Senior Advisor, Health Care and Life Sciences

11-Oct-2022

Harvard Business School

60238BR

Job Summary

Founded in 2011, the Harvard Innovation Labs (HIL) is an ecosystem designed to foster entrepreneurship and innovation across the Harvard University community. HIL consists of three entities: 

• The Student i-lab is available to current students from any Harvard school looking to explore innovation and entrepreneurship at any stage. The i-lab provides the physical and intellectual resources needed to develop and grow startups, including co-working space, advising, office hours with industry experts, workshops, funding opportunities, and the President’s Innovation Challenge (PIC), an annual venture competition.
• Launch Lab X GEO (LLX GEO) is a six-month accelerator for Harvard alumni ventures. Applications are accepted from all over the world and open to alumni from all schools.
• The Pagliuca Harvard Life Lab is a shared laboratory space for high-potential life sciences and biotech startups founded by Harvard faculty, alumni, students, and postdoctoral scholars.

Job Overview:

The Senior Advisor, Health Care and Life Sciences at the Harvard Innovation Labs (HIL) is responsible for supporting and mentoring Harvard students, alumni, and affiliated founders in the health care and life sciences space. This role oversees advising and programming (e.g., workshops; roundtables) to inform the HIL community about the opportunities and challenges in tackling problems and building new ventures. The ideal candidate has led or been part of the leadership team of a health care and/or life sciences startup, has a strong network in health care and life sciences entrepreneurship, and has experience as a mentor to startups and students.

Position Description

• Advising and Mentoring HIL founders and teams: Serves as the primary point person for all health care and life sciences teams in the HIL ecosystem. Meets with students, alumni, and teams and provides direction and insight to teams to build and grow their ventures. Makes introductions to entrepreneurs, co-founders, investors, and other stakeholders to support teams.
• Development and delivery of programming and content: Initiates activities and programs that build the Harvard Innovation Labs as a community / home for Harvard entrepreneurs and innovators pursuing health care and life sciences ideas and ventures. Creates workshops—delivered internally as well as by external guest speakers—as part of HIL’s program offerings available to Student i-lab, LLX GEO (alumni), and Pagliuca Harvard Life Lab teams. Codifies program offerings to align with HIL’s mission in order to best serve HIL founders and teams. Regularly incorporates feedback from current and previous teams. Works with colleagues on HIL’s Programs and Engagement team to integrate health care and life sciences offerings into overall HIL portfolio of offerings.
• Management and oversight of HIL offerings in the Health Care and Life Sciences domain: Reviews student membership applications, supports funding opportunities (e.g., Social Impact Fellowship Fund; Spark Grants), and oversees the relevant track(s) in the President’s Innovation Challenge. Designs, develops, and implements new initiatives that further the Student i-lab, LLX GEO, and Pagliuca Harvard Life Lab.
• Innovation ecosystem-building within the Harvard health care and life sciences community: Serves as a point of contact for students, postdocs, faculty, researchers, and others across Harvard who are interested in partnering with HIL. Fosters strong relationships and collaborations among Harvard schools and affiliated hospitals and research institutes (including, but not limited to, Harvard Medical School, Harvard Business School, Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard School of Dental Medicine, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston Children’s Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, and the Wyss Institute). Helps foster the HIL brand and messaging among those in the Harvard health care and life sciences community.
• Networking and relationship-building with external stakeholders (local, national, and global): Builds and nurtures a network of strategic relationships and amplifies HIL’s visibility within the broader health care and life sciences community. Develops robust networks in order to provide HIL teams with access to best-in-class mentors, advisors, investors, entrepreneurs, and other stakeholders. Actively participates in the broader innovation community in Boston and beyond. Builds and maintains an understanding of, and relationships with, the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Boston and other key national hubs (e.g., New York, San Francisco).
• Supporting Pagliuca Harvard Life Lab and Blavatnik Harvard Life Lab Longwood: Works with stakeholders across Harvard to support teams and activities at Harvard’s two wet laboratories for biotech and life sciences ventures.

This role is responsible for other duties as required.

Basic Qualifications

• BA/BS degree required
• Over 8 years of experience including 5+ years of experience leading or growing a health care and/or biotech company required
• Deep experience in health care and life sciences required
• Significant experience in the venture space required
• Strong Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint skills required

Additional Qualifications and Skills

Preferred Qualifications:

• Advanced degree with relevance to healthcare and life sciences venture creation (e.g., MBA, PhD, MD)
• Higher education experience

Additional Qualifications:

• Experience working with and advising and mentoring graduate and undergraduate students and/or postdocs, scientific researchers, and medical clinicians
• Ability to work cross-departmentally and collaborate with diverse groups of stakeholders at all levels of seniority
• Broad and meaningful relationships within the entrepreneurial ecosystem locally, nationally, and globally
• Track record in building and cultivating long-term relationships externally and internally
• Strategic planning skills coupled with an entrepreneurial spirit
• Creative problem-solving skills with capacity to get things done in complex organizations
• Proven ability to deliver results with minimal oversight and high degree of operational excellence
• Deep knowledge and understanding of project management, content development, and program measurement
• Excellent communication, presentation, and active listening skills

Working Conditions

Ability to work occasional extra hours, including evenings and weekends, to meet deadlines and oversee and/or attend events

Additional Information

This role is offered as a hybrid (some combination of onsite and remote) where you are required to be onsite at our Boston, MA based campus 2-3 days per week. Specific days and schedule will be determined between you and your manager.

While we continue to monitor the evolving COVID-19 guidelines and restrictions, we appreciate your understanding and flexibility with our interview process. Please note that we will be conducting interviews virtually (phone and or Zoom) for selected candidates until further notice.

The University requires all Harvard community members to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and remain up to date with COVID-19 vaccine boosters, as detailed in Harvard’s Vaccine & Booster Requirements . Individuals may claim exemption from the vaccine requirement for medical or religious reasons. More information regarding the University’s COVID vaccination requirement, exemptions, and verification of vaccination status may be found at the University’s “COVID-19 Vaccine Information” webpage: http://www.harvard.edu/coronavirus/covid-19-vaccine-information/ .

A cover letter is required to be considered for this opportunity.

Harvard Business School will not offer visa sponsorship for this opportunity.

Culture of Inclusion: The work and well-being of HBS is profoundly strengthened by the diversity of our network and our differences in background, culture, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, and life experiences. Explore more about HBS work culture here https://www.hbs.edu/employment .

Job Function

General Administration

Location

USA – MA – Boston

Job Code

360058 Admin Offcr/SrIndiv Contrib

Department

Harvard Innovation Labs

Union

00 – Non Union, Exempt or Temporary

Pre-Employment Screening

Education, Identity

Commitment to Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging

Harvard University views equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging as the pathway to achieving inclusive excellence and fostering a campus culture where everyone can thrive. We strive to create a community that draws upon the widest possible pool of talent to unify excellence and diversity while fully embracing individuals from varied backgrounds, cultures, races, identities, life experiences, perspectives, beliefs, and values.

EEO Statement

We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy and pregnancy-related conditions, or any other characteristic protected by law.