Director, Strategic Partnerships
Cynosure, LLC. · United States
- Hybrid
- Full-time
- $150,000 / year
- United States
Job highlights
- Build and manage strategic external relationships for marketing.
- Cultivate key HCP, society, and KOL networks.
- Serve as marketing's relationship infrastructure hub.
- Identify and evaluate new partnership opportunities.
- Develop and manage partnership governance frameworks.
About the role
Job Summary
The Director, Strategic Partnerships is responsible for building, managing, and deepening the external relationships that enable the Marketing organization to execute. This role exists to serve the commercial-facing team—identifying and cultivating the HCP relationships, professional society connections, aesthetic industry alliances, and KOL networks that each internal team needs to do their work effectively.
Rather than owning program execution directly, this role functions as the relationship infrastructure of Marketing: ensuring the right doors are open, the right partners are engaged, and the right foundations are in place to develop meaningful, long-term relationships with customers and industry stakeholders.
Essential Duties And Responsibilities
The incumbent may be asked to perform other function-related activities in addition to the below-mentioned responsibilities as reasonably required by business needs.
HCP to KOL Relationship Development
- Identify, engage, and cultivate relationships with aesthetic HCPs—plastic surgeons, dermatologists, aesthetic nurses, nurse injectors, and med spa owners—who are relevant to the company's brand, clinical, and commercial priorities
- Build and manage a structured HCP network on behalf of Marketing, mapping HCP relationships to their potential value across Brand advocacy, Marcom campaigns, Clinical Market Development research, and Sales influence
- Serve as the ongoing relationship point of contact for key HCP partners at the organizational level—creating the trust, continuity, and engagement foundation that allows Marketing and Sales teams to work with these individuals effectively
- Proactively identify emerging KOLs and next-generation aesthetic thought leaders who reflect the evolving demographics and practice trends of the aesthetics market, and bring them into the company's HCP engagement ecosystem
- Manage HCP relationship health across the portfolio—tracking engagement cadence, identifying gaps, and ensuring no high-value relationship goes cold between active program cycles
Internal Enablement & Relationship Handoffs
- Operate as a proactive enabler of internal Marketing teams – translate relationship capital into actionable opportunities that Brand and Clinical Market Development can activate within their respective programs
- Facilitate structured handoffs when HCP relationships, KOL engagements, or partner connections are ready for activation by a specific internal team—providing relationship context, engagement history, communication preferences, and recommended next steps
- Maintain a centralized relationship management system (Wrike or equivalent) that gives Brand, Marcom, and Clinical Market Development full visibility into active partner relationships, engagement status, and upcoming touchpoints
- Collaborate with Clinical Market Development to identify clinical site and investigator candidates from the HCP relationship network who meet the criteria for post-market study participation, and facilitate warm introductions that accelerate study recruitment
- Work with Brand and Marcom to surface partnership and HCP engagement opportunities that align with upcoming campaign cycles, congress calendars, and brand content priorities—ensuring relationship activity is synchronized with marketing execution timelines
Partnership Governance & Performance
- Define and manage partnership governance frameworks for active alliances—including joint planning processes, milestone tracking, and communication cadences that keep partnerships productive and internally visible
- Track and report partnership portfolio health metrics to Sales and Marketing leadership, including relationship depth scores, activation rates by internal team, partner-influenced program outcomes, and open pipeline of prospective alliances
- Conduct regular relationship reviews with strategic partners, ensuring mutual expectations are met and identifying opportunities to deepen or expand the alliance in ways that benefit the commercial-facing teams
Aesthetic Industry Alliance Building
- Identify and evaluate partnership opportunities with aesthetic third-party vendors—vetting each for strategic fit, brand alignment, and activation potential
- Negotiate and structure partnership agreements in coordination with legal and finance, establishing the terms, co-marketing rights, data access, and governance frameworks that internal teams need to activate each alliance
Qualifications
Education
- Bachelor’s degree required
- MBA or advanced degree preferred
- Specific Area of Study: Marketing, business, communications, or related field
Experience
- 10+ years relevant experience
- Specific Related Experience: 10+ years of experience in strategic partnerships, alliance development, or relationship-based business development in medical aesthetics, aesthetic devices, dermatology, or premium healthcare/wellness
- Demonstrated ability to build trusted, productive relationships with aesthetic HCPs—physicians, nurses, and practice owners—and to translate those relationships into tangible value for internal commercial teams
- Experience developing partnerships with professional associations, aesthetic societies, or complementary aesthetic brands, including agreement negotiation and governance setup
- Strong internal collaboration and communication skills—able to operate as a service-oriented partner
- Organized, process-oriented approach to relationship management with experience maintaining project management-based visibility across a large and active partner portfolio
Physical Demands
The physical requirements described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.
