Associate Director, Science Ecosystem

Milken Institute; Northern (KY); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health and wellness benefits

Paid time off

Job summary

The Milken Institute seeks a strategic professional to lead development of new biomedical strategies and programs within the SPARC portfolio. You will collaborate across Milken Institute teams and partner organizations to advance biomedical research philanthropy.

Ideal candidates bring deep biomedical knowledge, program management experience, and strong written communication. Hybrid schedule in Washington, DC with occasional travel and engagement with nonprofit leaders and philanthropists.

Qualifications

• Master’s or PhD in a field of biomedical or health sciences with an additional 5+ years of relevant professional experience.
• Knowledge of and curiosity across multiple levels of the biomedical ecosystem and infrastructure needs.
• Experience navigating the research-to-care landscape, funding mechanisms, and grant evaluation.
• Ability to translate complex science for diverse audiences including philanthropists and policymakers.
• Experience with project or program management in nonprofit or health-related settings.
• Engaging writer with strong communication for technical and lay audiences.

Responsibilities

• Conduct due diligence and landscape analysis for science ecosystem projects.
• Develop funding strategies and investments aligned with scientific goals.
• Produce executive-level materials and presentations for diverse stakeholders.
• Develop strategic plans and operational guides for philanthropists and foundations.
• Coordinate advisory boards and synthesize input into strategy.
• Support communications to raise awareness of funding opportunities.
• Represent Milken Institute in health and science communities at events.
• Perform duties as assigned.

Skills

Strategic philanthropy knowledge

Communication skills

Project management

Research analysis

Education

Master’s or PhD in biomedical or health sciences

Job description

Full-time Regular Washington, DC, US

5 days ago Requisition ID: 1577

$90,000.00 To $120,000.00 Annually

About the Milken Institute

The Milken Institute is a globally minded, publicly supported, non-partisan, and nonprofit think tank headquartered in Santa Monica, with offices in Washington, DC, New York, London, Abu Dhabi, and Singapore. For the past three decades, the Milken Institute has served as a catalyst for practical, scalable solutions to global challenges by connecting human, financial, and educational resources to those who need them. Guided by a conviction that the best ideas, under-resourced, cannot succeed, we conduct research and analysis and convene top experts, innovators, and influencers from different backgrounds and competing viewpoints. We leverage this expertise and insight to construct programs and policy initiatives. These activities are designed to help people build meaningful lives, in which they can experience health and well-being, pursue effective education and gainful employment, and access the resources required to create ever-expanding opportunities for themselves and their broader communities.

The Milken Institute’s events and programmatic activities, involve the exchange of ideas with leaders from around the world. The Institute hosts more than 200 events each year, with our annual flagship event, the Global Conference, bringing together 4,500+ participants from around the world and featuring 900+ speakers across 200+ sessions.

About Milken Institute Strategic Philanthropy and SPARC

One of four pillars at the Milken Institute, Milken Institute Strategic Philanthropy advises individuals, corporations, and foundations on the most strategic ways to ensure their philanthropic investments make an equitable, transformative impact, and offers tools andrecommendations for making philanthropy more effective. Since its launch in 2015, the pillar hasinfluenced more than $3.1 billion of philanthropic capital. In addition to in-depth research,reports, and guides, we design and build programs including funding initiatives, researchcollaboratives, large-scale innovation programs, and high-level events. Finally, we foster peerlearning communities to accelerate knowledge-sharing and promote partnership. Milken InstituteStrategic Philanthropy’s three portfolios of programmatic work include SPARC (SciencePhilanthropy Accelerator for Research and Collaboration), Environmental & Social Innovation(ESI), and Philanthropy Leadership Collective (PLC). Within Strategic Philanthropy, our SPARCportfolio facilitates investment across a range of scientific focus areas—including mental health,oncology, neuroscience, rare disease, and the science ecosystem.

About the Position

The Milken Institute Strategic Philanthropy team seeks a talented professional with expertise inbiomedical, cross-disciplinary, and health research to lead the development of new strategies,programs, and initiatives within the SPARC portfolio’s science ecosystem programmatic area. Weare looking for an individual with deep knowledge and expertise in the biomedical ecosystem tomove core initiatives forward in medical research philanthropy in collaboration with MilkenInstitute teams and partner organizations.

We are looking for a thoughtful, collaborative, detail-oriented, and energetic individual withexcellent communication, management, organization, and research skills to join our team. Theideal candidate will be passionate about advancing cross-cutting areas of science andstrengthening the biomedical ecosystem through strategic philanthropic investment and systemsinnovation. This team member will work with private foundations and nonprofit organizations todevelop strategies to channel philanthropic capital to expand the resources, infrastructure, andtalent necessary for systems-level change via SPARC-managed initiatives in close collaborationwith our partners. Recent areas of focus have included: computational biology, health equity inscience, early-career biomedical workforce, and strategic and organizational planning.

