Job Title: Chief Scientific Officer

Reports To: Chief Executive Officer

FLSA Status: Exempt

Date: September 18, 2017

Background: 

National Brain Tumor Society is the largest non-profit organization in the U.S. solely dedicated to the global brain tumor community. We are fiercely committed to our mission of finding better treatments, and ultimately a cure, for brain tumors. We’ve seen unprecedented progress and momentum to find better treatments. This is an exciting time to be part of our agenda to seek out and catalyze the development and delivery of new and more effective treatments as well as help patients, care partners, clinicians, researchers and policymakers to improve the health care journey. For over twenty-five years, dating back to the origins of our organization, we have been a strategic funder, convener, and advocate for advancing research, improving public policies, and helping all those diagnosed today and anyone who is diagnosed in the future. Some of the most important discoveries in brain tumor research have been attributable at least in part to NBTS, and over the past six years, NBTS has achieved several victories on the public-policy front that, in turn, improved the landscape for research. Going forward, NBTS aims to achieve even greater impact toward the goal of finding a cure and improving the lives of brain tumor patients. Organizationally, we have a highly collaborative workplace and believe that teamwork, robust volunteer engagement, collaboration, and a great organizational culture are essential to success.

Summary: 

The Chief Scientific Officer reports to the CEO and is a key member of the management team. The ideal candidate will be an outstanding scientific leader with a passion for neurological, oncological, and/or neuro-oncological research and treatment development who can identify compelling and impactful science that helps drive our brain tumor-related research initiatives forward. The ideal candidate will also be a results-oriented program leader and communicator with research and development experience, preferably with the ability to initiate and carry out research-based partnerships with companies in life sciences and nonprofits. The ideal candidate can represent NBTS while collaborating directly with the medical and research community to further our mission. The candidate must demonstrate teamwork and relationship building within NBTS and externally to engage the research, academic, life-sciences industry, and biotech communities. The CSO will create, verify, and review new research content, generate data and information to be used by NBTS, outline and develop new research-based initiatives, and manage a team to achieve research and development results.

Major Areas of Responsibility: 

I: Internal Scientific Knowledge, Program Development, Interpretation and Communication 

• Maintain current awareness of brain tumor research and therapeutic landscape.
• Act as resource to staff and the Board of Directors on scientific-related issues concerning both brain tumor research and research in general. o Provide timely written and verbal interpretations (e.g., landscape analysis, background information, commentary, updates, and opinions) relating to research and specialized programs. Disseminate information to the organization through written summaries, journal clubs, presentations, etc.
• Help develop the programs portfolio in collaboration with the CEO
• Identify gaps in brain tumor R&D and provide strategic scientific/clinical direction to the development and implementation of action plans to advance scientific and medical goals, ensuring priorities reflect and best serve the ultimate needs of patients.
• Host Research Roundtable events and serve as a leader for the NBTS Scientific Summit.
• Cultivate collaborations for the advancement of the Society’s mission and science program initiatives.
• Work with the advisory councils to establish overall scientific direction and key scientific initiatives within NBTS.
• Provide timely written reports and present to NBTS’s Board of Directors (including its Programs Committee) as well as NBTS’s subsidiary organization’s Board of Managers.

II: Direct and Align Research and Development Initiatives 

• Direct and drive forward NBTS research initiatives, maintaining timelines and budget constraints to achieve overall program goals and activities.
• Align research initiatives with resource and revenue development strategies in collaboration with Development function.
• Engage and develop partnerships with various stakeholders: industry (Pharma and Biotech), academic and medical networks, and insurance companies. o Work closely with a network of scientists in academic and industrial laboratories in the pursuit of identifying novel therapies and providing strategic scientific direction and management to ensure that common goals remain in focus.
• Lead efforts to assess opportunities for NBTS research initiatives to engage in partnerships, including licensing deals with third-parties and leading efforts to establish IP.

III: Grant/Award Oversight and Review 

• Assist in conceiving grant development, soliciting investigator proposals (meet with academic and industry researchers to identify promising proposals to support), peer review, troubleshooting and assessing projects as they go forward, and assessing potential for supplemental or follow-on funding.
• Provide scientific expertise on funded research progress reports to ensure milestones are being met.
• Play a leading role to ensure all organizational accountability processes regarding grants and awards are met.

IV: External Interface/Contribution 

• Collaboratively enable the identifcation and management of resources (reagents, antibodies, mouse models, clinical samples, etc.). Participate in the scientific management of the resource strategy and portfolio to facilitate efforts to generate, characterize, and distribute resources for brain tumor research.
• Lead expert scientist working groups created to advance NBTS and partner-driven initiatives.
• Act as a spokesperson to communicate a deeper understanding of the disease area’s global research/therapeutics landscape, NBTS scientific programs/initiatives, and the critical need for more funding to change the trajectory of the disease.
• Write content for blogs, newsletters, and articles to express thought leadership in collaboration with the Marketing and Communications function.
• Engage with all in the brain tumor community through scientific peer-reviewed publications, blog posts, presentations, outreach, media interviews, events, etc.
• Provide operational and scientific leadership targeting society events, consortia, meetings with targeted outcomes, i.e., advancing science, papers, conferences, etc.
• This role will also have occasional interface with brain tumor patients and families, and the incumbent must be able to demonstrate the type of communications skills, care, and compassion that is essential to working with people facing a life-threatening disease.

Education & Experience: 

A minimum of 15 years of research management or equivalent career experience, preferably in oncology or disease-related research and development. Ph.D. and/or MD required. Industry R&D management experience is highly desired.

Required Skills, Knowledge & Abilities: Ability to work with the public and patients/caregivers as well as the scientific community, volunteers, and all levels of staff. Must demonstrate an appreciation for how a nonprofit such as National Brain Tumor Society functions, including its governance, legal and management structure, and the needs of each that ultimately serve our mission and constituents. Ability and willingness to travel.

To apply, please email your cover letter and resume or CV to mpetrillo@braintumor.org

No phone calls please.