- Sit; use hands to finger, handle or feel objects, tools, or controls.
- Travel Expectations – 25%
Key skills/competency
- Strategic Partnerships
- Alliance Development
- Relationship Management
- KOL Engagement
- Medical Aesthetics Industry
- Business Development
- Healthcare Partnerships
- Negotiation
- Cross-functional Collaboration
- Marketing Enablement
Skills & topics
- Director Strategic Partnerships
- Partnerships
- Alliance Development
- KOL Engagement
- Medical Aesthetics
- HCP Relationships
- Business Development
- Healthcare Marketing
- Relationship Management
- Aesthetics Industry
How to get hired
- Tailor your resume: Highlight strategic partnerships, alliance development, and KOL engagement experience in medical aesthetics.
- Showcase relationship-building: Emphasize your ability to cultivate and manage long-term, productive relationships with HCPs and industry stakeholders.
- Demonstrate industry knowledge: Clearly articulate your understanding of the medical aesthetics, dermatology, or premium healthcare/wellness sectors.
- Prepare for behavioral questions: Be ready to discuss examples of successful partnership negotiations and internal collaboration.
- Research Cynosure's values: Align your application and interview responses with their mission of improving patient lives and practitioner livelihoods.
Technical preparation
Familiarize yourself with CRM/relationship management tools.,Study key players in the medical aesthetics market.,Understand partnership agreement structures.,Review company's current product portfolio and strategies.
Behavioral questions
Describe building a strategic partnership from scratch.,How do you manage difficult stakeholder relationships?,Share an example of influencing internal teams.,How do you measure partnership success?
Frequently asked questions
- What specific experience does Cynosure look for in a Director, Strategic Partnerships candidate?
- Cynosure seeks candidates with over 10 years of experience in strategic partnerships, alliance development, or relationship-based business development, specifically within the medical aesthetics, aesthetic devices, dermatology, or premium healthcare/wellness sectors. A demonstrated ability to build and manage trusted relationships with healthcare professionals (HCPs) and translate these into tangible value for commercial teams is crucial. Experience with professional associations and negotiating partnership agreements is also highly valued.
- What is the primary focus of the Director, Strategic Partnerships role at Cynosure?
- The primary focus of this role is to build, manage, and deepen external relationships that support the Marketing organization's execution. This involves acting as the 'relationship infrastructure' by identifying and cultivating relationships with HCPs, professional societies, industry alliances, and KOLs to ensure marketing and sales teams have the necessary partnerships in place.
- What kind of HCPs is Cynosure looking to connect with through this role?
- Cynosure is looking to connect with a range of aesthetic HCPs, including plastic surgeons, dermatologists, aesthetic nurses, nurse injectors, and med spa owners. The goal is to build a network of these professionals who align with the company's brand, clinical, and commercial priorities.
- How does the Director, Strategic Partnerships role facilitate internal marketing efforts?
- This role acts as a proactive enabler for internal Marketing teams by translating relationship capital into actionable opportunities. It involves facilitating structured handoffs of HCP relationships and KOL engagements, providing context, and ensuring these connections are ready for activation by Brand and Clinical Market Development teams.
- What systems or tools are used for managing relationships in this role?
- The role requires maintaining a centralized relationship management system, such as Wrike or an equivalent platform. This system provides visibility into active partner relationships, engagement status, and upcoming touchpoints for the Brand, Marcom, and Clinical Market Development teams.
- Does the Director, Strategic Partnerships role involve direct program execution?
- No, this role primarily functions as the relationship infrastructure for Marketing. Instead of owning program execution directly, the Director focuses on opening doors, engaging partners, and laying the foundation for meaningful, long-term relationships.