Chief Development Officer

About Loyal

Loyal is a clinical-stage veterinary medicine company developing longevity drugs for dogs. Our mission is to help dogs live longer, healthier lives.

We're pioneering a new category of veterinary prescription drugs that proactively and preventatively target the underlying drivers of aging, delaying the onset of disease and preserving quality of life as dogs age. We've already made significant progress in our mission to develop the first FDA-approved drugs to extend canine lifespan: as of early 2026 we've completed two of three major FDA review sections for our lead program, LOY-002, and are targeting submission of the third and final section later this year.

Loyal is a well-funded startup with teams of scientists, veterinarians, engineers, operators, and creatives. You'll help us continue on our path of earning FDA approval for the first lifespan extension medicine for any species — and change what's possible for the dogs we love.

About the role

You will be responsible for advancing Loyal’s portfolio – from program establishment through regulatory approval.

In addition to directly supervising Product Leaders & Regulatory Affairs, you will provide matrix support to clinical & CMC functions.

You will report to the CEO and serve on the executive team of Loyal.

Your daily work will include

• Program Leadership:

• Provide the unifying voice for all development programs.

• Identify resource/communication gaps.

• Demand cross-functional exchange and integration.

• Ensure clarity on program status/timeline across the company.

• Mentor/coach Program Leaders (who serve as mini-CEOs of individual programs).

• Regulatory affairs (including CMC):

• Ensure cross-functional alignment on regulatory strategy.

• Own filings, meetings & communications with regulatory agencies (CVM is the initial & sole focus).

• Provide regulatory perspectives to clinical, research, CMC & commercial functions based on prior experience with regulatory agencies.

• Assess & incorporate (if appropriate) advisor feedback into regulatory & CMC strategy.

• Mentor/coach regulatory affairs team members.

• Matrix leadership support for clinical/vet research, CMC and commercial functions

• Work closely with Chief Veterinarian, Chief Technical Operations Officer & Chief Commercial Officer to integrate respective activities into overall program goals.

About you

• Proven track record as an executive leader in a small (~50-200 FTE) biotech company; prior animal pharma experience not essential

• Have led programs from candidate nomination through NDA/BLA approval

• Can readily flex between board-level strategy & daily operational issues: serve as a visionary but also DELIGHTED to dig deep into raw data

• Comfortable with 180-degree turns in (data-driven) strategic or tactical plans

• Unifier, but also able to disagree (without being overly disagreeable)

• Look forward to thriving (learning) in a Silicon Valley-style, Gen Z-predominant work environment

Salary Range: $300,000 - $400,000

Loyal benefits

• Full-coverage health insurance — medical, dental and vision — for you and your dependents

• $1,000 home office equipment stipend

• $1,200/year learning budget for books, courses, etc.

• $250/month wellness budget for gym, cleaners, spa, food, etc.

• All 3-day weekends are turned into 4-day weekends 🎉

• Unlimited vacation and paid holidays

• Paw-ternity leave — adopt a dog and get a day off with your new family member 🐶

• Competitive salary

• Company equity options grant for new hires

Loyal is founded and led by a first-gen female CEO and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate against applicants based on gender, race or color, ethnicity or national origin, age, disability, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, veteran status, or any other applicable characteristics protected by law.

Our values

Lean into moonshots

We don’t settle for incremental change. We have the bravery to take risks and shoot for the impact we want to have.

Opportunity is at the intersection

We lean into combining disciplines, expertises, and perspectives not normally adjacent. We design our organization to facilitate cross-pollination and cross-collaboration. We reject silos.

Expertise without ego

Titles do not determine who has a voice. We work on hard technical problems and have a ton of fun while at it.

Learning by doing

Our path is novel and many things we are doing have never been done before. We lean into MVPs and are open to unexpected outcomes.

Lead with context

We value leading with context. We equip people with the context and background necessary to make their own decisions and act in the best interest of Loyal. We empower teams to succeed.

Empathy and respect for all life

Our patients are not just numbers. Our work is intentional, thoughtful, and guided by respect for life. We take our responsibility to pets and pet parents seriously.