SVP, Life Sciences and Health 

Mission North is a strategic communications agency for influential companies to build, protect, and renew their impact. Market-shaping brands like Brex, Canva, Ginkgo Bioworks, Google, LinkedIn, Mozilla, Recursion, Snowflake, and Zoom have turned to us to navigate change and accelerate impact at every stage. Our award-winning culture of curiosity allows us to attract the best communicators and mobilize them around tackling some of the world’s biggest challenges. Our stories about breakthrough innovations and movements—and the iconic teams behind them—have influenced hundreds of billions of dollars in market value.

We live our values. 

As a benefit corporation, we’re committed to making a positive difference through our work, culture, and community investments.  

• We give back 2% of profits, 2% of our time, and 2% of partner equity to support causes in our local communities, and have invested more than $2 million through grants, donations, and pro bono services. 
• Through our cross-industry fellowship and sponsorship initiative, Foster the Future, we’re creating pathways for the next generation of communications leaders.
• Diversity, belonging, and equity are woven into our business and culture. We continue to advance our policies and practices to foster a more progressive organization and industry.

 

We are looking for an SVP, Life Sciences & Health to play a hands-on role in leading and expanding our portfolio of biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and health clients. This strategic leadership position will guide clients through major milestones and opportunities, including IPO and corporate milestone preparations, category creation, and reputation renewal through integrated communications programs that drive measurable business growth. The SVP will bring a hands-on approach to client work and team management, deep industry knowledge, a wide network, and strong relationships to support business development, proven experience cultivating and inspiring teams. The role also requires a passion for innovations in life sciences and healthcare to drive success for our clients. As a practice leader, you will be responsible for portfolio growth (including networking, marketing, and converting prospects to clients), client retention and happiness, product/service evolution, and staff development and retention. You’ll collaborate with your peers who oversee all accounts in the practice, working together to set and reach goals for the broader group. 

Who you are: 

• Have proven and deep knowledge and strong relationships in biotech, biopharma / pharma and health (i.e., digital health, women’s health). 
• Are passionate about how these innovations are redefining how we cure diseases, make things and heal people and the planet. 
• Get it: you have bona fide experience and demonstrable curiosity about the science and innovations driving this space — including gene editing, cellular engineering, synthetic biology, health IT, and the impact of AI on human health and drug discovery.
• Have experience working with a range of client sizes and stages, from pre-clinical to products on market, from growth-stage startup to pre-IPO to public incumbents. 
• Prioritize collaboration and strongly believe in partnering with and building up a team; have deep experience managing and mentoring high-performing, senior-level direct reports.
• Bonus: have experience working with biotech companies operating in the Sustainability space (i.e., companies using bio-based technology to address climate change)

 

 

Your day-to-day responsibilities include:

• Business Development: 
  • Set, plan, and activate the team against revenue goals, talent development, agency marketing, lead generation, and new business development for the practice.
  • Identify new business opportunities and expand the client portfolio by attracting and nurturing leads throughout your network. 
  • Proactively drive new business efforts with minimal oversight. This includes driving pitch teams from start to finish during the pitch process. 
  • Generate new revenue with existing clients. You have a keen eye for timing strategic recommendations that align the scope of work to meet client needs.

• Client Leadership: Serve as a strategic advisor to key clients in the life sciences, biopharma, and health, and health IT sectors. Build and maintain strong client relationships, providing counsel to exec teams on communication strategies and execution. 

• • Strategic Planning: Support the development and implementation of creative, integrated communication strategies to help clients achieve their objectives, such as IPOs, category leadership, and reputation enhancement. Oversee the creation of impactful content and integrated campaigns.

• Relationship Management & Retention: Maintain strong relationships, ensure quality of service, and identify areas to improve across key clients in the portfolio.Team Leadership: 

• Collaborate with the Life Sciences team to develop and execute growth strategies and direct account staffing and forecasting.
• Serve as a steward of Mission North’s values and operating principles. 
• Lead, mentor, and inspire a high-performing team of communications professionals.
• Collaboration: Work closely with our CEO Tyler Perry and our VP, Nabeelah Khan, to grow the practice and lead the team. Collaborate with cross-functional teams within the agency, including the creative, digital, and PR teams, to ensure seamless execution of client strategies.
• Marketing & Visibility:
• Represent Mission North and our clients at industry events for new business networking and personal professional development.
• Develop and promote compelling thought leadership across digital channels, including LinkedIn.
• Conceptualize and implement creative marketing campaigns and tent pole moments that promote Mission North’s capabilities and services to key new business prospects (i.e., Mission North-sponsored media dinners and other events, podcasts, LinkedIn Live, etc.)
• Industry Expertise: Stay up-to-date with industry trends, innovations, and regulatory developments in biotech, biopharma, , health and health IT. Leverage this expertise to provide valuable insights and guidance to clients while also informing the practice’s growth strategy.

 

 

Qualifications include:

• 12-15 years of experience at PR agencies and/or supporting and leading communications in-house for life sciences, pharma, or health companies.
• Proven ability to tap into a strong network of potential customers, partners, and talent to support practice and business growth.
• Strong new business development skills with a proven track record of closing and retaining new clients.
• Entrepreneurial mindset with the ability to identify and capitalize on business opportunities and commit to ongoing learning and personal growth.
• Demonstrated ability to work in a dynamic and fast-paced environment, with high visibility and accountability across the agency.
• Proven ability to build and maintain strong relationships with clients, industry partners, and colleagues; adept at counseling and managing relationships with C-level executives within the life sciences and health industry.
• Strong communication, strategic thinking, and problem-solving skills.
• Leadership experience with a track record of leading and mentoring teams to achieve exceptional results.
• Collaborative and team-oriented approach, able to work effectively with colleagues at all levels.
• Deep expertise in at least three of the following key focus areas: AI-enabled drug discovery and development, biopharma/pharma, synthetic biology, women’s health, health IT, and digital health.
• Experience architecting integrated communications strategies through milestone moments (e.g. launching from stealth, creating a new category, managing a crisis, IPO).
• Compelling communication and presentation skills.
• Exceptional creative and content development skills on technical topics.
• Experience leading strategic workshops and initiatives, including messaging, storyline development, thought leadership platform development, and media training. 
• Proven track record of simultaneously directing multiple teams at PR/comms agencies and/or within the comms function of life sciences or healthcare companies. 
• Bachelor’s degree.

What makes us Mission North?

• We’ve built an award-winning culture of curiosity and experimentation. Mission North is a Fast Company Most Innovative Company, ranking #3 in its inaugural PR and Brand Strategies category.
• We foster a culture of lifelong learning and personal growth, supporting employees in their professional development.
• Recognition for hard work is at the heart of our culture, with opportunities for advancement and rewards.
• We invest in our people, offering a competitive compensation package, profit sharing, 401K matching program, professional development stipend, and comprehensive benefits.

Compensation
Actual compensation within the pay range will be decided based on factors including, but not limited to, skills and prior relevant experience. 

Mission North cares about you and your overall well-being, and that’s why we offer a comprehensive benefits package for full-time employees that includes healthcare benefits, a 401(k) plan including an employer match, short-term and long-term disability coverage, basic life insurance, wellbeing benefits, paid time off, paid parental leave, and several paid holidays, among others.

Pay Range:  Expected Salary range depending on experience: $225,000-$250,000, not including year-end profit sharing bonus.