Senior Director, Strategic Partnerships & Growth

Certara; Paris; Hybrid; EUR 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Certara is seeking a Senior Director, Strategic Partnerships & Growth to lead the strategy for building and scaling relationships with CROs and related drug development partners globally. You will work with regional accounts and global portfolios to identify high-value opportunities, mobilize Certara capabilities, and drive new-logo acquisition and revenue growth.

The role requires 15+ years in life sciences commercial leadership, strong executive presence, and a proven ability to translate

Qualifications

• 15+ years of progressive commercial, business development, strategic partnerships, or related experience within life sciences/biopharma/consulting.
• Bachelor's degree in life sciences, pharmaceutical sciences, business, economics, finance, or related field; or equivalent professional experience.
• Strong understanding of the biopharmaceutical development ecosystem, CRO market, and sponsor needs.
• Proven track record of translating strategic relationships into measurable commercial growth.
• Exceptional executive presence, communication, negotiation, and relationship-building skills.

Responsibilities

• Build strategic partnerships by developing executive relationships with high-value CROs and related drug development partners.
• Create commercial opportunities by developing pathways from CRO relationships to sponsors and new business.
• Drive growth by generating qualified pipeline and cross-sell opportunities across Certara's services and software.
• Orchestrate Certara by coordinating regional Account teams and global Portfolio teams to assemble the right capabilities.
• Develop scalable CRO partnership strategies, engagement models, and playbooks for the region.
• Provide market intelligence on CRO market trends, sponsor needs, and therapeutic priorities to inform Certara's strategy.
• Build Certara's market position as a trusted development partner across CRO and biopharma ecosystems.

Skills

Executive presence

Relationship management

Negotiation

Cross-functional collaboration

Entrepreneurial mindset

Travel flexibility

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

Overview

Certara accelerates the potential of bringing medicines to market and to patients using biosimulation software, technology, and services to transform traditional drug discovery and development. Our clients include more than 2,400 biopharmaceutical companies, academic institutions, and regulatory agencies across 70 countries.

Our goal is to enable the life sciences industry’s use of data, modeling, and analytics to make better decisions across the various phases of discovery and drug development. Our software and scientists incorporate modern advances in scientific understanding, drug development experience, data analysis, and AI resulting in significant opportunities to decrease the cost and increase the probability of success for new drug approval and commercialization.

The Senior Director, Strategic Partnerships & Growth will lead Certara's strategy to build and grow relationships across the contract research organization (CRO) ecosystem, creating a scalable channel for new business and sustainable growth across Certara's services and software.

The role will develop senior relationships with global, regional, and specialty CROs and other organizations that support biopharma companies across the drug development lifecycle.

Working across the regional Account teams and global Portfolio teams, the Senior Director will identify high-value opportunities within partner ecosystems, mobilize the appropriate Certara capabilities, and drive new-logo acquisition, portfolio penetration, cross-selling, and revenue growth.

Responsibilities

• Build strategic partnerships: Identify, prioritize, and develop executive relationships with high-value CROs and related drug development partners.
• Create commercial opportunities: Develop systematic pathways from CRO relationships to engagement with biopharma sponsors and new commercial opportunities.
• Drive growth: Generate qualified pipeline and new business across Certara's services and software portfolio, including new-logo acquisition, cross-sell, and expansion opportunities.
• Orchestrate Certara: Partner across regional Account teams and global Portfolio teams to develop and execute opportunities, bringing together the right capabilities and expertise.
• Develop the channel: Create repeatable CRO partnership strategies, engagement models, and playbooks that can scale across the region.
• Provide market intelligence: Bring insight into CRO market trends, sponsor needs, therapeutic areas, and development priorities to inform Certara's commercial strategy.
• Build Certara's market position: Establish Certara as a trusted strategic development partner across the CRO and biopharma ecosystem.

Qualifications

Success Measures

• Strategic partnerships established and activated
• Biopharma sponsors engaged through CRO partner relationships
• Qualified pipeline generated
• New logos acquired
• Bookings and revenue generated
• Portfolio penetration and expansion
• Cross-service and cross-portfolio opportunities
• Conversion of partner relationships into commercial outcomes

Qualifications & Experience

• 15+ years of progressive commercial, business development, strategic partnerships, or related experience within life sciences, biopharma, consulting, technology, or professional services.
• Bachelor's degree in life sciences, pharmaceutical sciences, business, economics, finance, or related field; or equivalent professional experience
• Strong understanding of the biopharmaceutical development ecosystem, CRO market, and sponsor needs.
• Demonstrated experience developing senior relationships with CROs, biopharma sponsors, and related drug development organizations.
• Proven track record of translating strategic relationships into measurable commercial growth.
• Exceptional executive presence, communication, negotiation, and relationship-building skills.
• Ability to influence and orchestrate across a complex, matrixed organization.
• Entrepreneurial mindset with the ability to build a CRO-focused commercial channel and create scalable growth.
• Willingness to travel extensively within the assigned region.

Certara bases all employment-related decision on merit, taking into consideration qualifications, skills, achievement, and performance. We treat all applicants and employees without regard to personal characteristics such as race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, age, nationality, marital status, pregnancy, physical or mental condition, genetic information, military service, or other characteristic protected by law.