Careers: Vice President, Animal Health
TITLE: Vice President, Animal Health
TYPE: Full-time, Salaried Exempt
REPORTS TO: President or Designee
LOCATION: TechAccel Headquarters, Overland Park, KS or St. Louis, MO
TRAVEL: 15-20%
RELOCATION: Relocation package is available
Please send cover letter and resume to:
TechAccel, LLC
6811 Shawnee Mission
Pkwy Suite 215
Shawnee Mission, Kansas
66202
jobs@techaccel.net
No walk-ins or recruiters.
Position Summary:
TechAccel LLC is a private capital firm that invests in, acquires, and advances early stage technologies in the agriculture, animal health, and food ingredients sectors.
The Vice President, Animal Health (VP) is a mid-level position at TechAccel’s headquarters in Overland Park, Kansas or in the Greater St. Louis, Missouri region. Science management positions report directly to TechAccel’s President or his/her designee.
The VP and the animal health project management team manage research and develop projects on animal science-related technologies, source new innovative technologies from universities, global corporations, institutions, and start-up companies; and perform technical due diligence on these various technology investment opportunities.
Preference will be given to candidates with broad animal health and nutrition experience including feed and feed additives, aquaculture, companion animal oncology, pain relief and periodontitis cell therapy.
Responsibilities:
• The VP’s responsibilities will include:
o Identifying research resources that have the capability and capacity to perform the needed work. These resources may be external (i.e., Contract Research Organizations, Consultants or University resources) or internal (i.e., additional
animal health talent to add to the TechAccel team).
o Staying current on relevant research to achieve project objectives. TechAccel primarily sponsors research in its own labs and at universities and academic research institutions.
o Working with external resources to develop an efficient research scope containing complete scope of work identifying all project requirements, tasks, resource assignments and an accurate estimate for task completion.
o Working with the Program Management Office (PMO) and Animal Health Program Managers to create a manageable project plan that adheres to cost objectives and timelines.
o Coordinating projects from initiation through delivery, planning and directing completion of all required product development activities or project deliverables.
o Leading, motivating and inspiring cross-functional team members including university and industrial scientists, consultants, and TechAccel employees.
o Keeping TechAccel stakeholders informed of project progress and potential challenges and being receptive to modifications of the research plan based on results and overall objectives.
o Coordinating periodic research updates, and final reports and presentations.
• The VP role will also be responsible for identifying and developing new potential opportunities and communicating them to TechAccel stakeholders. Examples include:
o Identifying new opportunities for innovative products using the company’s investment thesis and associated pillars as a foundation.
o Developing and expanding a broad-based network of contacts within the animal health sector and attending trade-shows / conferences as needed.
o Participating in visits to universities and companies with the goal of having technical exploratory conversations with professors, principal investigators and others to identify capabilities, interests, and opportunities.
o Using scientific literature, patents, and other resources, improve the TechAccel technical research knowledge and capability pool, exploring new technologies, and recent advances in field, sourcing advances from allied institutions and
applying knowledge to projects.
o Participating in ideation for new projects and presenting those projects to Senior Management for approval.
• We will also ask the VP to perform equally well as a collaborative team leader and proactive functional manager as well as a strong scientific individual contributor depending on project needs; be highly adaptive to changing project scopes and
responsibilities.
o Be a key team member in conducting business and technical due diligence on new opportunities including (but not limited to) technology licenses, emerging company equity investments, science advancement deals, partnerships, and corporate / startup spin-offs.
o Write reports and present results, project and technology assessments to Senior Management to enable them to make informed business decisions.
o Assist in developing data and materials for regular presentations made by and to the TechAccel team, including approval recommendations for the Board of Directors / Investment Committee.
Minimum Requirements:
• Ph.D. in animal science discipline with 4+ years post-graduate industry. Exceptional time / project management and organizational skills. Master’s Degree with strong relevant experience will be considered.
• Solid understanding of animal health markets and trends
• Have a firm grasp of good experimental design, data analysis and interpretation
• Highly self-motivated, flexible, able to follow through, and can work under pressure with associated deadlines
• Self-starter with high level of initiative, resourcefulness; strong work ethic
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively
• Independent thinking, technical passion, curiosity and creativity
• Ability to prioritize and manage multiple projects simultaneously
• Have a demonstrated ability to lead through influence. Some projects will be executed by groups that are not TechAccel employees, and these appropriate ‘soft skills’ are critical for success.
• Organized, detail oriented and proactive
• Ability to translate corporate goals into executable R&D plans while understanding technical risks, mitigations and alternatives
• Highly motivated, detailed individual with the proven ability to think innovatively toward solving technical and structural problems effectively and efficiently
• Excellent oral and written communication skills required to clearly explain complex issues, progress reports and technical roadmaps to a variety of audiences across functions and levels
The ideal candidate has additional skills including:
• Comfortable having and contributing to detailed scientific discussions with university professors and researchers, both academic and industrial
• Experience working in or with industry
• Network of colleagues in organizations and fields relevant to TechAccel interests
• Experience searching for and understanding technical patent literature
• Strong skills in searching research and other literature and clearly summarizing these results in a way that can be effectively communicated to stakeholders both with and lacking advanced scientific training
• Demonstrated passion for continuous learning, and scientific curiosity
• Experience translating academic thinking and research into commercial possibilities
• Experience drafting or working within SBIR grants
• Experience in the regulatory framework for animal products, or animal health devices, diagnostics, or drugs/vaccines/biologics
• Strong skills in biometrics and statistics
TechAccel is a development company focused on advancing innovation in Agriculture and Animal Health. Our partner relationships with Global Industry Strategics leverages their strong technical expertise, regulatory infrastructure and the global distribution network.
TechAccel co-funds the development, de-risking and advancement of technologies that fill partner portfolio gaps or addressing new adjacencies. Technologies typically are focused on the many technical paths address to the rapidly growing food and animal health demands. Partner companies utilize TechAccel to accelerate time to market. TechAccel also provides R&D services to meet partner surge needs as well as technology sourcing services.
In addition to our strong technology advancement relationships with Global Industry Leaders, TechAccel partners with leading Agriculture and Animal Health Venture Capital firms in advancing emerging technologies found in aggressive and innovative industry start-ups. TechAccel brings a unique Science Advancement role to these relationships in addition to our invested commitments. This dual commitment adds to the enterprise value creation as well as the breadth of potential innovation derived from each
integrated relationship.
TechAccel is an equal opportunity employer. All employees are hired, compensated, promoted, disciplined and evaluated without regard to race, color, religion, gender, age, national origin, marital status, citizenship, genetic information, status as a qualified individual with a disability, military status, or any other protected characteristic as established by law. TechAccel strictly prohibits any and all discrimination and harassment based upon an individual's race, color, religion, gender, age, national origin, marital status, citizenship, genetic information, status as a qualified individual with a disability, military status, or any other protected characteristic as established by law. Any incident of such harassment or discrimination must be immediately reported to the appropriate management level employee.
