Academic Partnerships Director

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in Massachusetts.

📋 Description

• Develop and nurture relationships with principal investigators, academic medical centers, core facilities, and research consortia engaged in grant-funded research.

• Collaborate with principal investigators during the proposal development process to effectively position Beacon’s Waveband EEG platform and analytics capabilities for grant-funded initiatives.

• Assist in crafting scientific and budgetary narratives for grant applications.

• Utilize knowledge of U.S. academic grant funding cycles and mechanisms, including R01, R21, U01, SBIR/STTR, foundation, and philanthropic grants.

• Leverage understanding of EU and international regulatory frameworks to strategically time outreach and shape proposals.

• Expand relationships with academic core facilities and research consortia to facilitate institution-wide or multi-site platform adoption.

• Take ownership of account-level pipeline generation, negotiation, and closure for academic and grant-funded opportunities.

• Document activities and forecasts in Beacon’s CRM system.

• Represent Beacon at academic and scientific conferences, fostering networks with grants administrators, research development offices, and technology transfer offices.

• Act as a scientific thought partner for principal investigators and research teams.

• Convert Beacon’s technology and data assets into valuable contributions for study designs and objectives.

• Work collaboratively with Program Management, Clinical Operations, Marketing, and Scientific teams to define and deliver partnerships.

• Provide leadership with insights into pipeline health, win/loss trends, and emerging opportunities.

• Oversee and enhance the Academic strategy, including the pricing structure.

⛳️ Requirements

• MD with training in psychiatry or neurology, or a PhD in neuroscience.

• Over 3 years of experience in business development, academic partnerships, alliance management, or a related commercial role.

• Direct familiarity with academic research and grant funding environments through previous lab, postdoctoral, or research administration roles.

• Strong scientific understanding; experience in neuroscience, sleep science, or a related clinical research field is preferred.

• Capability to convert strategic and commercial context into actionable operational briefs.

• Outstanding interpersonal skills with the ability to establish trusted relationships with PIs, research administrators, and academic leadership.

• Proven track record of generating self-sourced pipeline and demand that leads to revenue-generating partnerships.

• Entrepreneurial mindset and the ability to navigate lengthy and unpredictable academic funding cycles.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including proficiency in proposal language and presentations tailored for scientific and administrative audiences.

• Proficiency in using CRM tools to monitor accounts and opportunities.

• Experience in contracting with academic institutions, including engagement with Technology Transfer Offices and Legal teams.

• Willingness to travel for conferences, site visits, and internal meetings 1–3 times per quarter.

• Empathy for academic researchers, research administrators, colleagues, and patients.

🏝️ Benefits

• Incentive compensation

• Equity

• PTO

• Other benefits