Chief Executive Officer | Occlunova

Location: USA, with a preference for Minnesota or New Jersey, with regular travel to clinical sites and occasional travel to NLC Health Ventures in Amsterdam

Commitment: Full-time 

Compensation: Meaningful equity participation + competitive compensation

Reports to: Board of Directors

About the Venture – Occlunova

Occlunova is a medtech venture developing the next generation of Left Atrial Appendage Occlusion (LAAO) technology to prevent stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). AF affects more than 60 million people worldwide and drives a 5x increase in stroke risk. Yet, existing LAAO devices remain limited by leak rates, traumatic anchoring mechanisms, and persistent device-related thrombosis.

Occlunova's platform combines an anatomy-conforming balloon with an atraumatic anchoring method engineered to reduce leaks, minimize procedural risk, and let AF patients safely come off oral anticoagulant therapy. The company is also integrating left atrial appendage electrical isolation (LAAEI) into the same device, enabling occlusion and ablation to be performed in a single procedure - an increasingly relevant combination with no direct equivalent on the market today.

The technology has been validated in benchtop, ex-vivo (human cadaver), and in-vivo (canine) studies that indicate measurable advantages in comparison with market technologies.

Occlunova has raised its pre-seed and is preparing for seed financing to fund its first-in-human studies in 2027. All major structural heart strategics are active acquirers in this space, and pre-approval exits are the norm rather than the exception.

Occlunova is part of the venture portfolio of NLC Health Ventures, built in collaboration with Fusion MedTech and clinical collaborators at Mayo Clinic.

The Opportunity

We are looking for an experienced medtech CEO to take Occlunova from a validated prototype with a strong clinical and technical team in place through further clinical development and towards a strategic exit. This is a company-building role for a leader who has done this before: someone who has taken an implantable cardiovascular device through fundraising, clinical trials, and ideally into the hands of a strategic acquirer or to market.

You will own the company's overall strategy and be the primary face of Occlunova to investors, clinical partners, and future acquirers, while building the team and organization needed to execute against an ambitious but realistic timeline.

Your Role

Set Strategy and Lead the Company

• Own overall corporate strategy, prioritization, and resource allocation across product, clinical, and regulatory workstreams
• Translate the LAAO/LAAEI platform into a clear, milestone-driven path to value creation, together with identifying and managing key partners like CROs, CDMOs, advisors, and other key suppliers.
• Represent Occlunova externally to investors, KOLs, strategics, and industry partners

Lead Fundraising

• Drive seed and subsequent financing rounds, including investor targeting, materials, diligence, and negotiation
• Build and maintain relationships with venture investors, strategic corporate partners, and non-dilutive funding sources
• Manage capital efficiently against the milestones that matter most for the next raise and eventual exit

Advance Clinical Development

• Own the design, sequencing, and execution of clinical studies from first-in-human through pivotal trial
• Build relationships with interventional cardiologists, electrophysiologists, and KOLs in structural heart and AF ablation
• Work with regulatory advisors to shape a credible pathway through FDA (and OUS regulators as relevant)

Build Toward a Strategic Outcome

• Understand the competitive and M&A landscape in LAAO and PFA ablation, and position Occlunova accordingly
• Build and sustain relationships with corporate development teams at strategic acquirers
• Prepare the company operationally and financially for partnership or exit conversations

Build and Lead the Organization

• Recruit and lead a high-performing team across clinical, regulatory, engineering, and operations
• Establish the organizational structure, culture, and processes needed to scale from a small team to a clinical- and subsequently commercial-stage company
• Foster a culture of creativity, rigor, and perseverance, and urgency appropriate to a capital-efficient medtech startup

Your Profile

We are looking for a CEO who combines deep medtech operating experience with the strategic thinking and creativity needed to build a company from this stage forward.

Preferred Background

• Experience in implantable medical devices, ideally in cardiovascular or structural heart
• A track record of successfully raising capital for a medtech venture (venture capital, strategic, and/or non-dilutive), including the financial acumen required to forecast and manage 
• Experience organizing and managing clinical trials for an implantable device, from early feasibility through pivotal study
• Strong team-building and organizational skills, with the ability to recruit and lead a multidisciplinary team
• Creative, strategic thinker who is comfortable operating with high autonomy in an ambiguous, resource-constrained environment
• Excellent communication skills across clinical, technical, investor, and corporate development audiences
• Experience at a medtech strategic (e.g., Boston Scientific, Abbott, Medtronic, J&J) is a plus; for example, in a business development or sales/commercial role, with an understanding of how strategics evaluate and acquire early-stage technology

Location

• Based in the United States, with a preference for Minnesota or New Jersey, with willingness to travel regularly to clinical sites, KOLs, conferences and NLC Health Ventures

Why Join Occlunova?

• Lead a differentiated, IP-protected platform in one of medtech’s most active and patient-impacting areas of innovation
• Build on a strong foundation of preclinical validation, IP, and extensive know-how
• Work with an experienced venture-building partner (NLC Health Ventures) and clinical collaborators including Mayo Clinic
• Clear, near-term path to seed funding and beyond, with multiple strategic acquirers already active in the well-capitalized M&A markets
• Own the (financial) success of the company through a meaningful equity participation package (milestone-based equity and co-investment opportunity) alongside the investor base

About NLC

NLC Health Ventures is a leading healthcare innovation platform based in Amsterdam, combining venture building and fund management across Europe and North America. NLC manages four captive funds investing in ventures from pre-seed to Series B-C. The funds have a diverse LP base and have invested in over 70 companies. NLC values a collaborative, open, and impact-driven culture, where team members' ideas and contributions truly matter.