Job Opportunity: Director of Strategic Partnerships
CORE MANDATE Advance the strategy, relationships, and execution of partnerships that translate 2Blades’ science into practical outcomes for agriculture.
About 2Blades
2Blades is a nonprofit organization working to protect the world's food crops from preharvest losses. We advance scientific discoveries into practical solutions that make crops more resilient, reduce agricultural losses, and strengthen food security. Our model connects cutting-edge plant science with real-world delivery through partnerships with leading researchers, agricultural companies, public agencies, and funders. We are science-driven, but our purpose is fundamentally human: helping farmers achieve more reliable harvests and expanding access to nutritious food.
The Opportunity
2Blades seeks a product-focused, connection-oriented leader who can build partnerships for impact. As a member of the senior leadership team, the Director will shape strategy across business development, government affairs, and foundation engagement, expand 2Blades' network across the agricultural innovation ecosystem, and lead collaborations through a process of long-term value creation.
What You Will Lead
Business development strategy and market positioning: Develop and execute partnership strategies aligned with 2Blades' mission, scientific portfolio, market opportunities, and revenue goals. Build market and competitive intelligence to identify where 2Blades can create distinctive value for commercial and smallholder agriculture.
Business case and opportunity development: Work closely with the senior leadership team to assess technologies and science plans, define partner value, evaluate feasibility, and prepare compelling cases for prospective partners. Prioritize and develop proposals for contract research opportunities, licenses, grants, and other funding mechanisms that advance the scientific mission and support sustainable growth.
Strategic networking and partner engagment: Build and steward a strong network across seed, biotechnology, and food companies, congressional leaders, funding agencies and international ag R&D community. Proactively strengthen and grow partners, establish senior-level connections, and create opportunities for engagement. Liase with public affairs specialist.
End-to-end partnership oversight: Shepherd opportunities from alignment, diligence, negotiation, and execution through relationship stewardship. Maintain momentum, clarify decisions, monitor commitments and milestones, resolve issues, and support effective program execution.
Partnership design, negotiation, and agreements: Shape win-win collaborations with clear objectives, workplans, milestones, deliverables, decision rights, governance, funding, and success measures. Lead negotiations on research funding, licensing, intellectual property, and economic terms, oversee agreement drafting, coordinating with internal teams and external intellectual property and contract expertise.
Mission achievement: Help move promising discoveries toward impact in the field by aligning scientific plans with partner requirements and driving each opportunity toward a successful outcome.
External advocacy and visibility: Serve as a credible advocate for 2Blades' achievements, capabilities, technologies, and partnership model. Communicate how shared innovation can create commercial value, strengthen food security, and accelerate practical impact for farmers.
What Success Looks Like
· A prioritized partnership strategy across 2Blades’ opportunity space that connects its science with real market and societal needs.
· A robust network and qualified opportunity pipeline spanning commercial agriculture, government funding, and foundation grants.
· High-quality collaborations that are scientifically credible, commercially sound, executable, and beneficial to all parties.
· Agreements that clearly define milestones, deliverables, intellectual property, regulatory considerations, economics, royalties, and governance.
· Greater external recognition of 2Blades as a trusted partner for translating plant science and discovery research into agricultural impact.
Candidate Profile
The ideal candidate has a strong understanding of agricultural R&D and biotechnology and experience in cultivating partnerships for project opportunities. The person must be equally comfortable discussing science with researchers, market demand and value creation with private sector executives, national priorities with congressional leaders and funding agencies, and deal terms with legal and finance specialists.
Experience: 10+ years in business development, strategic partnerships, translational research, product development, or a closely related relationship-driven role. Experience in agriculture, seeds, crop protection, plant biotechnology, or an adjacent sector. International experience a plus.
Collaboration track record: Demonstrated success establishing and closing collaborations, licenses, sponsored research, or joint ventures across industry, academia, government agencies and public-sector organizations.
Deal leadership: Experience moving opportunities from relationship origination, proposal development, negotiation, contracting, and execution.
Cross-functional leadership: Ability to align scientists, executives, legal and patent counsel, IP, regulatory, finance, funders, and external partners.
Communication and advocacy: Excellent written, verbal, presentation, and relationship-building skills, with the credibility to represent 2Blades externally.
Education: Bachelor's or advanced degree in a life science, agriculture, business, marketing, or related field. Scientific training combined with substantial business experience is highly valued.
Adaptability and mission: Ability to thrive in a dynamic, multicultural, multi-site organization and a strong commitment to translating scientific innovation into sustainable food production and improved food security.
Why 2Blades
2Blades offers a collegial, entrepreneurial, and mission-driven environment grounded in trust, accountability, creativity, and excellence. The organization is headquartered in Evanston, Illinois, with laboratories in Norwich, United Kingdom, and St. Paul, Minnesota. Benefits include comprehensive health insurance and generous 401(k) benefits.
Application Process
Interested candidates should submit a one-page cover letter and resume by email to dbdsp@2blades.org. No calls, please.
Equal Opportunity Statement
2Blades is committed to building an inclusive workplace and welcomes applicants with diverse professional, personal, and geographic perspectives. Employment decisions are based on organizational needs, job requirements, and individual qualifications without regard to characteristics protected by applicable law.