About Xaira Therapeutics
Xaira is an innovative biotech startup focused on leveraging AI to transform drug discovery and development. The company is leading the development of generative AI models to design protein and antibody therapeutics, enabling the creation of medicines against historically hard-to-drug molecular targets. It is also developing foundation models for biology and disease to enable better target elucidation and patient stratification. Collectively, these technologies aim to continually enable the identification of novel therapies and to improve success in drug development. Xaira is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, and London.
The Role
Reporting to the Senior Vice President, Business Development and Operations, the Vice President, Business Development will lead the identification, development, negotiation, and execution of major strategic transactions that expand the reach and value of Xaira’s platform.
This role will focus primarily on originating and executing significant AI platform, technology, and multi-program partnerships. Unlike a traditional biotechnology business development role centered on individual asset licensing, this leader will develop complex partnerships built around Xaira’s differentiated scientific and technical capabilities, with the potential to span multiple platform technologies, programs, disease areas, and stages of research and development.
The Vice President will work closely with the SVP of Business Development and Operations, executive leadership, scientific and technical leaders, and legal and finance partners to shape partnering strategy, identify high-value opportunities, and lead transactions from initial engagement through negotiation, execution, and transition to alliance management.
The ideal candidate combines strong transaction leadership with the ability to understand differentiated science and technology, translate Xaira’s AI and drug development capabilities into strategic and commercial value, and develop creative deal structures with pharmaceutical, biotechnology, technology, and other strategic partners.
Key Responsibilities
Business Development Strategy
- Partner with the SVP of Business Development and Operations to develop and execute Xaira’s business development strategy.
- Identify opportunities for major AI platform, technology, research, and multi-program partnerships.
- Translate Xaira’s scientific and technical capabilities, including its AI-enabled discovery and development capabilities, into clear and compelling partnership opportunities.
- Develop a prioritized pipeline of potential partners and transactions aligned with Xaira’s long-term strategy.
- Assess market trends, competitive activity, partner needs, and emerging business models across TechBio, AI, and biopharma, including the evolving landscape for AI-driven drug discovery partnerships.
- Provide strategic recommendations to senior leadership regarding partnership opportunities, deal structures, and market positioning.
Deal Origination and Partner Engagement
- Proactively originate significant partnership opportunities with pharmaceutical, biotechnology, technology, and other strategic organizations.
- Build and maintain senior-level relationships with decision-makers across the biopharma and technology ecosystem.
- Lead early discussions with potential partners to understand their scientific, technical, and business priorities, including opportunities to apply AI across research and development.
- Develop partnership concepts that connect external needs with Xaira’s platform, expertise, and strategic priorities.
- Build opportunities beyond traditional single-asset licensing, including platform collaborations, multi-program partnerships, technology alliances, AI-focused collaborations, and other strategic transactions.
- Represent Xaira at industry meetings, partnering conferences, and other external forums.
Transaction Leadership
- Lead major transactions from initial concept and partner engagement through diligence, negotiation, internal approval, and execution.
- Develop creative deal structures that may include upfront payments, research funding, milestones, royalties, option rights, co-development arrangements, and other economic components.
- Ensure deal structures appropriately reflect the long-term value of Xaira’s platform, AI capabilities, and intellectual property.
- Lead cross-functional transaction teams involving scientific, technical, legal, finance, operations, and executive stakeholders.
- Develop transaction strategies, valuation frameworks, negotiation positions, and executive recommendations, including approaches for valuing differentiated AI technologies and platform capabilities.
- Prepare materials for executive leadership and Board review.
- Maintain momentum, accountability, and clear decision-making throughout complex deal processes.
Cross-Functional Leadership
- Work closely with scientific and technical leaders to define the scope, objectives, deliverables, and resource requirements of potential partnerships, including partnerships involving AI models, technologies, and workflows.
- Partner with finance to assess deal economics, valuation, resource commitments, and financial scenarios.
- Partner with legal to negotiate agreements that protect Xaira’s intellectual property and long-term strategic flexibility, including considerations related to AI-generated insights and outputs.
- Ensure proposed partnership commitments are aligned with internal capabilities and company priorities.
- Build alignment across stakeholders on transaction strategy, economics, risks, and decision points.
- Support the transition of executed partnerships into alliance management and ongoing governance.
Alliance Management
- Lead the transition of executed transactions from deal teams into effective alliance management, ensuring continuity between the original strategic intent and partnership execution.
- Establish and maintain governance structures, decision-making processes, communication plans, and escalation pathways for strategic alliances.
