Associate Director/Director, Business Development
About this opportunity
Associate Director/Director, Business Development
Location: On‑site | San Diego, CA or Boston, MA
Employment Type: Full‑time
Reports to: COO
About the Role
We are seeking an Associate Director / Director of Business Development to drive strategic partnerships, external opportunity evaluation, and corporate growth initiatives for our rapidly scaling biotech organization. This leader will play a central role in shaping portfolio strategy, identifying and in-licensing additional pipeline programs, securing pharma partnerships for the portfolio, and supporting executive and board-level strategic initiatives.
The ideal candidate combines strong scientific literacy with sharp commercial instincts, thrives in lean environments, and is energized by building relationships that advance platform and pipeline strategy.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic Partnerships & Deal Execution
Source, evaluate, and advance strategic partnerships, collaborations, licensing opportunities, and co‑development deals.
Support or lead diligence, valuation, term sheet development, negotiation, and contracting depending on level.
Maintain a dynamic pipeline of external opportunities aligned with corporate strategy.
Landscape Monitoring & Opportunity Identification
Track competitive landscapes, scientific trends, and partnering activity across relevant therapeutic areas.
Identify emerging technologies, platforms, and external programs that complement internal R&D.
Scientific, Commercial & Strategic Assessment
Conduct scientific, commercial, and strategic evaluations of external assets, platforms, and companies.
Develop clear, data‑driven recommendations that inform investment decisions and partnership prioritization.
Portfolio Strategy & Corporate Planning
Provide insights that shape portfolio strategy, long‑range planning, and resource allocation.
Contribute to internal strategic discussions with R&D, Clinical, Finance, and Executive Leadership.
External Representation
Represent the company at partnering conferences, scientific meetings, and industry events.
Build and maintain relationships with biotech/pharma partners, academic groups, and investors.
Executive & Investor Support
Support board‑level materials, investor relations content, and outward‑facing corporate narratives.
Partner with the Executive Leadership Team on special projects, strategic initiatives, and cross‑functional priorities.
Qualifications
PhD, MD, or MS in a relevant scientific discipline preferred, along with 2–4+ years of experience in business development, corporate development, strategy, or comparable roles across consulting, investment banking, private equity, or biopharma equity research.
Seeking candidates in San Diego, California or Boston, Massachusetts
Ability to synthesize complex scientific and commercial information into clear recommendations.
Excellent communication and relationship‑building skills.
Excellent PowerPoint and Excel modeling skills
Strong understanding of business and technical aspects of drug development
Comfortable operating in a lean, fast‑paced startup environment.
What We Offer
Opportunity to shape portfolio strategy and pursue in-licensing and out-partnering transactions
High visibility with executive leadership with significant mentorship.
Mission‑driven, collaborative culture.
Competitive compensation, equity, and benefits.
Job details
How this role compares
Computed from every other active BD&L & Strategic Planning role in our database, not just this employer's listings.
We currently track 138 comparable Associate Director BD&L & Strategic Planning roles across 41 biopharma companies.
Salary context
35 of 138 peers report a salary range (USD, annualized)
Peers share this role's job function and a matching or adjacent seniority level -- not necessarily the same therapeutic area or country.
Where these roles are based
Top locations among the 138 comparable roles
+ 21 more countries
Seniority mix
138 of 138 peers have a known seniority level
Therapeutic area mix
13 of 138 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden
Similar opportunities
The closest matches from our peer group, ranked by how similar they are, not how well you'd qualify for them -- treat this as market context, not a guaranteed shortlist; a weak match is labeled as one below.
Notify me about similar jobs
Get an email when we spot other openings like this one – same job function, comparable seniority, roles you'd actually want to see.
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How we calculate "similar"
No black box, no LLM guesswork: a deterministic score built from four normalized attributes. Here's this role's own peer group at different match levels, so you can see the mechanism, not just the result.
Every comparison starts from the same 100-point budget: 25 for working in the same function, 40 for the same therapeutic area, 20 for the same or adjacent seniority, 15 for the same country. A dimension we can't confirm on both sides contributes nothing, never a guess, never a free pass.
0 points, never a partial guess. A role we know almost nothing about beyond its function bottoms out at 25%; it never inflates to 100% just because there's little to compare against. Seniority uses a defined ladder (Associate → Manager → Associate Director → Senior → Principal → Director → Senior Director → Executive/VP) so "Director" and "Senior Director" count as adjacent, but "Director" and "Executive/VP" do not.