Vice President, BioPharma

At Adaptive, we’re Powering the Age of Immune Medicine. Our goal is to harness the power of the adaptive immune system to transform the way diseases are diagnosed and treated.

As an Adapter, you’ll have the opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives. With Adaptive, you’ll create a career highlight through collaboration with bright, curious colleagues working at the apex of innovation and application.

It’s time for your next chapter. Discover your story with Adaptive.

Position Overview

Adaptive has an industry-leading BioPharma MRD business, which includes a portfolio of more than 190 clinical trials under management. The BioPharma team engages with new and existing customers to incorporate the Adaptive NGS-based MRD Assay into studies to evaluate minimal residual disease (MRD) as a prognostic and predictive early biomarker of response to assess depth and duration of response to a variety of hematological cancer therapies, including as a primary endpoint. The Adaptive NGS-based MRD Assay was granted de novo designation and marketing authorization by FDA (under Section 513(f)(2) of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act) in patients with multiple myeloma, acute lymphoblastic leukemia and chronic lymphocytic leukemia under the clonoSEQ® mark.

The Vice President, BioPharma is responsible for setting the vision, strategy, operating plan, and long-term growth plans for Adaptive’s BioPharma business. They will translate corporate priorities into a clear strategic roadmap for the BioPharma business and ensure the organization is positioned to deliver against its growth objectives. They are responsible for ensuring Adaptive delivers an exceptional experience to partners throughout the lifecycle of their clinical development programs.

The Vice President also has overall accountability for successful execution across the BioPharma portfolio, including Business Development, Alliance Management, and Client Data Management. This includes ensuring the organization is structured and resourced to meet contractual commitments and deliver timely, accurate, and high-quality data, reports, and analyses to sponsors; establishing appropriate performance standards and operating processes; and ensuring effective resolution of issues and risks that could impact customers or business performance.

Leaders at Adaptive demonstrate behaviors consistent with Adaptive’s Core Values and Leadership Principles. Critical functions of your role include helping establish individual team member goals, aligning those individual goals with broader team objectives, and ensuring those objectives drive the achievement of company goals. Providing thoughtful coaching and consistent feedback to your team members will drive performance excellence and accountability, as well as support your team members’ growth and development. Leaders at Adaptive create an environment of belonging, respect, and open and honest communication every day.

Key Responsibilities and Essential Functions

Primary Responsibilities

• Lead Adaptive’s BioPharma Business growth in oncology and autoimmune diseases
• Develop and maintain high-level relationships, access, and credibility with senior executives in pharma and biotech.
• Scale the business by identifying and executing strategic initiatives that drive revenue and market expansion, including but not limited to CDx, Real-World Data, and commercial partnerships to drive clonoSEQ commercial business
• Establish new relationships to facilitate building an autoimmune pipeline and provide input to Medical on evidence generation strategy
• Collaborate with cross-functional partners and develop strategic partnerships with customers to accelerate new product development to enhance service offerings for biopharma
• Expand awareness of Adaptive’s product and service offerings for biopharma
• Lead alliance management efforts, ensuring the long-term success of key partnerships.
• Motivate, engage and lead a team of professionals to foster a highly engaged team and culture aligned to Adaptive’s Values.

Business Development & Alliance Management

• Set the strategic direction for Adaptive’s BioPharma portfolio, defining priorities and partnership strategies that strengthen customer relationships, drive sustainable growth, and advance broader Corporate and BioPharma business objectives.
• Own the BioPharma commercial pipeline and revenue outlook, establishing growth targets, evaluating business performance, and driving actions to address risks, gaps, and emerging opportunities.
• Provide market, customer, and competitive insights to Adaptive leadership to inform portfolio strategy, investment decisions, and longer-term BioPharma growth priorities.
• Identify and shape opportunities to expand strategic partnerships across new studies and capabilities, including CDx, commercial partnerships, RWD, and new diagnostic assays.
• Partner with senior leaders across Commercial, Medical, R&D, Operations, Regulatory, Finance, and Legal to prioritize investments and develop capabilities required to meet evolving customer and market needs.
• Ensure the organization has the capabilities, structure, and resources needed to effectively manage and grow complex strategic partnerships.
• Represent Adaptive with senior industry stakeholders at major scientific meetings, conferences, and strategic partner engagements, strengthening the company’s market position and identifying opportunities for collaboration and growth.
• Build and maintain senior-level relationships with key BioPharma partners, serving as a strategic advisor and representing Adaptive in executive governance meetings and other high-level customer interactions.
• Establish portfolio-level objectives, KPIs, and operating mechanisms to evaluate partnership health, retention, revenue growth, customer satisfaction, and strategic value, using insights to inform priorities and investment decisions.
• Oversee the Client Data Management team – providing oversight of MRD data delivery and reporting activities across assigned accounts, and ensuring data deliverables meet contractual obligations, study timelines, quality standards, and regulatory requirements.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives to enhance processes, client experience, and operational efficiency.

