Business Development Director - UK CDMO

Director, Business Development – United Kingdom

Location: United Kingdom (Remote)

A leading global contract development and manufacturing organisation (CDMO) is seeking an experienced Director of Business Development to drive commercial growth across the UK and wider European market. This is an excellent opportunity for a commercially driven professional with a strong network within the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop new business opportunities and achieve regional sales targets by identifying and engaging prospective pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients.
• Present the organisation's scientific, development, and manufacturing capabilities to potential customers, tailoring solutions to meet client needs.
• Lead and manage the commercial process, including opportunity qualification, proposal development, RFI/RFP responses, contract negotiations, and ongoing customer engagement.
• Execute business development strategies using market intelligence, industry research, and existing professional networks to generate qualified opportunities.
• Build and maintain long-term relationships with existing customers to support repeat business and strategic partnerships.
• Collaborate closely with technical, project management, and operations teams to develop customer-focused solutions and support project execution.
• Represent the organisation at industry conferences, trade shows, networking events, and client meetings to increase market presence and generate new business opportunities.
• Provide regular market feedback, competitive intelligence, and customer insights to senior leadership.

Candidate Profile

• Bachelor's degree in Chemistry, Life Sciences, Chemical Engineering, or a related scientific discipline. A Master's or PhD is highly desirable.
• Minimum of 5 years' business development or technical sales experience within the CDMO, CRO, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, or related life sciences industries.
• Demonstrated experience supporting process development and manufacturing projects, with exposure to kilo-scale or commercial manufacturing programmes preferred.
• Experience across one or more therapeutic or technology areas such as small molecules, peptides, oligonucleotides, biologics, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), or enzyme technologies is advantageous.
• Established network within pharmaceutical and biotechnology organisations, with a proven ability to generate and close new business.
• Strong commercial acumen with a successful track record of achieving or exceeding sales targets.
• Excellent communication, negotiation, and relationship management skills.
• Comfortable working within a fast-paced, collaborative, and international environment.
• Experience using CRM systems (such as Salesforce) is desirable.
• Previous experience working across European or global markets is beneficial.