We are hiring a Business Development Director to lead our commercial expansion across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). Reporting to senior business leader, you will own the full BD cycle — from regional strategy and market-entry planning, to distributor and partner development, key-account acquisition, and brand building — with the goal of building a sustainable revenue pipeline and establishing our presence across the region.
This is a builder role, not a maintainer role. The ideal candidate combines a strategic hunter mentality with hands-on execution discipline, has deep familiarity with molecular diagnostics / IVD / life-science tools markets, and thrives in a multi-cultural, cross-functional environment.
Key Responsibilities
You will own four core workstreams for EMEA:
1. Market Expansion & Business Opportunity Development
- Proactively identify, evaluate, and pursue new business opportunities across the EMEA region — balancing direct sales to strategic accounts and channel-based growth.
- Develop and execute regional sales strategies aligned with global commercial objectives, including country-by-country market-entry plans.
- Identify, qualify, and manage distributors, channel partners, and strategic alliances to accelerate market penetration in priority countries.
- Build and own a robust pipeline of prospects, KOLs, hospital systems, reference laboratories, and research institutions across EMEA.
- Lead commercial negotiations and deal structuring, including pricing frameworks, distribution contracts, and partner economics.
- Coordinate closely with local stakeholders, in-country sales teams, and channel partners to ensure consistent execution.
3. Brand Building & Operational Setup
- Build brand awareness of the company and its product solutions across EMEA through targeted campaigns, key conferences (e.g., ESMO, ECCMID, regional IVD expos), and KOL engagement.
- Collaborate cross-functionally (Marketing, Regulatory, Medical Affairs, Supply Chain, Customer Service) to set up the operational processes required for EMEA market entry and sustainable growth.
- Deliver excellent customer experience by responding to all customer inquiries with timely, professional solutions.
- Gather and synthesize market intelligence, competitive analysis, and customer insights to inform global strategic decisions.
- Track regional regulatory developments (IVDR / CE-marking, GDPR, country-specific reimbursement frameworks) and translate them into actionable commercial recommendations.
- Report progress, risks, and opportunities to global headquarters on a regular cadence.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor's or Master's degree in Life Sciences, Molecular Pathology, Clinical Medicine, or a related field; MBA and/or PhD preferred.
- Minimum 5 years of business development and/or sales experience in the molecular diagnostics, IVD, or life-science tools market, with a proven track record across the EMEA region.
- Deep understanding of the EMEA molecular pathology / IVD market landscape, including key stakeholders, regulatory pathways (IVDR), reimbursement dynamics, and competitive dynamics.
- Demonstrated success in distributor and partner identification, qualification, and management.
- Hands-on experience in commercial negotiation, deal structuring, and pipeline management.
- Excellent communication and presentation skills; able to represent the company credibly with C-level, clinical, and scientific stakeholders.
- Strategic thinker with strong execution discipline — comfortable balancing long-range planning with hands-on hunting.
- Self-starter with high energy, resilience, and intrinsic motivation to grow new markets from the ground up.
- Fluent in English (written and spoken); additional European languages (German, French, Italian, Spanish) strongly preferred.
- International and multi-cultural work experience; comfortable operating across diverse geographies and cultures.
- Willingness to travel extensively across the EMEA region.
Nice to Have
- Prior experience launching a product into EMEA from a non-European headquarters.
- Existing network of KOLs, hospital systems, and reference labs across the region.