Job Description
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.
Job Tags
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