AI Corporate Development Extern / Intern

Harrison Hayes | Life Sciences Investment Banking & Strategic Advisory

New York / Hybrid / Remote

Harrison Hayes is looking for an unusually resourceful AI Corporate Development Extern/Intern to work directly with senior leadership at the intersection of artificial intelligence, biotechnology, pharmaceutical strategy, investment banking and corporate development.

This is not a conventional internship.

The assignment is deceptively simple

Use AI to find valuable life-sciences opportunities before everyone else finds them.

Harrison Hayes is a specialized life-sciences investment banking and strategic advisory firm with experience across M&A, licensing, strategic advisory, capital formation, royalty monetization and transaction-related diligence. The firm has advised on more than $25 billion in life-sciences transactions.

We are developing a new AI-enabled approach to opportunity identification and corporate development. We want someone smart, skeptical and slightly obsessive to help us build it.

What You'll Do

You will use ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and other AI and research tools to continuously interrogate the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical-device and digital-health landscape.

Your work may include

Identifying deprioritized, discontinued, non-core and capital-stranded therapeutic assets

Finding clinical programs where a failed endpoint may conceal a different development opportunity

Tracking pipeline restructurings, layoffs, strategic reviews and portfolio-prioritization decisions

Identifying assets available for licensing, divestiture or alternative financing

Finding returned rights following terminated pharmaceutical partnerships

Monitoring clinical-trial results, FDA and EMA developments, SEC filings, earnings calls and scientific publications

Identifying biotechnology companies approaching critical financing or strategic inflection points

Researching potential acquisition, licensing, Build-to-Buy and asset-separation opportunities

Mapping potential buyers, sellers, licensors, licensees and strategic partners

Identifying the executives actually responsible for each opportunity

Verifying contact information and building highly targeted outreach

Developing concise investment theses explaining why Harrison Hayes should investigate an opportunity now

Using AI to uncover connections between scientific evidence, corporate strategy, capital constraints and transaction potential that may not be obvious from conventional screening

You will not simply create lists.

You will be expected to answer the harder question

Why is this an opportunity?

The Work Gets Interesting Quickly

A biotech company announces that it is discontinuing a Phase II program.

Most people record that the drug failed.

We want you to ask

Did the drug fail, or did the trial fail?

Was the endpoint wrong? Was the population too broad? Is there a responder phenotype buried in the data? Did the program simply fail to clear the company's internal capital-allocation hurdle? Is the underlying biology still credible? Could another indication work? Could the asset be separated from the company? Would another owner develop it differently? What additional experiment would materially change its value?

Those questions can lead to very different conclusions.

Sometimes the answer will be do nothing.

Sometimes it may be license it, acquire it, reposition it, finance it, separate it or build a new company around it.

Finding that distinction is the job.

AI Is the Tool. Judgment Is the Skill.

We are not looking for someone who describes themselves as an “AI expert” because they know how to prompt ChatGPT.

We want someone who understands that AI can be wrong.

You should know how to push beyond the first answer, interrogate primary sources, cross-reference SEC filings and clinical-trial databases, find contradictory evidence, distinguish published facts from inference and recognize when an apparently exciting opportunity falls apart under scrutiny.

A hallucinated executive, invented email address or nonexistent clinical program isn't research. It is a mistake.

We want someone who understands the difference.

Who We're Looking For

Your academic background could be biotechnology, biology, medicine, pharmacology, finance, economics, business, data science or something less obvious.

Graduate students, MBA candidates, medical students and advanced undergraduates are all potentially interesting.

More important is how you think.

You should be intensely curious about science and business simultaneously. You should enjoy discovering obscure information, connecting unrelated facts and pursuing questions that don't have obvious answers.

If you see

“Company reduces workforce 40% and prioritizes three clinical programs”

your immediate reaction should be:

“What happened to everything else?”

If you read

“Phase II trial misses primary endpoint but demonstrates statistically significant activity in a prespecified subgroup”

you should want to know:

“Which subgroup, why, and does anyone else care?”

If a pharmaceutical company returns the rights to an asset after spending $100 million developing it, you should wonder:

“What do they know, what does the biotech know, and what might everybody be overlooking?”

That's the mentality we're looking for.

You Will Work With Real Opportunities

This is not an academic exercise.

Interesting findings can move directly into Harrison Hayes' corporate-development process and potentially become strategic advisory, licensing, M&A or principal-investment opportunities.

Harrison Hayes already operates across asset identification, screening, licensing, M&A, strategic advisory, commercial diligence and portfolio strategy.

The extern/intern will help us explore how far AI can extend that capability.

The larger question behind the position is

Can we build an intelligence system that identifies scientific and transactional opportunities before they become conventional investment-banking opportunities?

We think we can.

We're looking for someone who wants to help prove it.

To Apply

Send your résumé along with a brief note explaining how you use AI for serious research.

But there is a better way to get our attention.

Find us an opportunity.

Identify one pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical-device or digital-health asset that you believe Harrison Hayes should be looking at right now.

Tell us what happened, why the obvious interpretation may be incomplete, who owns the asset, what you would investigate next, and why there might be a transaction hiding inside the situation.

Keep it to one page.

If it's something we haven't already found, you'll have our attention. Summary

We are seeking a motivated and dynamic AI Corporate Development Extern / Intern to join our innovative team. This role offers a unique opportunity to gain hands-on experience in strategic corporate initiatives, mergers and acquisitions, financial analysis, and stakeholder management within the fast-evolving artificial intelligence industry. As an integral part of our corporate development efforts, you will contribute to evaluating potential growth opportunities, supporting transaction processes, and assisting with strategic planning activities. This paid internship is designed for individuals eager to develop their expertise in finance, strategic management, and AI-driven business expansion while working alongside seasoned professionals.

Responsibilities

• Assist in conducting quantitative financial analysis and valuation modeling to evaluate potential mergers, acquisitions, or strategic partnerships.
• Support the development of financial projection models and cash flow analyses to inform decision-making processes.
• Contribute to due diligence activities related to M&A transactions, including reviewing financial statements and preparing reports.
• Participate in stakeholder management by preparing presentations and communicating insights effectively with executive teams.
• Aid in strategic planning initiatives by analyzing market trends, competitive landscapes, and industry benchmarks.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams on project management tasks related to corporate finance activities.
• Help prepare documentation for internal audits, technical accounting reviews, and compliance requirements.

Skills

• Strong foundation in financial statement preparation, accounting principles (GAAP), and technical accounting concepts.
• Proficiency in financial modeling, valuation modeling, and developing financial projection models.
• Experience with M&A financial due diligence, investment banking processes, and private equity transactions.
• Excellent verbal communication skills for presenting complex analyses clearly to executives and stakeholders.
• Ability to manage multiple projects efficiently with strong organizational and project management skills.
• Knowledge of financial software tools and presentation software such as PowerPoint or similar platforms.
• Demonstrated understanding of corporate finance concepts including budgeting, forecasting, cash flow analysis, and internal audits.
• Familiarity with quantitative analysis techniques used in equity research and strategic management contexts.

This internship provides an exceptional platform for aspiring finance professionals interested in AI-driven corporate growth strategies. Join us to develop your skills in a fast-paced environment where innovation meets strategic execution!

Work Location: Remote