The Executive Director, Search & Evaluation will join the corporate development team, playing a crucial role in advancing Business Development (BD) objectives. Their primary responsibility will involve identifying and evaluating external partnering prospects that closely align with Rigel's strategic direction, core values, and BD priorities.

 This position will spearhead worldwide search endeavors, focusing on assets with significant strategic importance spanning from mid-clinical stage to commercially available products within therapeutic realms such as hematology, oncology, and related disease areas.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Proactively search for, identify, and evaluate potential opportunities that are consistent with Rigel’s values and BD strategies. Reviewing and assessing these opportunities for scientific merit, strategic fit, and feasibility.
• Lead the internal assessment of opportunities cross-functionally, working closely with key stakeholders in commercial, clinical development, safety, CMC, regulatory, legal, IP, quality, compliance, and business development.
• Lead, manage, and execute interactions with external parties, overseeing the evaluation process.
• Prioritize opportunities and lead recommendations for senior management.
• Support business development and commercial in commercial assessments of opportunities.
• Lead/support the due diligence efforts and general conclusions for advanced opportunities, preparing technical documents as needed and presenting those to senior management.
• Support business development with deal structuring, contract negotiations, and risk mitigation based on DD findings.
• Represent Rigel at key scientific and industry forums expanding Rigel’s reputation as a partner of choice. Network with external parties to ensure awareness of Rigel’s business, values, capabilities, and BD objectives.
• Manage the tracking and organization of external opportunities to create and support institutional memory for all relevant opportunities.
• Build strong relationships with peers cross-functionally, and with partners outside of the team to enable exemplary performance. Ability to influence and develop strong relationships with potential partners, representing Rigel with the utmost in professionalism, gravitas, and business savvy.

Key Selection Factors:

• Candidate will have an undergraduate degree in a related course of study.
• Candidate will possess 10 years of relevant life science industry experience, with at least (3) years in Search & Evaluation, Business Development, Technology Transfer, or similar partnering-focused capacities. 
• Candidates with a Master's degree will have at least (6) years of experience, while those with a PhD will have a minimum of (4) years of experience.
• Candidate will possess a comprehensive understanding of the drug development process, gained through practical experience in areas such as Discovery Research, Preclinical Development, Clinical Development, Regulatory Affairs, or other pertinent scientific functions. 
• Candidate will have a proven track record in identifying, evaluating, and prioritizing business opportunities along with a solid understanding of business development analysis and best practices from opportunity identification to scientific assessment and deal close. 
• Candidate will have exemplary communication skills and cross functional leadership ability working effectively with partners both internal and external to Rigel.

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILL REQUIREMENTS:

• Experience and understanding of oncology therapeutics.
• PhD, MD, MD/PhD, or other advanced degree.
• Demonstrated capacity to initiate and propel projects forward, yielding timely outcomes, and adeptly leading follow-up actions on both internal and external commitments.
• Strong communication skills to effectively communicate business strategies, objectives, capabilities, results, conclusions, and recommendations clearly and concisely, and build cross-functional collaborations, strong relationships, and internal consensus.
• Exceptionally refined people leadership and interpersonal skills, coupled with a track record of effective negotiation and influence across diverse groups of internal and external stakeholders.
• Well-established network and adept networking skills to engage with a diverse array of industry decision-makers, ensuring awareness of emerging opportunities.
• Possession of strong business acumen, a keen sense of initiative, and the capability to make decisions based on factual evidence.
• Alignment with Rigel's culture: proactive approach, prioritizing values in achieving results and adhering to processes.
• Rigel requires all employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 (subject to any legally required exemptions)

WORKING CONDITIONS:

• PHYSICAL DEMANDS: While performing the duties of this job, the employee is required to stand, walk; sit; talk, and hear. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and the ability to adjust focus. 
• WORK ENVIRONMENT: The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate. Some travel may be required. Some travel is required, including international.

Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, or any othercharacteristic protected by the law