CEO/cso (M/F/d) Focal Biosciences

Focal Biosciences (Focal) is a spin-off from ETH Zurich based on the scientific work by Prof. Dr G.V. Shivashankar

at ETH Zurich and the Paul Scherrer Institute. The focus of Focal is to develop a broadly applicable (across

various diseases) drug discovery platform with unprecedented, advanced hit identification capabilities

offered by Focal’s platform is the ability to read-out chromatin fingerprints as biomarkers in patient-derived

epigenetic dys-regulation, leading to long-lasting reversion of diseases.

This is a full-time position which requires flexibility and risk-taking, operating as a highly motivated self-starter

and a key contributor of Focal’s trajectory towards IND, fundraising, and partnerships. Together with the Focal

Board, the Scientific Co-Founder, Advisors and support from founding investor Apollo Health Ventures and

Apollo network, the CEO/CSO is responsible for implementing and adjusting the R&D plan and activities for

early value generation through establishing a high throughput screening platform around chromatin structure

and its use as high content readout for global cell state changes driven by mechanobiology.

The CEO/CSO reports to the Focal Board. Pivotal contribution, hands-on involvement, and ownership in the

following areas.

**R&D:
- Overall lead and responsibility for R&D strategy development, planning and execution
- Monitoring of milestones, tracking and documentation of progress along plan
- Scenario planning, problem identification and problem solving
- Gap analysis and R&D plan updates based on science, commercial and business data points
- Hands-on involvement with developing and testing ML and deep learning models

**Science & Operations**:

- Building KOL network necessary to support Focal’s vision
- Map adjacent activities and fields
- Feed insights and learnings into general R&D plan
- Identification and steering of external service suppliers (CROs)

**Business & Strategy**:

- Build a communication strategy coupled to scientific milestones and implement it
- Network with investors and fund raise
- Present to outside stakeholders (Investors, Pharma), support fundraising and strategic outreach
- Managing and ringfencing IP and Know How
- Budgeting, interface with accounting/controller, monthly financial reporting
- Definition and tracking of value inflection, translating strategy into R&D and operational success
- Drive Focal technology platform development and supporting activities

**Corporate & HR**:

- Establish and maintain strong interaction with local (Zurich) R&D Team
- Team lead, motivation, recruiting, tracking of KPIs
- Brand promotion, news flow, conferences, Develop Focal narrative and vision
- PhD/MD/PharmD preferred, or other advanced biotech degree, with 15+ years of experience managing teams engaged in drug discovery research in cellular biology, translational science, or related fields ideally in industry (Pharma, Start-up, CRO) or translational activities in an academic setting
- Experience with building a strategy, implementation at the operational with a strong attention to details and focus on optimized value creation trajectory. Highly attentive to detail, flexible, and curious
- Experience in setting-up biotech companies is a big plus
- Strong communicator in writing and verbal communication both internally and externally
- Strong record of scientific accomplishments ideally having shown ability to manoeuvre in biology and computationally intensive approaches seamlessly
- Deep understanding of drug discovery demonstrated by a record of accomplishments leveraging different biological platforms to generate additional and/or improved hypotheses that deliver novel targets and differentiated drugs for development
- Hands-on experience with computationally intensive approaches including ML-based to decipher biology and codify biological responses
- Strong record of scientific accomplishments as exemplified by peer-reviewed publications in top tier
journals, presentations at international conferences
- Excellent communication skills and comfortable engaging a range of stakeholders within an organization and external
- Ability to work both independently and collaboratively in a team-oriented, fast-paced environment
- Track record of managing partnerships with academia and pharmaceutical companies
- Experience with partnering and investor presentations

**The Position is EU or US-based, with on-site presence in Zurich expected.