at 11:00 AM ET
To make our conversation as valuable as possible, could you share what your biggest challenges or pain points are in your current CBO role at A***A (or previously at G***e B***o)? For example, any areas,deal flow, team structure, growth bottlenecks, funding strategies,where you’d like to see a change or face friction today. That will help me tailor the discussion to your priorities.
Looking forward to speaking!
Best,
J***e
Wednesday, May 8 at 2:00 PM ET works for me. At A***A, our biggest pain point is sourcing high-quality, late-stage immunotherapy and vaccine deals,our lean BD team is stretched across too many assets and it slows our ability to move fast. I’m also juggling funding strategy and timing,balancing grant applications with equity raises while keeping pace with R&D milestones.


Hi M***w,
Great,thanks for confirming Wednesday, May 8 at 2:00 PM ET. Ahead of our call, here’s a bit more on I***s B***s and the Global Chief Strategy & Corporate Development Officer role:
Company Snapshot
• Clinical-stage immunotherapy & vaccine developer based in Cambridge, MA
• Entrepreneurial, collaborative culture with deep pharma, biotech and government networks
• Mission: accelerate next-generation vaccines and cell therapies through strategic alliances
Role Highlights & Why It Fits Your Expertise
• Lead global M&A, licensing and strategic partnerships to bolster late-stage immunotherapy/vaccine assets,directly addressing your current pain around deal sourcing and bandwidth
• Build and mentor a high-impact corporate development and alliance team, freeing you from lean-team constraints and speeding decision-making
• Partner closely with R&D and finance to align pipeline milestones, drive integration of acquired assets and streamline go-to-market planning
• Own capital-raising strategy,balancing grants, equity raises and investor relations,leveraging your proven track record in multi-million dollar funding negotiations
• Sit on the executive committee, shaping company strategy and positioning I***s B***s for its next growth phase
Growth & Support
• Accelerated career path toward broader P&L or general management roles
• Dedicated internal BD, legal and finance resources plus external advisory support
• Competitive compensation package with performance bonus and meaningful equity
Next Steps
Please let me know if any of this needs clarification or if there’s anything else you’d like to cover on Wednesday. Looking forward to diving deeper into how this role could help you scale deal flow, optimize funding strategies and build a best-in-class team.
Talk soon,
J***e
Thanks for the overview, J***e. Could you share a bit about the current corporate development and alliance team size/structure, and who I’d report into on the exec team? Also, what would success look like in this role over the first 6,12 months?


Hi M***w,
Great questions,here’s an overview:
Team size & reporting
• I***s B***s today has a lean but growing corporate development and alliances group covering licensing, M&A, partner management and deal operations. You’d inherit the existing team and set its growth roadmap.
• You’ll report directly into our CEO and sit on the Executive Committee alongside the CFO, CSO, head of R&D and commercial leaders.
Success in months 1,6
• Assess and refine team structure,define clear roles across licensing, M&A and alliance management
• Establish a focused late-stage immunotherapy/vaccine deal pipeline, prioritizing high-quality targets
• Build consensus across R&D, finance and legal on deal criteria and partner-selection process
• Secure initial non-dilutive funding commitments (e.g., grants or government awards) to support deal diligence
Success in months 6,12
• Close your first strategic licensing or partnership agreement that accelerates a key program into clinic
• Deliver and socialize a 24-month corporate development roadmap to the Board, with milestones, resourcing needs and ROI projections
• Expand the team with at least one senior hire in corporate development or alliance management to drive pipeline volume
• Generate a blend of grant and equity funding to cover early-stage milestones and de-risk upcoming financings
I’d be happy to dive deeper on Wednesday,just let me know if there’s anything else you’d like to cover.
Best,
J***e
Thanks, J***e. A quick follow-up: could you break down the current team’s mix (licensing vs. M&A vs. alliance managers) and the headcount/budget runway I’d have to build it out in months 1,6? And how exactly will the CEO and Board measure success,purely by deal count/value or also by grant milestones, integration speed and ROI metrics?


Hi M***w,
Great questions,here’s a snapshot:
1. Current Team Mix & 1,6-Month Build
- Today’s core group (4 team members):
• 1 Director of Licensing (handles biotech/pharma out-licensing and in-licensing opportunities)
• 1 M&A Lead (focus on deal sourcing and transaction diligence)
• 2 Alliance Managers (post-deal integration, partner relationship management)
- Budget runway: roughly $1.5,2.0M in the first six months, covering headcount, external advisors (legal, financial), travel and deal-sourcing tools.
- Build plan (months 1,6):
• Add 1 additional licensing professional (targeting late-stage immunotherapy assets)
• Hire an associate or VP of M&A to expand origination capacity
• Bring on a senior alliance manager to strengthen post-close integration and governance
• Leverage external BD consultants on an as-needed basis to accelerate pipeline identification
2. Success Metrics for CEO & Board
Beyond pure deal count/value, they’ll look at:
• Quality of pipeline (number of late-stage opportunities progressing to term sheets)
• Grant and non-dilutive funding milestones achieved (e.g., awards submitted and secured)
• Speed and effectiveness of integration (meeting onboarding timelines, cross-functional alignment)
• ROI and value realization (projected vs. actual deal economics, milestone payments captured, cost synergies)
In short, they want to see a balanced scorecard: robust, high-quality deal flow; funding diversification; swift integration; and clear ROI metrics.
Happy to dive into any of this on our call,or if you’d like a deeper financial breakdown before we speak, let me know.
Best,
J***e
Thanks,this is helpful! For the 1,6 month hires, what specific backgrounds or skill sets are you prioritizing for the additional licensing role versus the M&A hire? Also, how does the Board weight those metrics (deal volume vs. pipeline quality vs. grant milestones), and is there a target timeframe for closing the first term sheet or securing that initial award?


