Career Advice from a Biotech CEO

Ameet Mallik ('94, MBP '95) is president and CEO of ADC Therapeutics, a pioneer in the field of antibody drug conjugates. He spoke at the Northwestern Engineering PhD Hooding and Master's Recognition Ceremony in 2025, as well as Biotech Nexus, an annual networking event hosted by Northwestern Engineering's Master of Biotechnology Program. 

Mallik, an MBP Industrial Advisory Board member, took time to share his perspective on life as a CEO and how young job applicants can differentiate themselves in a crowded marketplace.  

What are your primary responsibilities as CEO? 

As CEO, you really focus on three main pillars for leading the company: (1) setting the strategy and ensuring proper resource allocation against key priorities, (2) building a strong culture and organization, and (3) financing the company and fostering strong investor relationships.   

How can you be effective with each of those pillars? 

Building a strategy requires defining the business opportunity. You have to understand the external market and competitive environment and then determine how you can differentiate based on your internal capabilities. You have to make data-driven decisions about where you can create a meaningful impact for patients and add value within the external environment.  

For people and culture, you should hire as much for skill as you do for values. You want to have diversity of thought, with consistency in the level of values, integrity, character, and purpose. You want people who speak up, who think differently, and who come from different backgrounds. You want T-shaped leaders so they have expertise in their function but can also collaborate well cross-functionally.  

With investors, it's key to understand what's important to them to be able to pitch your story. There are hundreds of public biotech companies in addition to the many private biotech companies, and so, being clear about what your investment thesis is, why they should invest, and how they can create value is key to success.

How can someone applying for a job make themselves stand out? 

You want to have the right pedigree of experience and skills, but beyond that, it's really being explicit about who you are and what you have to offer.  

Be clear about how your skills and experiences uniquely qualify you to excel at a particular role. This should flow through to everything from your tailored cover letter and resume to how you answer questions during any interviews. 

When talking about experiences, be detailed in providing examples about how you’ve been able to add value, overcome challenges, and work collaboratively with others. Share both the good and bad and any key learnings to show a growth mindset. 

Finally, be specific about what motivates you and drives you to succeed in a particular role. Generally, people who bring curiosity, a purpose-driven, approach and a sense of urgency will stand out. 

What additional advice would you give job applicants? 

Really understand what you're good at and what drives you. If you can combine what you're exceptionally good at with what you truly enjoy and what matters to you, that’s the sweet spot. Oftentimes I see people who either do things that are not aligned to their personal skill sets or apply what they're good at to things that don't truly matter to them, so they're forcing it. If you're leveraging core strengths that can add value to things that matter to you and to the world, you're going to succeed in making a meaningful impact.