Since our founding in 1924, we've cut cardiovascular disease deaths in half, but there is still so much more to do. To overcome today’s biggest health challenges and accelerate this progress, we need passionate individuals like you. Join our movement, be part of the progress, and help ensure a healthier future for all. You matter, and so does the impact you can make with us.

The American Heart Association has an excellent opportunity for a Managing Director, Studio Red (Venture Studio).

This position can be home-based.

The Association offers many resources to help you maintain work-life harmonization through your changing needs and life situations. To help you be successful, you will have access to Heart U, our award-winning corporate university, as well as additional training and support, locally.

#TheAHALife is our company culture, our way of life, reflecting our diversity, equity & inclusion, our focus on work-life harmonization and our Guiding Values. Discover why you will Be Seen. Be Heard. Be Valued™ at the American Heart Association by following us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and at heart.jobs.

American Heart Association Ventures is seeking a leader of its Venture Studio, Studio Red.  The leader must possess a strong entrepreneurial and investment/partnering background and will be instrumental in designing and executing the strategy for startup-creation and incubation within the Studio Red platform, and in helping design and implement new programs under American Heart Association Ventures.  The leader will build a portfolio of companies that generate a financial return and that align with the Association’s mission "to be a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives.".

This role will focus on incubating new ventures within the Venture team  and/or in collaboration with others (companies, entrepreneurs, researchers, venture studios) to capitalize on the Association’s scientific and medical intellectual capital and assets, to amplify support and advancement of the Association's mission, and to create opportunities for positive financial return to the Association.

Specifically, the candidate will build a portfolio of companies that manage key programs related to startup innovation and incubation, from identification of high-potential opportunities, developing evaluation criteria to select and incubate startups for development, and identifying and executing upon collaborations to advance our goals, which are to establish or co-create approximately 2-3 new enterprises per year.  This role will require experience identifying high quality market opportunities based on market need, ensure effective strategic development of those ideas, and helping those ideas translate to venture-ready companies by establishing strong teams, high quality products and services, and effective commercial go-to-market strategies to ensure scale and traction into the market.  

Specific job responsibilities include:

• Establish and lead Studio Red programs (incubation/startup creation activities)
• Leads/oversees startup creation strategies, both current and planned, Candidate will manage full life cycle of startup innovation, from identification of high potential solutions, evaluation of market opportunity criteria to determine startups suitable for development, establish teams to support company creation, guide target projects through stages to determine go/no go criteria; support “spin-in/spin-out” initiatives for matured assets/companies.
• Work with all relevant Association units where assets might be contributed to this effort, including opportunities across the Association where existing assets could be monetized through company creation or partnership with external entities/partners. 
• Identify, establish relationships with and lead relationships with key market collaborators, such as other venture studios, academia, entrepreneurs and others who might have innovations and ideas that could be effective targets for Studio Red incubation
• Operationally manage and report on Venture Studio P&L, while closely monitoring and tracking results to ensure a path to realizing financial and mission impact from investment activities.
• Support portfolio’s development, doing what is necessary to ensure portfolio companies have the best opportunities to achieve traction, scale and financial success.
• Partners with Association Corporate Relations and Mission Advancement to assure successful fundraising  from donors for relevant investment initiatives.
• Establishes ongoing, collaborative relationships and works in partnership with other Association Leadership and Key Volunteers to optimize success of complementary Association initiatives (e.g., Mission Aligned Business, Mission Advancement, Operations, Finance, Health Equity, Center for Health Technology, and Innovation, etc.).
• Acts as an ambassador and spokesperson for the Association around innovation and investment initiatives; attends and presents at relevant conferences and events.
• Serves as a model for a high-performance culture by fostering innovation, personal accountability, and commitment to results.
• Delivers mission and financial objectives to support Association goals and objectives.

• Must have started multiple new companies either individually or through a venture studio.
• Must possess a minimum of ten (10) years of entrepreneurial/startup engagement/venture investment experience with a working knowledge of new financial models.
• Must have a minimum of ten (10) years of experience building and negotiating partnerships and alliances.
• Must have a minimum of ten (10) years of experience collaborating with executives, clinicians, scientists, payers, employers across all key sectors of healthcare (digital health, health services, biopharma, medtech).
• Excellent communication skills: must have the ability and savvy to successfully engage with high-level leaders, stakeholders and media.
• Supervisory experience managing direct reports and/or external consultants. In addition, must have successful track record working in a “matrix” management environment.
• Partnership development, program implementation and measurement experience.
• Highly organized manager with excellent interpersonal skills, project management skills, data analytics and writing skills. Extremely process- and detail-oriented.
• Exceptional ability to produce high-quality quantitative and qualitative work products under tight deadlines.
• Travel is required (approximately 20%) and may be more depending on business demand.

Preferred Experience:

• Venture Studio leadership with track record of success.
• Extensive knowledge of the healthcare marketplace from a broad perspective, both financial and clinical ideally, with a keen understanding of how to assess underserved market needs, perform due diligence and understand workflow and adoption dynamics across healthcare sectors.
• Understanding of cardiovascular and brain health topics, as well as related conditions is ideal.
• Understanding of payer and provider purchasing and payment dynamics essential.
• Understanding of medical device and pharma marketplaces a key advantage.

The American Heart Association invests in its people. Here are the main components of our total rewards package.  Visit Rewards & Benefits to see more details.

• Compensation – Our goal is to ensure you have a competitive base salary.  That’s why we regularly review the market value of jobs and make adjustments, as needed.
  
  
• Performance and Recognition – You are rewarded for achieving success by merit increases and incentive programs, based on the type of position.  
  
  
• Benefits – We offer a wide array of benefits including medical, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance, along with a robust retirement program that includes an employer match and automatic contribution.  As a mark of our commitment to employee well-being, we also offer an employee assistance program, employee wellness program and telemedicine, and medical consultation.
  
  
• Professional Development – You can join one of our many Employee Resource Groups (ERG) or be a mentor/mentee in our professional mentoring program.  HeartU is the Association’s national online university, with more than 100,000 resources designed to meet your needs and busy schedule.
  
  
• Work-Life Harmonization – The Association offers Paid Time Off (PTO) at a minimum of 16 days per year for new employees.  The number of days will increase based on seniority level.  You will also have a total of 12 paid holidays off each year, which includes several days off at the end of the year.
  
  
• Tuition Assistance - We support the career development of all employees.  This program provides financial assistance to employees who wish to further their education and career in relation to their current duties and responsibilities, or for potential future positions in the organization.

The American Heart Association’s 2028 Goal: Building on over 100 years of trusted leadership in cardiovascular and brain health, by 2028 the AHA will drive breakthroughs and implement proven solutions in science, policy, and care for healthier people and communities. The greatest discoveries in health must reach everyone where they are.

At American Heart Association | American Stroke Association, our mission is to be a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, religion, age, language, sexual orientation, national origin and physical or cognitive abilities. We're committed to ensuring our workforce, workplace culture and mission have a shared impact across a diverse set of backgrounds.

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In accordance with local and state laws where applicable, qualified applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered for employment.

EOE/Protected Veterans/Persons with Disabilities