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Work with cross-functional leaders across Commercial, Medical, R&D, Laboratory, Regulatory, Legal, Finance, and Operations, to ensure the organization is aligned around the highest-value strategic, commercial, and customer objectives for the BioPharma business and ensuring resources, investments, and organizational capabilities are aligned to support BioPharma growth and partnership success.
• Lead strategic planning for the BioPharma business, including development of the annual operating plan, budget, revenue forecast, resource requirements, and longer-term growth priorities.
• Translate market trends, competitive dynamics, customer insights, and emerging scientific opportunities into strategic recommendations that shape BioPharma priorities, investments, and portfolio development.
• Develop and deliver executive-level business reviews, strategic recommendations, and portfolio updates for Adaptive leadership

Performance Metrics

• Revenue and bookings performance (overall and at disease portfolio level)
• Strategic account retention and expansion
• Achievement of annual strategic plan and budget objectives
• Advancement of priority growth initiatives
• Overall portfolio health, customer satisfaction, and organizational effectiveness.
• All other duties as assigned

Position Requirements (Education, Experience, Other)

Required

• Bachelors + 20 years of related experience, or Masters + 18 years of related experience, or PhD + 12 years of related experience. Degree in Life Sciences, Biology, Biotechnology, Business, Healthcare Administration, or a related field.
• 15+ years of progressive experience in biopharma, biotechnology, diagnostics, clinical research, or life sciences, including business development, alliance management, strategic partnerships, and/or key account management.
• Established relationships and credibility at senior levels in pharma and biotech.
• Demonstrated success in scaling pharma services businesses preferred
• Proven success identifying, negotiating, closing, and expanding complex commercial partnerships with biopharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.
• 10+ years of experience managing strategic biopharma partnerships and leading alliance governance activities, including executive business reviews, steering committees, and cross-functional partnership management.
• Prior experience leading a function with a demonstrated ability to recruit, develop, and lead high-performing, customer-facing teams.
• Experience supporting oncology clinical development programs, biomarker strategies, precision medicine initiatives, companion diagnostics, or related areas; familiarity with MRD, NGS-based assays, molecular diagnostics, oncology and/or autoimmune drug development strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to lead complex cross-functional initiatives and influence internal and external stakeholders to drive strategic initiatives and business growth, including R&D, Commercial, Medical, Legal, Finance, Operations, and senior executive leadership.
• Strong strategic thinking, communication, negotiation, presentation, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to develop innovative solutions and build trusted relationships across diverse stakeholder groups.

Preferred

• Advanced degree (MBA, MS, MPH, PharmD, or PhD).

Working Conditions

This position will be field based, may require up to 25% travel and a willingness to work according to global hours when needed to support global customers.

Compensation

Salary Range: $261,000 - $391,600

Other compensation elements to include

• equity grant
• bonus eligible

ALERT: Malicious groups posing as Adaptive employees have recently used fraudulent email aliases to extend employment offers, provide fake documents, and request sensitive personal and financial information. Legitimate Adaptive employment opportunities are initiated through our careers page and extended after multiple interviews with verified employees. Adaptive does not ask new hires to purchase anything out-of-pocket, including home office supplies and equipment.

Interested in this position, but don’t meet all the requirements? Adaptive is committed to building diverse, equitable, and inclusive teams across our organization. Please consider applying even if your experience doesn’t match all the qualifications; you may be the exact candidate we’re searching for!

Adaptive is not currently sponsoring candidates requiring work authorization support for this position.

Adaptive’s posted compensation information includes a base salary (or hourly rate) range and summary of other available total compensation. The base salary range represents a minimum-to-maximum salary (or hourly rate) available to candidates upon extension of offer. Base salary is thoughtfully considered upon offer and is determined through multiple evaluation checks throughout the interview process, including: a candidate’s ability to meet minimum qualifications (skills/experience/education), a candidate’s ability to thoughtfully address preferred qualifications, current market conditions, and internal pay equity. Listed base salary is exclusive of bonus, commission, equity, differential pay, benefits, and other incentives.

Adaptive's benefits at-a-glance.

Adaptive Biotechnologies is an Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or protected veteran status and will not be discriminated against based on disability. Please refer the “Know Your Rights: Workplace Discrimination is Illegal” Poster for more information. If you’d like to view a copy of the company’s affirmative action plan or policy statement, please email [email protected].

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