VP Life Sciences

About the role

Apheris is revolutionizing how sensitive data is leveraged for advanced analytics and AI in pharma and healthcare. Through federated computing and AI, we are building the world’s largest healthcare and life sciences data network. As we prepare for our next growth phase, we’re looking for a scientifically driven leader with deep expertise in pharmaceutical R&D. This role requires an executive who can define our target market, identify high-impact scientific use cases, and engage on eye level with senior R&D stakeholders at pharma companies, specifically those focused on drug discovery. You will be part of our executive team, reporting directly to our CEO Robin and working closely with our VP Product Elli, CTO & Co-Founder Michael, and our VP Engineering Eero.

As VP Life Sciences, you will bridge the scientific and strategic aspects of our business, shaping our go-to-market approach by targeting critical areas in R&D. Your understanding of key AI methods in drug discovery and development will enable you to define the customer use cases and scientific applications where Apheris can provide the greatest value. If you want to be part of building a company of consequence, making a significant impact at the intersection of life science AI, security, and data connectivity, this role is for you.

What you will do

• Market definition and use case development: Develop and execute go-to-market strategies specifically crafted for life science sectors, aiming for widespread adoption of the Apheris Compute Gateways at premier global life science organizations. This entails:
  • Pinpointing strategic Pharma accounts and key senior R&D stakeholders.
  • Gaining a nuanced understanding of their scientific challenges and needs.
  • Specifying targeted scientific use cases for our product—identifying relevant models, data types, disease areas, and drug discovery tasks that align with both our capabilities and industry demands.
  • Cultivating a profound comprehension of how our solutions deliver value to these customers.
  • Leading the creation of supporting marketing materials and activities to effectively communicate this value.
• Customer use case oversight: Lead the development of scientific proposals tailored to the R&D needs of our customers, and provide oversight as projects evolve. Responsibilities include:
  • Lead the engagement with senior scientific stakeholders, such as VPs of Computational Drug Discovery.
  • Crafting and leading the development of scientific proposals and SoWs that are precisely tailored to meet the R&D requirements of our customers.
  • Actively engage in pre- and post-sales activities to help accelerate the sales progression and increase customer value creation. This includes owning the use case development at our most strategic accounts.
• Shaping contractual and IP considerations: Collaborate with legal and commercial teams to structure contracts that protect IP while fostering collaborative and commercially valuable relationships.
• Partnership development: Establish and nurture strategic partnerships with academic institutions, model providers, and life science software providers to enhance the ecosystem around the Apheris Compute Gateways.
• Collaboration with our product function: Leverage insights from customers and partners to influence product strategy, acting as an advocate for science and customer needs.
• Executive oversight: Work as part of the executive team (one of five people), setting overall company priorities and driving operational excellence.

You should apply if

• You have a deep scientific understanding of pharmaceutical R&D priorities, including the data needs for early-stage drug discovery as well as individual drug candidates, and can identify the most suitable AI models to support R&D and development processes.
• You have expert knowledge around AI approaches relevant for drug discovery, including why specific models work well for particular R&D use cases, and can effectively discuss their applications with computational scientists.
• You have experience leading scientific initiatives from inception through execution including leadership experience driving the work of computational scientists. You have experience creating scientific proposals for Pharma companies as well as driving outcomes that deliver clear value to life science R&D stakeholders.
• You are knowledgeable about IP considerations and understand the nuances of commercial value exchange in collaborations within the life sciences sector.

Bonus points if

• You have experience with federated learning or secure data-sharing methodologies.
• You possess a robust network within the pharma and life sciences industry, especially with R&D leaders, and are familiar with the challenges and priorities they face.
• You are adept at building partnerships with academic institutions or research consortia.
• You are experienced in building data networks and have informed associated go-to-market approaches, especially in drug discovery.

If you don't feel your experience 100% matches the requirements but you think you'd be a great fit for this role and Apheris, we encourage you to apply. We value the right people and look at personality, potential, and motivation to learn and grow. We can discuss and adapt the role in a way that is meant for you!

What we offer you

• Industry-competitive compensation
• Significant early-stage equity
• Remote-first working – work where you work best, whether from home or a co-working space near you
• Great suite of benefits including a wellbeing budget, mental health benefits, a work-from-home budget, a co-working stipend, and a learning and development budget
• Regular team lunches and social events
• Generous holiday allowance
• Quarterly All Hands meet-up at our Berlin HQ
• A fun and diverse team of mission-driven individuals with a drive to see AI and ML used for good
• Plenty of room to grow personally and professionally and shape your own role

About Apheris

Finding solutions to the planet’s most urgent problems requires organizations to collaborate. But the data and insights needed to solve these challenges are locked away in businesses, unable to be centralized or directly shared for collaboration with customers and partners. Apheris is pioneering a new way for organizations to securely collaborate on even the most sensitive data across organizational and geographical boundaries. By unlocking value from sensitive data, Apheris is accelerating discovery and innovation, driving operational efficiency, and reducing risk and carbon impact for our customers and their partners.

Apheris is a platform that empowers businesses to run advanced analytics and machine learning models across organizational and geographical borders in a way that’s secure, private, and governed. By powering their data infrastructure with federated ML and analytics, businesses can build and operationalize data applications in ways previously not possible. At Apheris, we’re unified by our mission and the positive impact we can have. We’re excited by the potential we can bring with our federated approach and are looking for someone who can help us define, build and scale this impact. What are you waiting for? Come and join us.

Logistics

Our interview process is structured as follows:

• Initial Screening: If your application matches our requirements, we invite you to an initial video call to get to know us and the role. The interviewer will be interested in your relevant experiences and skills, as well as answer any questions on the company and the role itself that you may have.
• Deep Dives: In these interviews, you will mostly speak with senior leaders at Apheris to assess your skills and knowledge required for the role by asking you about meaningful experiences or your solutions for specific scenarios in line with the role we are staffing.
• Final Interviews: Finally, we invite you for up to three hours of targeted sessions with our leadership team and your potential future colleagues, talking about the market, our technology, and our culture. As part of this final stage, you will also present a case study that you prepared beforehand. If possible, this stage will take place in-person.

Our mission statement