Successful team members are able to comfortably dive into broad, cross-cutting health topicswhile also delving deep into the science of a particular research field. Knowledge and interest inintegrating a health equity lens into initiatives are welcome. Applicants should have experiencethinking about the breadth of challenges facing the biomedical ecosystem, as well as strategicand operational planning for a variety of organizations. Additionally, team members should beable to thoughtfully engage with stakeholders and communities across a variety of sectors andsynthesize and summarize key areas for investment for executive-level philanthropic partners.

Responsibilities

• Conduct in-depth due diligence efforts and lead state-of-the-field analysis for various science ecosystem-related projects in our portfolio. This can include diving into cross-cutting health topics (e.g., health equity in science) and conducting a landscape review of the latest research and efforts; cross-sector industry pipelines; funding trends for broad cross-disciplinary and infrastructure topics; key players across health, finance, private, public, and societal sectors; critical regulatory and policy trends; and key philanthropic, nonprofit, and advocacy stakeholders.
• Develop funding strategies and design strategic investment approaches that align with scientific and philanthropic goals. Leverage an understanding of infrastructure and systems-level needs across the biomedical ecosystem, philanthropic funding vehicles, and innovative funding mechanisms and partnerships.
• Produce executive-level written materials and presentations to communicate complex scientific, clinical, and systems insights to diverse stakeholders, including philanthropists, researchers, nonprofit leaders, and others.
• Develop tailored strategic plans and operational implementation guides for individual philanthropists, private foundations, and nonprofits.
• Coordinate and manage advisory boards and expert panels for new science/health initiatives, including organizing meetings, preparing briefing materials, synthesizing input, and integrating feedback into strategy development.
• Contribute to communications efforts to build awareness of key funding opportunities, philanthropy resources, and overall opportunities for MI Strategic Philanthropy to engage with other key players within the philanthropic and nonprofit communities.
• Represent the Milken Institute within the broader health and science communities at various industry-specific events and conferences to build relationships and identify collaborative opportunities.
• Duties as assigned.

Requirements

• Master’s or PhD in a field of biomedical or health sciences with an additional 5+ years of relevant professional experience. Candidates with experience in the science/health philanthropy ecosystem, program management (within nonprofit or government organizations), and/or management consulting are strongly encouraged to apply.
• Knowledge of and curiosity across multiple levels of the biomedical ecosystem, including but not limited to high-impact tools and approaches that accelerate scientific progress; infrastructure, talent, and resources needed for systems-level change; and cross-sector and community-based initiatives.
• Experience in navigating the research-to-care landscape for broad, cross-disciplinary science/health topics, including funding mechanisms, grant evaluation and peer review process, nonprofit structures and efforts, industry trends, primary literature, biomedical research resources, and conferences.
• Demonstrated ability to translate complex science and systems-level insights for different audiences, from philanthropists and policymakers to research collaborators and nonprofit leaders.
• Experience with project or program management, ideally in scientific, nonprofit, or health-related settings.
• Engaging and compelling writer with experience communicating science/health concepts for both technical and lay audiences
• High intellectual capacity that can be and has been applied to learning new areas of science, technology, and related fields.
• Personal qualities should include being engaging, proactive, independent, rigorous, curious, action-oriented, flexible, willing to adapt to changing situations, and having a good sense of humor.

Working Conditions & Travel Requirements

This position will work in a professional office environment on a hybrid schedule consisting of three (3) days per week reporting in-person to the Washington, DC office location (Tuesday – Thursday), with the remaining two (2) days working remotely. Please understand, this schedule is subject to change at the Institute’s sole discretion.

This person will also be required to travel occasionally to other offices and/or venues to assist with events as needed, requiring occasional work outside of traditional hours. Domestic travel is possible. Additionally, this position requires interacting virtually on a regular basis with Milken Institute staff based in other locations in the United States and around the world.

Note

The statements herein are intended to describe the overall nature and level of work being performed by employees and are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of responsibilities, duties, and skills required of personnel so classified. Furthermore, they do not establish a contract for employment and are subject to change at the discretion of the employer.

We are interested in qualified candidates who are eligible to work in the United States. Please note, we are not sponsoring visas at this time, being authorized to work in the U.S. is a precondition of employment.

Our Culture

The Milken Institute is proud to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national or ethnic origin, age, disability or status as a veteran.

Every person at the Milken Institute is treated with respect, supported with resources and training, and exposed to a broad range of experiences. We foster a space for growth with opportunities to share knowledge and passion with both clients and colleagues. We are committed to building a diverse workforce and creating an inclusive environment where everyone can thrive. Our leadership is actively involved in our commitment to diversity and inclusion, and fostering a culture that creates opportunities for everyone.

• Life Insurance (Basic, Voluntary & AD&D)
• Paid Time Off (Personal, Vacation, Sick & Public Holidays)
• Family Leave (Maternity & Paternity)
• Fertility Support
• Short-Term & Long-Term Disability
• Flexible Spending Account (FSAs)
• Pet Insurance Discount
• Training & Development:
• LinkedIn Learning –over 15,000 self-guided classes offered