Director, Strategy & Business Development

Cytokinetics, Inc.; South San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 236,000 - 275,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Equity stock options

Restricted stock units (RSUs)

Health, dental, vision insurance

401k with employer match

Wellness stipends

Paid time off

Job summary

Cytokinetics, Inc. is seeking a Director of Strategy & Business Development in South San Francisco to lead top-down drug revenue forecasting, asset valuation, and enterprise planning while advancing the company’s AI initiatives and BD execution.

The role blends strategic analysis with hands-on financial modeling, requiring deep epidemiology-driven forecasting, DCF/rNPV analysis, and clear communication with senior leadership. On-site role with strong cross-functional collaboration.

Qualifications

• 4–7+ years in strategy consulting, investment banking, corporate strategy, or biotech/pharma BD.
• Proven ability to build top-down drug revenue forecasts and commercial models from epidemiology, pricing, and uptake.
• Strong quantitative and financial modeling skills including rNPV, DCF, and scenario analyses.
• Strategic thinker who can structure ambiguous problems into decision-ready recommendations.
• AI-capable: proficient with LLM tooling and lightweight automations; move use cases from POC to adoption.
• Excellent executive communication with senior leaders and the Board.
• Therapeutic fluency in cardiovascular or rare diseases is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Own first-pass top-down drug revenue forecasts translating epidemiology, pricing, and uptake into commercial forecasts.
• Develop valuation models (rNPV, scenario, sensitivity analyses) and assess out-licensing / deal opportunities.
• Translate forecasts into actionable implications and strategic recommendations for BD and leadership.
• Challenge commercial assumptions to improve forecast quality and speed of decision-making.
• Create reusable forecast and valuation templates to improve consistency.
• Support AI strategy initiatives and governance with cross-functional stakeholders.
• Partner with Finance, R&D and Commercial for integrated planning.

Skills

Forecasting

Financial modeling

AI tooling

Strategic thinking

Executive communication

Cardiovascular/biotech fluency

Education

MBA/PhD/MD or equivalent

Job description

Cytokinetics is a specialty cardiovascular biopharmaceutical company, building on its over 25 years of pioneering scientific innovations in muscle biology, and advancing a pipeline of potential new medicines for patients suffering from diseases of cardiac muscle dysfunction.

The Director, Strategy & Business Development is a hands‑on strategic leader who owns and drives critical analytical and strategic work across Cytokinetics. The role helps shape enterprise strategic planning, inform portfolio and business development decisions, and leads the company's AI ambition as a strategic initiative. Half of the role is dedicated to the Business Development team, requiring the ability to build top‑down drug revenue forecasts and valuations (e.g., sizing an opportunity from epidemiology, diagnosis and treatment rates, pricing, and uptake assumptions) as the first‑pass lens on any asset. The balance supports enterprise planning, executive/board analysis, and the AI program. It suits a consulting‑or banking‑trained professional who is equally comfortable building a forecast model, framing a strategy narrative, and standing up a scrappy AI tool.

Key Responsibilities

Own and build first‑pass, top‑down drug revenue forecasts that translate epidemiology (prevalence/incidence, diagnosis and treatment rates), pricing, and penetration/peak‑share assumptions into commercial forecasts that frame an asset's potential quickly and defensibly.

Own the development and an application of valuation models based off forecasts — rNPV, scenario and sensitivity analysis — including out‑licensing / deal modeling.

Translate valuation models into clear implications, trade‑offs, and recommendations for BD and senior leadership.

Challenge and pressure‑test the latest commercial assumptions and iterations to strengthen the quality of forecast and valuation supporting speed, consistency, and quality of BD decision‑making.

Own and continuously improve the quality of reusable forecast, valuation, comps, and screening templates that improve the speed, consistency, and quality of BD decision‑making.

Support ad‑hoc BD analysis and tooling — e.g., an asset‑identification screen across large scientific‑congress datasets (methodology and scoring design).

Enterprise strategy & planning Support the annual strategic planning cycle and the August Board presentation end to end (narrative, analysis, and synthesis).

Own and continuously improve cross‑functional planning inputs and templates spanning Finance, R&D, and Commercial.

Enterprise AI as a strategic initiative Support program management for Cytokinetics' AI ambition: intake/triage, prioritization, cadence, and governance‑development support (reviewed with IT) across the COC (Company Operating Committee), SLT (Senior Leadership Team), and Executive Committee.

Engage internal stakeholders; build templates and enablement for "AI champions"; maintain the library/repository of AI use cases with AI Champions.

Coordinate AI content for COC, SLT, Executive Committee and Board materials; CSC & Board analytics.

Deliver ad‑hoc executive analyses inclusive of MFN and drug‑pricing differential analysis, and red‑team.

Qualifications

4–7+ years across strategy consulting, investment banking, corporate strategy, or biotech/pharma BD; MBA, PhD, MD, or equivalent a plus.

Demonstrated ability to build top‑down drug revenue forecasts / commercial models from epidemiology, pricing, and uptake assumptions.

Strong quantitative and financial‑modeling skills: rNPV, DCF, comparable transactions, scenario and sensitivity analysis.

Strategic thinker able to structure ambiguous problems into decision‑ready recommendations.

AI‑capable: fluent with LLM tooling, prompt engineering, and building lightweight automations; able to take a use case from POC to adoption.

Excellent executive communication; credibility with senior leaders and the Board.

Therapeutic fluency (cardiovascular/rare disease a plus).

Location

This is an on‑site position, based in South San Francisco, CA, requiring at least 4 days onsite each week.

Pay Range

The expected salary range for this position based on the primary location of South San Francisco, CA is $235,800-$275,100. The base pay offered will take into account internal equity and may vary depending on the candidate's geographic region, job‑related knowledge, skills, and experience among other factors. Base salary is just one component of our competitive total compensation package, which includes equity in the form of stock options and/or restricted stock units, comprehensive health, dental, vision, life and disability insurance coverage, 401k retirement benefits with employer match, learning and wellness stipends, and paid time off. Note that benefits are subject to change and may vary based on jurisdiction of employment.

Employer‑Branding and Culture

Our employees come from different backgrounds, and we celebrate those differences. We are looking for the best candidates for our open roles, but do not expect applicants to meet every qualification in order to be considered. If you are excited about what you could accomplish at Cytokinetics and believe you can add value to our team, we would love to hear from you. Please review our General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) policy PRIOR to applying. Our passion is anchored in robust scientific thinking, grounded in integrity and critical thinking. We keep the patient front and center in all we do – all actions and decisions are in service of the patient and their caregivers. We champion integrity, ethics, doing the right thing, and being our best selves.

Cytokinetics is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Cytokinetics is a specialty cardiovascular biopharmaceutical company, building on its over 25 years of pioneering scientific innovations in muscle biology, and advancing a pipeline of potential new medicines for patients suffering from diseases of cardiac muscle dysfunction.