Chief Executive Officer (CEO) / President

CONFIDENTIAL RETAINED SEARCH | SAN DIEGO LIFE SCIENCES

Search Reference: TNF-LS-CEO-2026 | Enterprise Leadership Mandate, Life Sciences

ABOUT THIS SEARCH

Top Notch Finders has been retained on an exclusive and strictly confidential basis to identify a Chief Executive Officer for a client in the San Diego / CaliBaja life sciences corridor. To protect the interests of our client and of every candidate who engages with us, the identity of the company is disclosed only to qualified candidates under a confidentiality agreement. All inquiries and applications are received and managed solely by Top Notch Finders.

POSITION SNAPSHOT

• Company profile: Clinical-stage to commercial-stage biotech, pharmaceutical, or medtech company.
• Reports to: Board of Directors.
• Location: San Diego / CaliBaja region; specifics disclosed to qualified candidates.

THE OPPORTUNITY

The Chief Executive Officer sets and executes overall corporate strategy, leads capital-raising efforts, manages board relations, and drives pipeline and commercialization priorities. The CEO serves as the primary external face of the company to investors, partners, and regulators while building and retaining an executive leadership team capable of scaling the business through clinical, regulatory, and commercial milestones.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Define and communicate corporate vision, strategic priorities, and the long-range business plan to the board and investors.
• Lead fundraising activities including venture rounds, IPOs, follow-on offerings, and strategic partnerships and licensing deals.
• Oversee pipeline prioritization decisions in partnership with the CSO/CMO and R&D leadership.
• Build, mentor, and retain a high-performing executive leadership team.
• Serve as primary spokesperson to the board, shareholders, media, and industry conferences.
• Ensure organizational readiness for key inflection points (IND filing, pivotal trial readout, BLA/NDA submission, commercial launch).
• Oversee risk management, corporate governance, and regulatory compliance at the enterprise level.
• Set enterprise AI adoption strategy and evaluate AI-native operating models.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• 15+ years of progressive leadership experience in biotech, pharma, or medtech, including a prior CEO, President, or senior C-suite role.
• Demonstrated track record of successful capital raises (venture, public markets, or strategic partnerships).
• Experience navigating a company through a major value-inflection event (approval, pivotal trial, M&A, IPO).
• Advanced degree preferred (MD, PhD, MBA, or a combination), though not required where the operating track record is strong.
• Board-level communication skills and experience reporting to institutional investors.
• Familiarity with AI-driven operating models and willingness to champion enterprise AI strategy.

CONFIDENTIALITY AND HOW TO APPLY

This is a discreet, retained engagement. Your candidacy will never be presented to any organization without your explicit prior authorization, and no application will be visible to the hiring company at this stage. Accomplished life sciences chief executives are invited to submit a resume in confidence through the Top Notch Finders website. Please reference search code TNF-LS-CEO-2026 in your submission. Do not include patient-identifiable, trial-blinded, or other confidential clinical information of any kind in your application materials. Only candidates whose backgrounds align closely with the mandate will be contacted.