Industry Partnerships Lead – LISCO-BIOMED

KU Leuven; Vlaams-Brabant; On-site; EUR 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

KU Leuven is seeking an experienced Industry Partnerships Lead for its LISCO-BIOMED initiative in Leuven. The role combines business development, strategic account management, and commercial negotiations to expand the industry services portfolio and establish long-term partnerships.

You will coordinate with scientists and industry partners to translate opportunities into signed agreements, while building a robust pipeline and leading cross-functional teams across KU Leuven and its affiliates.

Qualifications

• Experience leading business development in life-science or pharma environments.
• Proven ability to build and manage strategic partnerships.
• Strong negotiation and deal-structuring capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Develop and grow LISCO-BIOMED’s industry services portfolio and partnerships.
• Identify market needs and opportunities; represent LISCO-BIOMED at partnering events.
• Lead commercial negotiations and coordinate contracting processes.
• Build multidisciplinary teams and coordinate with KU Leuven entities for opportunities.

Skills

Business development

Strategic account management

Commercial negotiation

Partnership development

English proficiency

Education

MSc or PhD preferred

Tools

CRM software

Job description

Industry Partnerships Lead – LISCO-BIOMED

About LISCO-BIOMED
The KU Leuven Institute for Single Cell Omics (LISCO) is a leading Cell Center in the world. Within LISCO, a dedicated innovation, translation and service platform in biomedicine, termed LISCO-BIOMED, brings together internationally recognised expertise in single-cell and spatial multi-omics, and integrates capabilities across single-cell sequencing, advanced imaging, bioinformatics, artificial intelligence, automation, microfluidics, molecular and cellular biology, disease modelling and clinical pathology.
This interdisciplinary environment enables us to bridge discovery science, technology development and clinical translation. We collaborate with academic, clinical and industry partners to address complex translational research questions by combining advanced technologies with methodological innovation, disease biology and scientific interpretation. Our capabilities span the workflow from sample preparation and assay development through data generation, computational analysis, biological interpretation and advanced modelling. Access to specialised pathology expertise at UZ Leuven further enables tissue context and clinically relevant interpretation to be integrated into projects.
LISCO-BIOMED has established a strong industry portfolio of more than 10 pharmaceutical and biotechnology partners, ranging from global pharma leaders to emerging biotech innovators. Leveraging its advanced multi-omics capabilities, LISCO-BIOMED supports industry R&D across the drug development pipeline, from early discovery through clinical development and lifecycle management. To further strengthen its position as a strategic scientific partner for industry, we are seeking an experienced commercial professional to lead the development and growth of LISCO-BIOMED’s industry services portfolio and associated partnerships. The role therefore combines business development, strategic account management, commercial negotiation and partnership development, with responsibility for industry relationships from first engagement through contracting and into follow-on business.

Business development and market engagement

• Develop relationships and commercial opportunities across pharmaceutical, biotechnology, diagnostics, and other relevant life-science organisations, with a primary focus on pharma and biotech.
• Build and manage a qualified pipeline aligned with LISCO-BIOMED’s scientific strengths and strategic priorities, and develop relationships with key scientific, business and decision-making stakeholders.
• Identify market needs and emerging opportunities, represent LISCO-BIOMED at relevant partnering events and industry forums, and bring market and customer insights into portfolio and commercial strategy.

Commercial leadership and deal execution

• Qualify and prioritise opportunities based on scientific fit, strategic value and commercial potential, and translate partner needs into compelling propositions together with the relevant scientific and technical experts.
• Coordinate proposals and quotations based on the agreed scientific scope, project effort, cost structure and commercial framework.
• Define pricing and commercial positioning within agreed margin and pricing parameters and lead commercial negotiations within the defined mandate.
• Coordinate contracting with KU Leuven Research & Development (LRD) and the relevant compliance and project functions through to signature and implementation.

Building winning teams and partnerships

• Build opportunity-driven multidisciplinary teams, bringing together the most relevant principal investigators, scientists, technology platforms and specialist expertise across LISCO-BIOMED, combining technological capabilities with disease biology, pathology, clinical and computational expertise to develop differentiated solutions for industry partners.
• Connect LISCO-BIOMED with complementary capabilities across UZ Leuven, other KU Leuven translational platforms and the broader KU Leuven research and innovation ecosystem where this strengthens the proposition.
• Coordinate the internal team during the commercial phase, bringing the right expertise into the discussion at the right stage while maintaining a clear and coherent interface towards the partner.
• Work with IOF Innovation Managers, LRD and relevant scientific teams when an opportunity extends beyond standard service delivery into collaborative research, consultancy, licensing, co-development or a broader strategic partnership.
• Retain commercial ownership of partner relationships throughout project delivery while day-to-day execution is managed by the relevant project team.
• Develop account plans, understand programmes and decision structures within key accounts, and identify opportunities to expand collaborations across programmes, therapeutic areas, research teams and business units.
• Manage the commercial aspects of scope changes, additional work and follow-on opportunities, and convert successful initial engagements into repeat business and longer-term strategic relationships, including master service agreements and preferred-partner arrangements where relevant.

