Corporate Development Lead, Life Sciences

Anthropic•San Francisco, CA

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

Anthropic is seeking an experienced Corporate Development leader to drive its strategic transactions in life sciences and biotech. This role is crucial for shaping the future of how AI impacts drug discovery, development, and patient care. The position involves sourcing and executing acquisitions, investments, and strategic partnerships with AI-native life sciences companies. The ideal candidate will collaborate closely with Anthropic's leadership, research, and product teams to align these activities with the company's strategic priorities. This role requires a blend of deep life sciences domain knowledge, technical fluency in AI, and a proven track record in closing complex transactions. The candidate must understand R&D, clinical, and regulatory workflows, be able to distinguish viable AI-native businesses, and rigorously assess a target's scientific, data, and compliance standing alongside its financials. A commitment to AI safety and Anthropic's mission of building helpful, harmless, and honest AI systems is essential, particularly given the critical nature of patient safety and scientific integrity in this field. This position is at the forefront of frontier AI research and life sciences, significantly impacting Anthropic's growth in a key sector.

Requirements

Have led complex M&A, investment, or partnership transactions from sourcing through close.
Understand the drug development lifecycle, from discovery through clinical trials, regulatory submission, and commercialization.
Have strong technical fluency in AI and software, gained as an engineer, product manager, scientist, or technology investor.
Bring strong analytical and financial modeling skills.
Can engage credibly with scientists, engineers, executives, and regulators.
Are comfortable in fast-paced, ambiguous environments with competing priorities.
Write and speak clearly, and can influence at all levels.
Have a deep interest in AI safety and Anthropic's mission.

Nice To Haves

8-12 years of experience across corporate development, investment banking, or investing, with at least 5 years focused on life sciences, biotech, or healthcare technology.
Hold an advanced degree in the life sciences (PhD, MD, PharmD) or an MBA.
Have worked at a pharmaceutical company, biotech, CRO, or life sciences software company.
Have experience with AI/ML applied to biology, chemistry, or clinical operations.
Bring an established network among life sciences founders, healthcare VCs, and pharma business development leaders.
Have diligenced or integrated businesses operating under GxP, HIPAA, or similar regulatory regimes.
Have led post-merger integration or built a new business unit.
Have experience with cross-border transactions, particularly in the US, EU, and UK life sciences markets.

Responsibilities

Define and execute Anthropic's corporate development strategy in life sciences, covering acquihires, tuck-in acquisitions, minority investments, and strategic partnerships.
Build and maintain a target pipeline across AI-native companies in drug discovery, clinical development, regulatory and medical writing, lab automation, and healthcare data infrastructure.
Lead end-to-end transaction processes, from sourcing through diligence, negotiation, signing, and integration.
Partner with research, product, engineering, and go-to-market teams to assess the technical, scientific, and commercial value of opportunities.
Run sector-specific diligence, including scientific and data validation, regulatory posture (FDA, EMA, GxP, 21 CFR Part 11), data privacy (HIPAA, GDPR), quality systems, and IP.
Assess build/partner/buy tradeoffs and competitive dynamics against incumbents, AI-native entrants, and other frontier AI labs.
Structure and negotiate complex deals, including earnouts, milestone-based consideration, and licensing arrangements, working closely with legal, finance, and policy teams.
Build financial models and valuation analyses suited to life sciences businesses, including services-heavy and usage-based revenue models.
Drive post-transaction integration, with particular attention to retaining scientific and technical talent and maintaining regulated customer commitments.
Build relationships with founders, life sciences and healthcare VCs, pharma and biotech corporate development teams, and academic research institutions.
Present strategic recommendations to executive leadership and the board.
Support Anthropic's partnerships with pharmaceutical companies, CROs, and research organizations.