Director - Strategic Partnerships (Medical/Pharma)

UNC-Chapel Hill•Chapel Hill, NC

About The Position

This role is responsible for making Carolina the premier university partner for the medical and pharmaceutical industry, contributing to the institution's future excellence. The Director will manage this vertical from inception to completion, collaborating with other Directors of Strategic Partnerships, academic units, and Partnership Success Managers. The position requires deep industry knowledge and established contacts, with the ability to immediately engage leaders from major firms in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical-device sectors. The Director will identify suitable organizations, establish connections (leveraging the alumni network), understand partner needs, align them with Carolina's capabilities, and secure institutional-scale agreements. Post-agreement, the Director will serve as the executive relationship anchor for renewals and expansions, while Partnership Success Managers handle activation and delivery. Carolina possesses significant assets, including substantial active industry research, a large number of corporate partners and agreements, a strong IP-based startup ecosystem, and a vast alumni network with many leaders in Fortune 1000 companies. The primary objective is to create a unified 'front door' for industry engagement, addressing a current gap that costs the university significant research and support revenue. The role will also play a key part in defining Carolina's industry engagement strategy for the next decade, particularly in relation to the development of Carolina North, a envisioned space for industry partners to co-locate and collaborate.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree and 10 years of specific industry experience; or a Master’s degree and 5 years of specific industry experience.
Specific industry experience means direct, hands-on experience within, or selling into, the industry vertical relevant to this position.
Deep, current industry experience and contacts in the vertical.
An active, personal network of senior leaders that can be reached directly.
Proficiency in using frontier AI tools daily for research, drafting, and analysis.
A strong desire for self-directed, autonomous work.
A track record of building trusted relationships with senior leaders across business, government, and academia.
Ability to translate complex needs into creative, executable solutions.
Excellent written, verbal, and executive-level communication skills.
Smart brevity and credibility to represent Carolina in front of a C-suite.
Ability to collaborate across a matrixed institution with various stakeholders.
Ability to build relationships with individuals and groups from diverse backgrounds.
A creative, strategic, results-oriented work style.
A genuine commitment to public service and Carolina’s mission.

Nice To Haves

A personal track record of sourcing and closing $25M+ in cumulative partnerships, sponsored-research agreements, MOUs, or strategic commercial deals over your career, including at least one institutional-scale agreement closed with a C-suite or senior-executive counterpart at a Fortune 1000 or comparable organization.
Day-one access to the leaders of at least five marquee firms in your domain (VP-level and above at Fortune 100 / Global 500 scale pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical-device companies).
10+ years of direct experience inside or selling into the medical, pharma, and life-sciences sector.
Demonstrated ability to translate complex organizational capabilities into customized value propositions that solve real partner problems, with a written proposal delivered in 30 days or less.
Experience negotiating contracts and partnership agreements in coordination with legal counsel, executive leadership, faculty, and operating partners.
CRM proficiency (Salesforce or comparable): fluency in pipeline management, opportunity forecasting, and deal-stage discipline.
Familiarity with the university research enterprise, technology transfer, sponsored research administration, or higher-education industry engagement.
Willingness and ability to travel within North Carolina and nationally as needed.

Responsibilities

Make Carolina the best university partner for the medical and pharmaceutical industry.
Build the next chapter of Carolina’s excellence.
Own the medical/pharma vertical end to end.
Work with other Directors of Strategic Partnerships, academic units, and Partnership Success Managers.
Identify the right organizations for partnerships.
Open doors to potential partners, utilizing the alumni network.
Discover the real needs of partners.
Match partner needs to Carolina’s capabilities.
Close institutional-scale agreements.
Serve as the executive relationship anchor for renewal and expansion of signed partnerships.
Define how Carolina engages with industry for the next decade.
Apply AI tools to accelerate work and lead operationally in AI application.