Strategic Partnerships Associate (Scientist)

About the Company

Crownlands harnesses human biology to create medicines and improve the delivery of healthcare. We are clinical and scientific researchers who create advanced, consented human biology datasets and training environments to discover medicines and improve AI in healthcare. We work directly with patients, physicians, researchers, and healthcare institutions, with patient privacy and security foundational to every project.

Crownlands' work includes releasing the largest single-cell dataset ever collected from living patient tissue, generated with our Gateway technology, and developing evaluations of frontier AI systems on scientific and clinical tasks.

Crownlands is backed by First Round Capital, Caffeinated Capital, and Scribble Ventures, and is looking for high-speed, entrepreneurial teammates.

About the Role

We’re looking for a gregarious, operational scientist to fill a business role at Crownlands.

The Strategic Partnerships Associate will originate and execute scientific partnerships with academic research centers, commercial partners, and other organizations where there is mutual interest in collaborating to further our research goals.

Science and research is central in all we do. You will need to understand the science well enough to evaluate datasets and research programs, the commercial structure well enough to negotiate licenses and partnerships, and the operational details well enough to get agreements across the finish line.

The right candidate is scientifically sophisticated, commercially minded, comfortable negotiating, and unusually effective at moving complicated institutional processes forward.

Responsibilities

• Build relationships with principal investigators, technology transfer offices, research administration, business partners, legal teams, and institutional leadership.
• Evaluate scientific assets and collaboration opportunities.
• Translate between scientists, lawyers, commercial teams, and institutional stakeholders.
• Own partnerships from initial outreach through diligence, negotiation, contracting, data transfer, and launch.
• Develop creative deal structures when standard institutional licensing approaches do not fit new uses of biomedical data.

Education

• PhD in genomics or a biological field, OR medical degree.
• MBA is helpful but not required.
• This role is a fit for a early-career scientist with the skills to make the leap to business, and also a fit for an experienced PhD-background businessperson.

Scientific background

• Scientific knowledge of modern human genomics and biomedical data, including areas such as WGS/WES, multi-omics, biobanks, imaging data, and structured and unstructured clinical records.
• Exceptional contributions to the scientific projects you have been a part of.
• Familiarity and thought leadership with frontier models and their current and future applications to healthcare, biotech, and medicine.
• Able to rapidly assess an unfamiliar scientific program and understand what is valuable, differentiated, and commercially actionable.

Partnership and deal experience

• Primarily, a natural relationship builder.
• Comfortable discussing commercial terms and negotiating with sophisticated counterparties.
• Experience working with university technology transfer offices, academic medical centers, research institutions, or commercial biomedical partners is preferred.

Communication and execution

• Confident communication - excited to jump on a call with a leading PI or a sophisticated business partner without prep.
• Tactics - highly organized and persistent.
• Strategy - kind, courteous, and savvy.
• Incredibly fast-moving.

We care most about exceptional judgment, scientific depth, and ability to execute. All candidates who feel their combinations of scientific and commercial capability make them a strong fit are encouraged to apply.

Compensation and benefits

Salary: $120,000-$190,000, commensurate with experience.

Equity: Meaningful ownership grant.

Location: On-site in our New York office. Travel up to 10 days/month.

Benefits: Health insurance, 401(k) match, unlimited PTO, and relocation assistance if required. Snacks, lunch, and a MacBook provided.