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Break Through Cancer was founded in 2021 to organize and support outstanding researchers and physicians to intercept and find improved treatments for the deadliest cancers by stimulating highly collaborative science. The Foundation is a partnership among five of the top cancer research centers in the world: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins, the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. Over the past five years, funded teams have grown to include scientists and clinicians from more than fifteen institutions, and Break Through Cancer has invested more than $136 million in its scientific portfolio.
Focused initially on several of the deadliest cancers, glioblastoma, acute myeloid leukemia, ovarian cancer, and pancreatic cancer, Break Through Cancer’s funded project teams create new approaches to tackle long-standing challenges in cancer. They accelerate the pace of drug approval by bringing preclinical and clinical science together to support learning deeply in patients during clinical trials, incentivize radical collaboration between academia and industry, and invest in software and technologies that strengthen data sharing and analysis across institutions. TeamLabs, multi-institutional groups of scientists, clinicians, engineers, and data experts, are the engine behind this model, supported by a cloud-based Data Science Hub that removes friction from real-time data sharing.
Position Summary
The Chief Science Officer (CSO) sets and leads the scientific vision and strategy for Break Through Cancer. The CSO works closely with the President, Leadership Team, Scientific Advisory Board (SAB), and Board of Directors (BoD) to identify high-impact scientific opportunities, build and steward TeamLabs, and convert bold ideas into funded, accountable research programs. The CSO serves as one of the organization’s primary scientific ambassadors, cultivating relationships with academic leaders, industry partners, philanthropic supporters, and the broader oncology community.
The CSO leads the process to determine scientific direction for the organization, and represents Break Through Cancer’s scientific vision, along with the President and Chief Data Officer, to the SAB, the BoD, partner institutions, and the wider cancer research community. The CSO is a member of Break Through Cancer’s Leadership Team.
The CSO also leads the Early Trials Alliance, a membership consortium developed to bring together leading oncology, biopharmaceutical, and life science companies to advance cancer treatment through early clinical trials enriched with deep correlative science and data analysis. The Director of Strategic Alliances reports directly to the CSO.
This is a full-time role, headquartered in Cambridge, MA, with an expectation of four days per week in person. This role reports directly to the President of Break Through Cancer, Tyler Jacks PhD.
Key Responsibilities
- Working closely with the President, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Data Officer, Leadership Team, SAB and BoD, direct the overall scientific strategy for Break Through Cancer.
- Identify bold, high-impact scientific challenges within the organization’s focus areas, and co-design TeamLab programs together with leading researchers at partner institutions.
- Set scientific direction for the Scientific Portfolio Managers as they serve as embedded strategists and connectors across TeamLabs.
- Lead Strategic Alliances, including direct oversight of the Director of Strategic Alliances.
- Build and maintain trusted relationships with cancer center directors, department chairs, and principal investigators across the partner institutions.
- Chair the process for identifying, launching, and evaluating TeamLabs, including scientific milestones, funding decisions, and portfolio-level performance.
- Serve as the primary scientific liaison to the SAB, and, together with the President, present scientific progress and strategy to the BoD.
- Champion Radical Collaboration™ across partner institutions, and resolve points of friction around data sharing, authorship, and intellectual property in partnership with the Leadership Team.
- Represent Break Through Cancer’s scientific vision externally, including at conferences, in publications, and with peer foundations and industry partners.
- Partner with the Development Team on fundraising efforts, including participating in individual prospect and foundation meetings, drafting and/or reviewing proposals, and stewardship communications that require scientific depth.
- Partner with the Chief Data Officer on the strategic use of the Data Science Hub to support TeamLab science. Identify emerging disease areas and scientific opportunities for future investment, and advise the President and Board on portfolio growth.
- Co-lead the Technology Review Committee comprised of licensing, tech transfer, legal, and grants administration professionals from partner institutions.
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Skills/Requirements
- M.D., Ph.D., or M.D./Ph.D. in a relevant biomedical field; preference given to candidates with clinical experience.
- Significant record of leadership in cancer research, spanning basic, translational, or clinical science.
- Demonstrated ability to build trust and drive collaboration among scientists across competing institutions.
- Experience managing a scientific portfolio or grant-making program, including funding decisions and milestone accountability.
- Deep knowledge of the cancer research ecosystem, including academic cancer centers, the National Cancer Institute, and industry partners.
- Strong record of peer-reviewed publication and scientific thought leadership.
- Experience engaging boards, scientific advisory bodies, and philanthropic stakeholders.
- Strong project leadership skills, with the ability to translate scientific vision into tactical, fundable programs.
