Join the transformative team at City of Hope, where we're changing lives and making a real difference in the fight against cancer, diabetes, and other life-threatening illnesses. City of Hope’s growing national system includes its Los Angeles campus, a network of clinical care locations across Southern California, a new cancer center in Orange County, California, and treatment facilities in Atlanta, Chicago and Phoenix. Our dedicated and compassionate employees are driven by a common mission: To deliver the cures of tomorrow to the people who need them today.

City of Hope is undergoing a transformative evolution of its commercialization and strategic partnerships organization to accelerate the translation of scientific innovation into impactful solutions for patients. As we build a more integrated and externally facing commercial engine, we are expanding capabilities across business development, venture creation, strategic partnerships, translational acceleration, and innovation ecosystem development.

This is a unique opportunity to help shape a next-generation commercialization organization designed to strengthen industry collaboration, advance breakthrough therapies and technologies, and maximize the impact of City of Hope’s world-class research enterprise.

The Chief Venture Officer will lead Hope Catalyst, City of Hope’s new accelerator platform, advancing high-potential scientific discoveries toward commercialization, company creation, strategic partnerships, licensing, and meaningful patient impact. This executive leader will build and scale a disciplined venture development model that identifies promising innovations, reduces risk through milestone-driven execution, and prepares assets for investment, strategic partnerships, and company formation.

Location:  Los Angeles, CA or Boston, MA (Preferred)

As a successful candidate, you will:

• Lead the strategy, launch, governance, and ongoing operations of Hope Catalyst, including funding mechanisms, program design, operating models, selection criteria, and performance metrics.
• Identify and advance high-potential innovations by partnering with investigators, scientific leaders, business development, licensing, intellectual property, and clinical stakeholders.
• Develop and execute company-creation pathways, including business model development, market validation, investor readiness, financing strategy, and leadership team formation.
• Provide translational and drug development leadership to accelerate programs through key development milestones, regulatory planning, clinical strategy, and external partnerships.
• Build and expand relationships with venture capital firms, entrepreneurs, biotech and pharmaceutical executives, accelerators, foundations, and strategic investors.
• Oversee milestone-based funding decisions using objective criteria focused on commercial viability, patient impact, strategic fit, and execution progress.
• Support entrepreneurial talent development through programs for investigators, fellows, entrepreneurs-in-residence, and scientific founders.
• Lead and develop a high-performing Hope Catalyst team while managing cross-functional collaborations across the organization.
• Evaluate biomedical innovations for market opportunity, competitive differentiation, investment readiness, partnering potential, and commercialization success.
• Serve as a strategic thought partner to executive leadership in shaping City of Hope’s innovation, venture, and commercialization ecosystem.

As a successful candidate, you will:

• Lead the strategy, launch, governance, and ongoing operations of Hope Catalyst, including funding mechanisms, program design, operating models, selection criteria, and performance metrics.
• Identify and advance high-potential innovations by partnering with investigators, scientific leaders, business development, licensing, intellectual property, and clinical stakeholders.
• Develop and execute company-creation pathways, including business model development, market validation, investor readiness, financing strategy, and leadership team formation.
• Provide translational and drug development leadership to accelerate programs through key development milestones, regulatory planning, clinical strategy, and external partnerships.
• Build and expand relationships with venture capital firms, entrepreneurs, biotech and pharmaceutical executives, accelerators, foundations, and strategic investors.
• Oversee milestone-based funding decisions using objective criteria focused on commercial viability, patient impact, strategic fit, and execution progress.
• Support entrepreneurial talent development through programs for investigators, fellows, entrepreneurs-in-residence, and scientific founders.
• Lead and develop a high-performing Hope Catalyst team while managing cross-functional collaborations across the organization.
• Evaluate biomedical innovations for market opportunity, competitive differentiation, investment readiness, partnering potential, and commercialization success.
• Serve as a strategic thought partner to executive leadership in shaping City of Hope’s innovation, venture, and commercialization ecosystem.

Your qualifications should include:

• PhD with 15+ years of relevant industry experience OR
• Master’s degree plus MBA with 20+ years of relevant industry experience.
• Proven experience advancing biomedical innovations from discovery through development, commercialization, partnering, licensing, or company formation.
• Strong understanding of drug development, translational science, regulatory strategy, intellectual property, and early-stage asset de-risking.
• Experience founding, scaling, financing, operating, or advising biotech or life sciences companies.
• Background in venture capital, venture creation, accelerators, incubators, venture studios, or biotechnology/pharmaceutical business development.
• Demonstrated success evaluating scientific assets for commercial potential, market opportunity, and investment readiness.
• Established network across venture capital, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, entrepreneur, CRO, CDMO, and strategic partner communities.
• Experience working collaboratively with academic investigators, clinicians, investors, industry partners, and executive leadership teams.
• Exceptional negotiation, financial evaluation, strategic planning, communication, and relationship-building skills.
• Ability to thrive in a complex, fast-paced, matrixed academic medical center environment.
• Willingness to travel approximately 30–40%.

At City of Hope, you'll have the opportunity to help transform groundbreaking scientific discoveries into therapies, technologies, and companies that can improve and save lives around the world. If you're an accomplished venture and commercialization leader looking to build a world-class innovation accelerator within one of the nation's leading cancer research and treatment organizations, we encourage you to apply today.

City of Hope employees’ pay is based on the following criteria: work experience, qualifications, and work location.

City of Hope is an equal opportunity employer.