Director, Grants & Medical Education

Eyes On Eyecare•San Diego, CA

10d

About The Position

Based in San Diego, California, CovalentCreative is a technology and healthcare information company shaping the future of eyecare. Through leading brands like eyesoneyecare.com, Glance, and npiQ, we deliver innovative web applications, accredited education, and data-driven insights to tens of thousands of eyecare professionals. Our mission is to empower the people who care for vision with the tools, knowledge, and connections they need to excel. As the Director, Grants & Medical Education at Eyes On Eyecare, you will be the strategic architect of our independent medical education (IME) ecosystem. You will own the end-to-end lifecycle of grant-funded programming—from identifying clinical practice gaps and building high-level relationships with Medical Affairs teams to securing funding and proving educational impact. This role sits at the critical intersection of clinical strategy, industry partnership, and rigorous compliance. Your mission is to secure funding for high-quality educational initiatives, aligning the needs and gaps in the ophthalmic community with the areas of interest of supporters. You will maintain a strict firewall between promotional activities and accredited education, ensuring that every program we fund meets the highest standards of scientific integrity. You aren't just "writing grants"; you are translating therapeutic-area intelligence into sophisticated educational curricula that improve clinician performance and patient outcomes. If you are energized by the challenge of building a scalable, compliant grant engine within a modern, data-driven healthcare technology company, this role is your next career home.

Requirements

7–10+ years experience in independent medical education (IME), CME/CE grant development, or pharmaceutical medical education roles, or are an established clinician who has experience with independent medical education
Demonstrated experience securing educational grant funding from pharmaceutical or medical device companies
Strong understanding of ACCME and/or COPE compliance frameworks
Experience designing or contributing to outcomes measurement strategies
Proven ability to build and maintain industry relationships
Strong executive-level writing and communication skills
Experience managing multiple concurrent grant cycles and deadlines
Comfortable working with technology tools and project management systems
Highly organized with strong attention to detail

Nice To Haves

Existing relationships with eyecare-focused pharmaceutical or device grant teams
Experience improving grant win rates through template or messaging refinement
Experience collaborating on Level 4–5 outcomes reporting
Familiarity with survey-based needs assessments and educational gap analysis
Experience working in a fast-growing, entrepreneurial healthcare media or education company

Responsibilities

Grant Strategy, Prospecting, and Relationship Leadership Own the overall grant funding strategy across therapeutic categories (anterior segment, retina, glaucoma, dry eye, refractive, etc.)
Develop and maintain relationships with medical education professionals, IME contacts, and industry grant reviewers
Stay “ear to the ground” regarding supporter priorities, RFP cycles, therapeutic focus shifts, and competitive landscape
Translate market intelligence into proactive educational concepts before formal RFP release
Partner with executive leadership to forecast educational capacity and program sustainability based on grant funding cycles and therapeutic-area alignment
Serve as the primary safeguard of educational independence, ensuring that all grant-funded initiatives are developed independently of the organization’s commercial sales and marketing influence, in strict accordance with ACCME Standards for Integrity and Independence
Grant Development, Writing, and Submission Excellence Lead development of high-quality, compliant, and strategically differentiated grant proposals
Lead the synthesis of proprietary audience insights, clinical literature, and real-world evidence to draft 'high-science' Needs Assessments that define urgent clinical practice gaps for ODs and MDs
Ensure alignment between proposal narrative, educational design, and measurable outcomes strategy
Collaborate cross-functionally to gather accurate program data, timelines, faculty plans, and measurement frameworks
Establish repeatable internal systems that allow us to scale to 10+ high-quality submissions per quarter
Refine templates, messaging frameworks, and positioning to improve win rates over time
Educational Strategy and Program Design Input Conduct proactive gap analyses using survey data, publication insights, and therapeutic intelligence
Partner with content, events, and clinical teams to shape fundable programming concepts
Build and maintain relationships with key opinion leaders in the optometry and ophthalmology communities
Ensure learning objectives and format decisions are aligned with both educational science and supporter priorities
Protect educational independence while ensuring commercial viability
Provide strategic input on curriculum structure, delivery format, and faculty selection
Outcomes Measurement and Reporting Leadership Design and elevate outcomes measurement strategy (up to Level 5 outcomes where appropriate)
Ensure polling, pre/post testing, and post-event evaluations are aligned with meaningful data collection
Collaborate on data analysis to produce high-impact outcomes reports with actionable insights
Review and refine reports to ensure clarity, compliance, and alignment with supporter expectations
Continuously improve reporting templates and narrative storytelling around educational impact
Compliance and Industry Standards Oversight Ensure all grant activity aligns with ACCME, COPE, and relevant industry standards
Maintain working knowledge of transparency guidelines and separation of education and promotion
Serve as internal advisor on grant compliance best practices
Help build documentation systems that reduce institutional risk
Systems, Forecasting, and Cross-Functional Leadership Build scalable grant tracking systems (pipeline visibility, submission timelines, renewal cycles)
Collaborate closely with Content, Events, Clinical Review, Client Services, and Executive Leadership
Create quarterly grant forecasts and retrospective win/loss analysis
Establish clear internal rhythms: concept ideation → proposal development → submission → award → reporting → renewal