Senior Director, Alliance Management

Kura Oncology, Inc.; United States; On-site; USD 284,000 - 328,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive pay

Bonus

401K + Employer contributions

Stock options

ESPP Plan

PTO 20 days

Job summary

Kura Oncology, Inc. is seeking a Senior Director of Alliance Management to lead the management of its strategic alliance with Kyowa Kirin, guiding governance, collaboration, and value delivery across programs.

You will play a pivotal role in driving accountability and execution across internal teams and external partners. The ideal candidate will have 12+ years in alliance management within the pharmaceutical/biotech sector, strong negotiation and communication skills, and a proven ability to

Qualifications

• Advanced degree in life sciences, business administration, or related field.
• 12+ years experience in alliance management or partnership development.
• Strong negotiation and communication skills.
• Executive presence with ability to raise difficult issues and influence decisions.
• Experience working within matrix, cross-functional teams, and across functions.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute alliance management strategy aligned with business objectives and partnerships.
• Build trusted relationships with Joint Committee members and alliance governance leaders.
• Coordinate joint committees and working groups for collaborator alignment.
• Ensure adherence to governance decisions, milestones, and contractual obligations.
• Translate governance decisions into clear execution plans with owners and timelines.
• Serve as primary contact for partners and maintain clear communication.

Skills

Negotiation

Communication

Executive presence

Strategic thinking

Cross-functional alignment

Influence without authority

Education

Advanced degree in life sciences or business

Job description

Are you ready to join a team committed to making a meaningful impact on cancer treatment through the discovery and development of precision medicines? At Kura Oncology, you have an opportunity to be a part of something bigger, with a lasting impact that you can be proud of.

At Kura Oncology, we are working to change the paradigm and improve the science of cancer treatment. As an organization, we strive to cultivate a diverse and talented professional culture driven to develop precision medicine therapeutics.

As we continue to build a leading biotech organization with a strong culture, a patient-focused mindset and a team focused on relentless execution, we are looking for innovative, passionate professionals to join us and make our vision a reality.

To succeed at Kura, you will need to have a demonstrated ability for excellence in drug discovery and development and a roll-up your sleeves attitude. The ideal candidate will possess a values-driven work style where integrity and grit drive all behaviors, decisions, and actions.

Essential Job Functions

The Senior Director of Alliance Management will play a critical role in managing and optimizing Kura’s strategic alliance with Kyowa Kirin, supporting the strategic and operational execution of our programs. This individual will be responsible for leading and overseeing the management of strategic partnerships including governance, developing and executing alliance strategies, fostering collaboration and communication between internal teams and external partners, and ensuring that partnerships delivery mutual value.

The successful candidate will combine strategic thinking with a strong bias for action; be able to anticipate issues, frame complex decisions, plan and drive governance interactions, and provide thoughtful recommendations, while also taking ownership for translating those recommendations into clear actions and results. This role requires a confident and credible leader who is willing to raise and address difficult issues, constructively challenge internal and external stakeholders when needed, and hold both internal teams and external partners accountable to agreed-upon commitments.

• Develop and execute the overall alliance management strategy aligned with the organization’s business objectives, partnership agreements, and long-term strategic priorities.
• Build and maintain strong, trusted relationships with Joint Committee members, alliance governance leaders, internal stakeholders, and external partner counterparts to enable candid dialogue, effective decision-making, and productive collaboration.
• Facilitate and coordinate joint committees and working groups to promote collaboration among partners.
• Drive accountability to the partnership agreement and governance decisions, ensuring that commitments, obligations, milestones, and agreed-upon actions are understood and fulfilled by both internal teams and external partners.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for partners, maintaining strong relationships and clear communication.
• Drive continuous improvement to strengthen the partnership to support program execution aligned to the partnership agreements
• Partner with Program Leadership and Program Management to translate strategic discussions and governance decisions into clear execution plans, owners, timelines and deliverables, and own follow-through across internal partner teams.
• Establish communication and decision-making protocols among alliance teams and with the partner; ensures contractually required communication occurs in a timely manner.
• Accurately interpret contracts and manages contractual obligations; establish and monitor metrics and milestones; negotiate amendments to contracts; and manage conflict resolutions and escalation when necessary.

Job Specifications

• Advanced degree in life sciences, business administration, or a related field is preferred.
• Significant experience in alliance management or partnership development and commercialization within the pharmaceutical biotechnology industry.
• A minimum of 12 years experience.
• Strong negotiation and communication skills, with the ability to manage complex relationships.
• Strong executive presence and communications skills, with the confidence and judgement to raise difficult issues, constructively challenge stakeholders, and influence decisions across organizational boundaries.
• Strategic thinking and problem-solving abilities, with a focus on achieving mutual goals.
• Expertise in working within matrix teams, including cross-cultural teams and influencing without authority.
• Experience working with a broad range of functions including commercial, business development, clinical development, CMC, R&D, finance and legal.
• Leads decision-making across multiple programs or areas, setting direction and making strategic trade-offs that impact cross-functional execution and outcomes.
• Drives cross-functional alignment across multiple programs, influencing stakeholders to shape strategy and ensure cohesive execution across functions.

The base range for a Senior Director is $284,000 - $328,000 per year. Individual pay may vary based on additional factors, including, and without limitation, job-related skills, experience, work location, and relevant education or training. Kura's compensation package also includes generous benefits, equity, and participation in an annual target bonus.

Kura’s Values that are used for candidate selection and performance assessments:

• We work as one for patients
• We are goal-focused and deliver with excellence
• We are science-driven courageous innovators
• We strive to bring out the best in each other and ourselves

The Kura Package

• Competitive comp package
• Bonus
• 401K + Employer contributions
• Generous stock options
• ESPP Plan
• 20 days of PTO to start
• 18 Holidays (Including Summer & Winter Break)
• Generous Benefits Package with a variety of plans available with a substantial employer match
• Paid Paternity/Maternity Leave
• In-Office Catered lunches
• Home Office Setup
• Lifestyle Spending Stipend
• Commuter Stipend (Boston Office)
• Regular employee social activities, including happy hours, monthly birthday celebrations, Kura Koffee Talks, and much more!

Kura Oncology is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to discovering and developing innovative precision medicines to help patients with cancer lead better, longer lives.

Through our deep understanding of cancer biology and decades of experience in precision oncology, we are studying the underlying causes of treatment resistance. This enables us to design smart combination regimens with other cancer therapies to target tumors from multiple directions, with the goal of improving long-term clinical benefit.

Kura developed and is commercializing KOMZIFTI® (ziftomenib), the FDA-approved once-daily, oral menin inhibitor for the treatment of adults with relapsed or refractory NPM1-mutated acute myeloid leukemia, and continues to pioneer advancements in menin inhibition and farnesyl transferase inhibition. For additional information, please visit Kura’s website at www.kuraoncology.com and follow us on X and LinkedIn.

Kura Oncology is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.

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