Global Partnerships Manager, Biodiversity

Generare; Paris; Hybrid; EUR 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

Generare, based in Paris, is seeking a Partnerships & Sourcing Manager to grow its international network of microbial diversity sources and connect field partners with our laboratory in Paris.

You will work with scientists to prioritise sources, establish collaborations and negotiate agreements for sampling, licenses and transfers, while coordinating deliveries and ensuring compliance.

Qualifications

• 1-2 years of ownership of a partnership, project or operational activity.
• Background in science, engineering, agronomy, business, international management or law with biotech interest.
• Strong communication and judgement for negotiating terms and resolving problems.
• Professional English for international relationships; other languages welcome.

Responsibilities

• Identify and develop partnerships with research institutes, culture collections and other entities in France and abroad.
• Negotiate agreements, including scope, deliverables and terms, and manage licensing or transfer arrangements.
• Coordinate sampling, shipments and handovers to the Paris lab and scientists.
• Track progress and use learnings to improve sourcing decisions and prioritise sources.

Skills

1-2 years experience

Science background

Business background

International management

Law background

Professional English

Willingness to travel

Job description

Opening

Build the global network behind our next molecular discoveries. Microbes have given us antibiotics, cancer treatments and medicines that make organ transplants possible. Yet much of the chemistry encoded in their genomes remains unexplored. At Generare, we make that chemistry accessible to discovery. We capture the genetic instructions microbes use to produce molecules, express them in the laboratory, and test their biological activity. Our ambition is to turn unexplored microbial diversity into new starting points for medicines. We have raised 25 million to date and built a collection of 14,000 soil samples and 50,000 microbial strains from France. Our next step is to expand internationally, accessing environments and collections that could bring new biosynthetic diversity into our platform.

We are hiring a Partnerships & Sourcing Manager to help build that expansion. You will develop relationships, agreements and operations that connect new sources of microbial diversity to our laboratory in Paris. The soils and strains you bring in will form the starting point of our discovery pipeline, from microbial isolation and genome exploration to the identification of new natural products.

The opportunity

You will build on an existing sourcing effort in France and help establish the next stage of our international network. Working with our scientific team, you will identify promising sources of microbial diversity, develop relationships with local partners, and turn those relationships into a reliable flow of samples and strains. Your work will connect decisions made in the field with experiments carried out in Paris. This is a role for someone who enjoys both opening doors and making things happen: finding the right collaborator, negotiating a workable agreement, organising delivery and following the results closely enough to improve the next decision. International expansion brings a scientific challenge as well as an operational one. Geographic reach alone does not guarantee new chemistry. You will work with our scientists to understand which sources add valuable diversity and use that evidence to guide where we go next.

What You Will Build

An international network for microbial discovery

• Identify and develop relationships with research institutes, culture collections, governments, field collectors and specialist companies.
• Work with our scientists to prioritise sources with the potential to add microbial and biosynthetic diversity to the platform.
• Evaluate opportunities to purchase or license existing soil and strain collections.
• Select partners for experimental work, including microbial isolation, and negotiate scope, deliverables and commercial terms.
• Assess when a local presence abroad could improve access or execution.

Partnerships designed to last

• Understand what each partner needs and develop collaborations with clear responsibilities and mutual value.
• Coordinate service agreements, material transfer agreements and collection licences with appropriate legal support.
• Ensure sourcing arrangements address applicable access and benefit-sharing requirements, including the Nagoya Protocol where relevant.
• Maintain clear records of material provenance, permissions and agreed uses.

A reliable route from sample to strain

• Coordinate sampling, shipments, experimental partners and handovers to our scientific teams.
• Track delivery times, costs, quality and conversion from samples to usable strains.
• Work with scientists to assess which sources contribute valuable new diversity, and use those findings to improve sourcing decisions.
• Resolve the everyday issues that determine whether a promising partnership delivers.

What success looks like

You will help establish a prioritised sourcing strategy, bring productive partnerships into operation and make the flow of samples and strains easier to plan and assess. Over time, we should be able to answer three questions clearly: which sources add valuable diversity, which partnerships deliver consistently, and where should we invest next?

Who We Are Looking For

You are early in your career and ready to take responsibility for work that spans organisations, disciplines and countries. You enjoy opening a conversation and following through on the details that make it succeed. You bring:

• An initial professional experience, typically one or two years, demonstrating ownership of a partnership, project or operational activity.
• A background in science, engineering, agronomy, business, international management or law (like Paris School of International Affairs), with a strong interest in biotechnology.
• The curiosity to understand scientific priorities and translate them into practical decisions.
• Clear communication and sound judgement when discussing expectations, negotiating terms or resolving problems.
• Care with contracts, documentation and traceability, including knowing when specialist advice is needed.
• Professional English for international relationships; proficiency in other languages is a plus.
• The willingness to handle operational work while building better ways of doing it.

Experience with microbiology, biological collections, international research collaborations or access and benefit-sharing would be useful. We do not expect you to arrive as an expert in all of them.

Why join Generare

You will join at a point where a substantial collection is already in place and the next stage of sourcing remains to be built. There is tangible work to build on, and meaningful room to shape how we expand. You will see your contribution move from a first conversation with a partner to strains entering the laboratory. Along the way, you will develop experience across international partnerships, scientific operations and negotiation, with scope to take on broader responsibilities as the activity grows.

Location and travel

Based in Paris, Hopital Cochin, with a hybrid working arrangement and a minimum of two days per week at our office. The role involves frequent travel to develop partnerships and coordinate sourcing activities.