Vacant job

Karolinska Institutet Innovation is an independent organization wholly owned by Karolinska Institutet, with the mission to transform world-leading research into viable businesses and societal benefits. Their office is located in the heart of Hagastaden on Campus Solna, one of Europe's fastest-growing Life Science clusters, with close ties to Karolinska University Hospital, SciLifeLab, and a broad network of investors and industry partners.

They work across the entire innovation chain: from identifying and validating early ideas in their Innovation Lab, to building and strengthening companies in their Incubator, to connecting startups with capital and the right partners.

About the Role

As a Senior Business Advisor, you will become one of the key figures in a researcher's or founder's journey from development to market. You will primarily work in the later stages of innovation development, when a company is formed and there is a clear desire to invest and take steps towards commercial development. You bring strategic depth and operational presence, supporting researchers and entrepreneurs in company formation. Your role involves guiding through support, highlighting risks, and ensuring clear ownership.

In practice, you are primarily responsible for 8 to 10 projects in various phases simultaneously. Some are just starting and need help understanding if there is even a market. Others are further along and are in the process of forming companies, structuring their IP, or preparing for their first investors. You adapt to what each company needs right now and help them focus on the right things in the right order.

Your Responsibilities:

• Coach and provide strategic and operational advice to researchers and Life Science startups, from needs validation and business modeling to go-to-market and investor readiness.
• Evaluate the commercial potential of research projects and early-stage companies.
• Follow up and continuously evaluate progress in projects and companies – identify challenges early and act on them.
• Build and maintain relationships with relevant stakeholders: clinicians, industry partners, investors, and the international innovation ecosystem.
• Lead workshops and training sessions in business development and entrepreneurship.

About the Profile

We are looking for you with solid experience from the private Life Science sector, preferably with a background as a founder or in a leadership role at a Medtech or Healthtech company. You have seen what it takes to build companies from the early stages, preferably having faced some setbacks and built lessons learned along the way. You know how to navigate the journey from idea to market, understand the regulatory landscape, business modeling, and investor readiness. You can juggle multiple balls and help companies focus on the right things when everything feels equally important; rolling up your sleeves when needed is a given.

But the most important thing is that you have a proactive work style where you take ownership and drive things to completion. You have colleagues to bounce ideas off and a manager who is always available, but you will not be micromanaged, and you are expected to find your way forward even when encountering obstacles.

Qualifications:

• Senior experience in the private Life Science sector with a focus on Medtech and/or Healthtech.
• Practical experience from founding or running a Medtech company with responsibility for commercial development and regulatory considerations. You recognize the overwhelming feeling of needing to handle operations while simultaneously ensuring strategic development.
• Strong business development competence: needs validation, business modeling, go-to-market, pricing, customer dialogue, pitch, investor readiness, and strategic decision-making.
• Deep understanding of the Medtech journey from idea to market: clinical utility, care flows, regulatory requirements, reimbursement logic, quality systems, evidence generation, and product/market fit.
• Ability to coach researchers and entrepreneurs by challenging, supporting prioritization, and identifying key business risks and next concrete steps.
• Fluent in Swedish and English, both spoken and written.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience as CEO or founder in Medtech or Healthtech companies.
• Knowledge of and experience working with intellectual property rights, patents, and the patent system.
• An established network within healthcare, industry, investors, and the innovation system, with the ability to open doors to clinical environments, testbeds, commercial partners, capital, and international contacts.
• An academic degree at the doctoral level (PhD) in Life Science.
• Competence in AI and data-driven solutions related to digital health, medical software, and clinical decision support.

Why Karolinska Institutet Innovation?

Here you meet one of the world's strongest research environments and get to put it into practice. The organization is flat with short decision paths and a high degree of independence. Each business advisor works with their own portfolio responsibility but collaborates closely with colleagues, sharing tools, frameworks, and experiences.

The culture at KI Innovation is open and down-to-earth. Here, people help each other, and it is perfectly fine not to have all the answers. At the same time, the pace is high, and people are genuinely engaged in what they do. It is an unusual combination of deep academic knowledge and practical business experience, and this blend is evident in daily life. Here, you make a real difference, one company at a time.

Application

Does this role sound like you? Send your CV and a short description of why you are interested in this opportunity. Interviews will be conducted in August.

For questions about the role or the process, you are welcome to contact Sandra Bydell Sveder, Sr Recruitment Consultant, SallyQ ([email protected] or +46 763 199 96 88).