- Serve as a senior point of contact for external partners and build trusted, productive relationships across scientific, technical, operational, and executive stakeholders.
- Partner with internal teams to track contractual obligations, deliverables, milestones, resource commitments, and financial considerations.
- Ensure partnerships involving AI-enabled research, technologies, and development programs remain aligned with agreed objectives, responsibilities, data requirements, and measures of success.
- Identify and resolve risks, misalignment, and execution challenges before they affect partnership outcomes.
- Identify opportunities to expand successful alliances into additional programs, technologies, disease areas, or AI-driven collaborations.
- Provide senior leadership with clear updates on alliance performance, risks, decisions, and opportunities for continued value creation.
Platform Positioning and Market Development
- Help define how Xaira presents its platform, capabilities, and partnership model to the external market.
- Develop clear and differentiated narratives for scientific, technical, executive, and business audiences, including the role of AI in advancing drug discovery and development.
- Identify new partnership models that reflect the evolving intersection of biotechnology, artificial intelligence, data, and drug discovery.
- Strengthen Xaira’s position as a strategic partner for complex, AI-enabled research and development collaborations.
- Build market awareness of Xaira’s capabilities and the potential value of partnering with the company.
Qualifications
- Significant experience in business development, corporate development, licensing, strategic partnerships, or a related role within biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, TechBio, or a relevant technology organization.
- Demonstrated experience leading and closing large, complex strategic transactions.
- Strong experience originating and executing sell-side business development opportunities.
- Experience with platform, technology, AI, research collaboration, multi-program, or discovery-stage partnerships strongly preferred.
- Demonstrated experience managing strategic alliances from transaction execution through ongoing governance, delivery, and expansion.
- Ability to understand complex scientific and technical capabilities, including AI-enabled technologies, and translate them into strategic and commercial value.
- Strong knowledge of transaction structures, valuation principles, financial terms, intellectual property considerations, and deal governance.
- Experience working closely with scientific, technical, legal, finance, operations, and executive teams.
- Established credibility and relationships across the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, or technology partnering ecosystem.
- Strong executive presence, judgment, negotiation skills, and written and verbal communication.
- Ability to operate effectively in a fast-moving environment where strategy, technology, AI capabilities, and partnership models continue to evolve.
- Advanced scientific or technical degree, MBA, JD, or equivalent experience is valued but not required.
Core Competencies
- Strategic Deal Leadership: Ability to shape, structure, and lead complex, high-value transactions from initial concept through execution.
- Opportunity Origination: Strong track record of proactively identifying and developing significant partnership opportunities.
- Platform and Technology Fluency: Ability to understand complex scientific and technical capabilities, including AI technologies, and translate them into differentiated partnership opportunities.
- Commercial Judgment: Strong understanding of value creation, deal economics, market dynamics, and long-term strategic tradeoffs.
- Creative Deal Structuring: Ability to develop partnership models beyond traditional single-asset licensing, including platform, technology, research, AI, and multi-program collaborations.
- Alliance Leadership: Ability to establish effective governance, manage complex partner relationships, resolve challenges, and create additional value throughout the life of an alliance.
- Negotiation: Skilled at navigating complex negotiations while protecting Xaira’s intellectual property, strategic flexibility, and long-term value.
- Executive Communication: Ability to present complex opportunities, risks, and recommendations clearly to senior leadership and the Board.
- Cross-Functional Influence: Demonstrated ability to align scientific, technical, legal, finance, and operational stakeholders around complex decisions.
- Relationship Building: Ability to establish credibility and build trusted relationships with senior external partners and internal leaders.
- Execution and Accountability: Brings structure, pace, sound judgment, and follow-through to complex and often ambiguous deal processes.
Compensation
We offer a competitive compensation and benefits package, seeking to provide an open, flexible, and friendly work environment to empower employees and provide them with a platform to develop their long-term careers. A Summary of Benefits is available for all applicants. We offer a competitive package that includes base salary, bonus, and equity. The base pay range for this position is expected to be $250,000 - $325,000 annually; however, the base pay offered will vary depending on the market, job-related knowledge, skills and capabilities, and experience.
Xaira Therapeutics an equal-opportunity employer. We believe that our strength is in our differences. Our goal to build a diverse and inclusive team began on day one, and it will never end.
TO ALL RECRUITMENT AGENCIES: Xaira Therapeutics does not accept agency resumes. Please do not forward resumes to our jobs alias or employees. Xaira Therapeutics is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes.