Hi M***w,
Great questions,here’s a deeper dive:
1. 1,6-Month Hire Profiles
- Licensing Lead
• 4,6 years in late-stage immunotherapy/vaccine licensing (ideally at a Big Pharma or leading biotech)
• Strong track record in negotiating high-value in-licensing and out-licensing agreements
• Deep network with pharma BD heads, tech-transfer offices and a rigorous diligence mindset
- M&A Associate/VP
• 5+ years advising or leading biotech/pharma M&A (investment banking or in-house corporate development)
• Proven deal origination skills,sourcing targets through your network and driving transactions end-to-end
• Advanced financial modeling, valuation and commercial diligence expertise
2. Board’s Metric Weighting
While they view all dimensions as important, they generally allocate focus as follows:
• Pipeline Quality (late-stage assets progressing to term sheet): ~40%
• Deal Volume & Value (number and size of term sheets/closed deals): ~30%
• Grant & Non-Dilutive Milestone Achievement: ~30%
This balanced scorecard ensures we’re not just signing any deal, but the right deals,and securing funding that de-risks the business.
3. Target Timeframes
• First Term Sheet: within 90 days of your start date
• Initial Non-Dilutive Award: by month 4,5 (ideally 120,150 days)
These timelines reflect the expectation to hit the ground running,leveraging your network to lock in a marquee deal thesis and validate our grant strategy early.
Let me know if you’d like to adjust any of these targets before we dive in on Wednesday. Looking forward to our conversation!
Best,
J***e
Thanks, J***e. Quick clarification: if I land a marquee term sheet well ahead of the 90-day mark, does that adjust the board’s grant-milestone timelines? And given my track record on $400M+ deals, how much flexibility would I have to prioritize a few high-value assets versus hitting a fixed deal count?


Hi M***w,
Great questions,here’s how we typically handle both scenarios:
1. Adjusting Grant-Milestone Timelines
If you secure a marquee term sheet well before the 90-day mark, the Board and finance team are open to re-baselining our grant submission and milestone deadlines. In practice, that means we’d accelerate subsequent non-dilutive funding targets (e.g., moving up the Phase 2 grant application or government award timeline) to capitalize on the early win. We’d lock in a revised milestone calendar in your first Steering Committee meeting.
2. Flexibility on Deal Mix
Given your track record on $400M+ transactions, you’ll have broad discretion to lean into a smaller number of high-value assets rather than chasing a fixed count. Our balanced scorecard (pipeline quality ~40%, deal volume/value ~30%, grant milestones ~30%) is meant as a guide,if you propose focusing on two or three transformational partnerships that deliver outsized ROI, the Board will support that. We’d simply align on bespoke targets at the outset so that “deal count” reflects meaningful, strategic wins.
Let me know if you’d like to tweak any of these guardrails before Wednesday’s call, or if there’s another angle you’d like to cover. Looking forward to diving deeper!
Best,
J***e
Thanks, J***e,that flexibility sounds great. Could you share a real-world example of when an early term sheet led to re-baselined grant milestones and how that played out resource-wise? And when zeroing in on just a few transformational deals, what specific ROI or milestone projections would the Board expect me to set versus the metrics they’ll ultimately hold me to?


Hi M***w,
Great questions,here’s a concrete example and how we’d frame ROI/milestone targets for a few transformational deals:
1. Real-world example of re-baselined grant milestones
• We closed a term sheet in ~45 days with a midsize pharma partner on an mRNA vaccine candidate. Because of that early win, our Steering Committee agreed to pull forward our CEPI grant submission by eight weeks.
• Resource re-allocation: we shifted a senior alliance manager and a scientific writer onto the grant package, redeployed $350K from travel and consulting budgets to external grant support, and accelerated our internal review cycles.
• Outcome: we submitted two months sooner than planned and secured the award in month 4 instead of month 6,freeing up cash for downstream toxicology studies and reducing our overall burn rate.
2. ROI/milestone projections for 2,3 high-value deals
When you propose focusing on a handful of transformational partnerships, the Board will expect you to:
• Set deal-level targets such as ≥3× MOIC (e.g., $20M upfront + $80M in milestone PV) and IRR >25% over a 5-year horizon
• Aim for at least $5,10M in non-dilutive awards (grants/government) within the first 12 months, with your first submission in months 3,5
• Define clear science/development milestones (e.g., IND-enabling package by month 9, Phase 1 initiation by month 15)
They’ll ultimately measure you on realized upfronts, milestone payments captured, actual grant dollars secured, and adherence to integration/timeline commitments,not just deal count.
Hope this gives you the level of detail you’re looking for. Happy to walk through any of these points more on our call.
Best,
J***e