Commercial performance and professionalisation

• Take accountability for agreed commercial objectives, including pipeline development, revenue, margin, conversion, account growth and follow-on business. In the first year, the emphasis will be on building and converting a qualified pipeline, securing initial and follow-on industry agreements, and establishing a robust commercial operating model. Revenue and margin objectives will scale as the portfolio matures
• Maintain reliable pipeline, forecasting and commercial reporting, supported by disciplined use of CRM and appropriate commercial tools.
• Contribute to the continued professionalisation of LISCO-BIOMED’s industry-facing activities, including clear commercial workflows, decision points and handovers across scientific, project, finance, compliance and LRD interfaces.

Reporting and key interfaces

The role reports to the LISCO-BIOMED leadership, comprising the Director and the six LISCO-BIOMED Principal Investigators. This LISCO-BIOMED leadership sets the overall strategy, scientific priorities and commercial framework; within this framework, the role has substantial autonomy and accountability for business development, strategic account management, commercial positioning, pricing within agreed parameters and commercial negotiations. Your direct line manager is Prof. Thierry Voet, Director of LISCO-BIOMED. Key interfaces include LISCO-BIOMED’s scientific teams, IOF Innovation Managers, KU Leuven Research & Development (LRD), and the relevant project management, finance, legal, compliance and communications functions. The Industry Partnerships Lead will maintain a direct interface with the LISCO-BIOMED Industrial Advisory Board, including through an annual review of commercial performance, market developments and the strategic evolution of LISCO-BIOMED’s industry-facing portfolio.

Profile

We are looking for an experienced commercial professional from the life-science sector who combines strong business-development capabilities with the scientific understanding to engage credibly with R&D organisations.

• At least seven years of relevant experience in business development, strategic or key account management, or a comparable commercial role within pharma, biotech, diagnostics, CROs, scientific services or life-science technology.
• A demonstrated track record of originating and developing opportunities and progressing them through commercial negotiation to signed agreements.
• Experience working towards commercial targets and accountability for revenue, margin, pipeline development and account growth.
• Strong commercial judgement in opportunity qualification, pricing, negotiation and account development.
• A life-science background (MSc or PhD preferred) and sufficient scientific literacy to engage credibly with discovery, preclinical, translational and clinical R&D teams and to translate complex scientific capabilities into compelling propositions.
• Familiarity with how pharma and biotech buy external R&D services: master service agreements, preferred-vendor onboarding and procurement cycles.
• The ability to build and coordinate multidisciplinary teams and progress opportunities across organisational boundaries without relying on formal authority.
• A proactive, results-oriented and collaborative working style, with excellent written and spoken English. Knowledge of Dutch is a strong asset for working across KU Leuven, UZ Leuven and LRD.

Experience in scientific services, CRO services or technology-platform business development; knowledge of single-cell and spatial (multi)omic technologies; experience with universities or academic medical centres; and an established network within the European pharmaceutical and biotechnology sector are considered strong assets.

Offer

We offer a senior and highly visible role at the interface of leading biomedical research, clinical expertise and industry. You will play a central role in shaping the further development of LISCO-BIOMED’s industry activities, with substantial autonomy and direct access to LISCO-BIOMED’s scientific leadership and the broader KU Leuven and UZ Leuven innovation ecosystem.

The position is full-time (100% FTE, a different working percentage can be discussed), based in Leuven, with an intended start date of early February 2027.

Salary category:Scientific Staff Member (BAP)

Contract type and duration: one-year fixed-term contract, with a realistic prospect of extension.

Interested?

For more information please contact Prof. dr. Thierry Voet, mail: [e-mail] or Mrs. Shinjini Mukherjee, mail: [e-mail].

KU Leuven strives for an inclusive, respectful and socially safe environment. We embrace diversity among individuals and groups as an asset. Open dialogue and differences in perspective are essential for an ambitious research and educational environment. In our commitment to equal opportunity, we recognize the consequences of historical inequalities. We do not accept any form of discrimination based on, but not limited to, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, age, ethnic or national background, skin colour, religious and philosophical diversity, neurodivergence, employment disability, health, or socioeconomic status. For questions about accessibility or support offered, we are happy to assist you at this email address.

location_city Locatie: Leuven