Dir Economic Development

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Summary


Job Summary

The Director of Economic Development leads Speros' private sector engagement strategy, driving initiatives that accelerate sustainable economic growth, cultivate high-impact partnerships, and enhance the company's role in regional and community development. This role oversees the full lifecycle of tenant engagement-recruitment, retention, and expansion-while serving as the strategic connector across existing tenants, emerging opportunities, aligned partners, and Moffitt-affiliated programs. By catalyzing investment and supporting vibrant commercialization, the Director fuels Speros' vision of transformative innovation and growth.

Job Components

Business Recruitment & Pipeline Development

• Build and maintain a high-value pipeline of prospective tenants aligned with Speros's strategic mission.
• Conduct proactive outreach to biotech, med-tech, and life science firms; attend industry conferences and leverage partner networks to attract new tenant opportunities.
• Lead market analysis and site selection support for prospects, including due diligence and financial incentive packaging.

Tenant Engagement & Retention

• Serve as primary tenant liaison, delivering concierge-level account management: troubleshoot facility/program needs, surface opportunities for expansion, and ensure ongoing tenant satisfaction.
• Coordinate with internal stakeholders (space planning, commercialization, Moffitt programs) to optimize tenant outcomes and long-term engagement.

Strategic Partnership & Ecosystem Development

• Actively collaborate with Florida Commerce, BioFlorida, Pasco EDC, regional EDOs, and site location consultants to generate and qualify leads.
• Represent Speros in local, state, and national economic development forums and advocacy efforts.
• Develop joint initiatives (e.g., site tours, investment missions) with partners to elevate Speros's visibility.

Integration with Moffitt Programs

• Partner closely with Moffitt teams to align incubation/acceleration, workforce development, and clinical research initiatives with tenant needs.
• Drive commercial-scale outcomes for startups by designing joint programs, demo days, and accelerator track partnerships.

Economic Strategy & Metrics

• Support the creation and execution of Speros's economic development strategy, including forecasting tenant targets, investment metrics, and job creation goals.
• Cluster Development to include organizing and leading thematic clusters or sector groups (e.g., med-tech, precision oncology), coordinating joint programming and collective recruitment.
• Research & Analysis Leadership, including oversight of market scans, competitive assessments, and ROI analyses for tenants and programming.
• Track and report on KPIs: pipeline growth, deal velocity, capital investment, job creation, tenant satisfaction, and retention rates.

Marketing, Events & Communications

• Develop compelling marketing collateral, presentations, and web content to support investment and recruitment efforts.
• Plan and host on-site and off-site events-such as tenant networking breakfasts, partner roundtables, industry site visits, and investor demos.

Policy, Incentives & Due Diligence

• Manage local, state, federal incentive programs; support tenants in incentive applications, compliance tracking, and reporting.
• Act as the internal expert on relevant policy, permitting, zoning, and economic incentive matters.

Education

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's Degree in Business, Economic Development, Public Admin, Science or similar

Preferred Education:

Master's Degree in Business, Economic Development, Public Admin, Science or similar

Preferred Experience

• Proven track record recruiting and landing biotech/pharma tenants-navigating site-selection criteria, project specific needs (shared equipment access, regulatory hurdles, trial activation logistics, supply chain/cold-chain constraints, import/export issues, etc.), and prospective tenant timelines.
• Deep familiarity with regulated environments (state regulations, FDA, GxP, CMC, etc.) faced by life science companies.
• Hands-on experience in retaining life-science tenants and experience navigating the needs of a company that is scaling or expanding.
• Established relationships with biopharma site selectors, CDMOs/CROs, radiopharma players, device/diagnostics firms, and capital partners; converts conference leads into qualified projects.
• Ecosystem builder who aligns with Moffitt's mission and programs-talent pipelines, incubator/accelerator tracks, and clinical research-to make Speros the obvious choice for trials, manufacturing, and co-location.
• Metric-driven operator: pipeline velocity, time-to-term-sheet, total private capex, job quality (PhD/technician mix), and tenant NPS.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Moffitt Cancer Center is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, or protected veteran or disabled status. We seek candidates whose skills, and personal and professional experience, have prepared them to contribute to our commitment to diversity and excellence.

Reasonable Accommodation

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