- Team player who thrives in a highly matrixed, multi-institutional environment.
- Experience leading multidisciplinary scientific organizations.
- Demonstrated success building strategic partnerships across academia, industry, and nonprofit sectors.
- Ability to communicate complex scientific concepts to diverse audiences, including donors and non-scientific stakeholders.
- Experience leading organizational change or innovation initiatives.
- Demonstrated success influencing without direct authority across matrixed organizations.
Break Through Cancer seeks a detail-oriented and proactive Program Administrator to provide administrative and logistical support to the Science team. Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer, this role works across a collaborative, fast-paced team. The position is based in Cambridge, MA. Employees are expected to be onsite a minimum of 3-4 days per week.
Primary Responsibilities
- Provide administrative support to the Science team, including calendar management for the CSO and COO, meeting preparation, drafting and editing correspondence, and following up on action items.
- Support the coordination and logistics of scientific governance meetings and committees (e.g., Scientific Advisory Board, Technology Review Committee), including scheduling, agenda preparation, communicating with attendees, preparing materials, taking notes, and tracking follow-up action items.
- Support the Science team’s use of Salesforce for grant management, including data entry, maintaining record accuracy, running standard reports, and coordinating with internal teams to support grant lifecycle tracking.
- Assist the Science Team with pre-award coordination for TeamLab initiatives, including scheduling scientific workshops and investigator meetings, preparing logistics, and supporting related planning activities.
- Coordinate with internal teams including Development, Finance, Events, and Communications to support scheduling, logistics, and execution of virtual and in-person meetings and events.
- Attend and help support the planning and execution of the annual Break Through Cancer Summit, including coordination with researchers, institutional partners, and invited guests to help foster radical collaboration across the Break Through Cancer community.
- Other duties and responsibilities as assigned.
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Qualifications
- A minimum of 4+ years of administrative experience or equivalent for a Program Administrator; bachelor’s degree; ability to anticipate, prioritize, organize, and manage multiple projects simultaneously; a proactive approach to problem solving; excellent interpersonal, written, and oral communication skills; accuracy and keen attention to detail; ability to function efficiently despite frequent interruptions and deadline pressures; discretion, tact, and ability to manage confidential information; ability to work independently and as part of a team.
- Must be proficient with Mac OS, Microsoft Office Suite including MS Teams, Slack, and Adobe Suite; willing to learn new applications as necessary. Experience with Salesforce is strongly preferred. The ideal candidate will be flexible, comfortable with ambiguity, and have a strong interest in cancer research.
To apply for the Break Through Cancer Program Administrator position, please submit a cover letter and CV to careers@breakthroughcancer.org.
Break Through Cancer seeks an organized, experienced, relationship-oriented Assistant Director of Contracts to proactively manage the Foundation’s contracting activities. Reporting to the Chief Operating Officer, the Assistant Director will collaborate closely with the BTC Science and Development teams along with all of the Institutions and collaborators engaged in BTC related efforts. The position is based in Cambridge, MA. Employees are expected to be onsite for a minimum of three to four days per week.
Primary Responsibilities
- Serve as BTC’s contracting subject matter expert and primary point of accountability, operating with independence and decisiveness while partnering effectively across BTC, academic institutions, and collaborators (e.g., industry, biopharma, foundation partners, etc.) to advance agreements efficiently;
- Design, streamline and continuously improve contracting processes to accelerate the execution of all agreement types (e.g., Confidential Disclosure Agreements, Clinical Trial Agreements (both investigator-initiated and industry-initiated), research collaboration agreements, Data and Materials Transfer Agreements, Limited Collaboration Agreements, gift/grant agreements, etc.);
- Facilitate and coordinate negotiations to drive the timely completion of complex, multi-institutional agreements by proactively aligning stakeholders, resolving bottlenecks, breaking down communication barriers, and ensuring BTC-funded science moves forward with urgency;
- Partner with external legal counsel (as necessary) and institutional representatives to develop, refine, and standardize templated agreements that reduce negotiation friction and shorten time to execution;
- Work with members of Break Through Cancer’s Technology Review Committee (TRC), which consists of technology transfer, legal, sponsored research, clinical trials administrators, and other colleagues from the Participating Institutions) to review, negotiate, and finalize agreements with urgency so as to support the work of the TeamLabs; and lead two critical TRC working groups (Tech Transfer and Clinical Trials Contracting);
- Serve as BTC’s Compliance officer ensuring that the Foundation’s policies are upheld including the management and oversight of the annual Conflict of Interest (COI) processes
- Collaborate closely with
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