Senior Manager/Manager, CRO and KOL Alliances (Contract to Hire)

About the role

Our mission is to restore cell health and resilience through cell rejuvenation to reverse disease, injury, and the disabilities that can occur throughout life. Altos Labs seeks a highly strategic, operationally sound, and business-savvy Senior Manager/Manager, CRO & KOL Alliances to lead the identification, qualification, and ongoing management of our external R&D ecosystem. Location: San Diego, CA. Travel required for CRO/Institutions onsite evaluations, audits and oversight.

Responsibilities

• Partner with scientific and program leads and internal functions to identify where outsourcing adds the most value (e.g., large-animal models, disease model optimization, GLP/non‑GLP studies).
• Partner with IVTS to lead the evaluation and selection of CROs, including feasibility assessments, capabilities reviews, site qualification, and compliance reviews (e.g., GCP, GLP, animal welfare/IACUC, IP protection).
• Design and execute rigorous vetting frameworks for CROs, evaluating scientific rigor, technical capabilities, quality assurance standards, capacity, turnaround times, and regulatory compliance.
• Partner with scientific leads to translate scientific goals into structured, executable study plans and SOWs; align internally on study objectives, endpoints, timelines, and decision points before engagement with CROs; ensure study designs include clear go/no‑go criteria and data packages that directly inform next steps for the program.
• Serve as the primary operational point of contact for CROs,