Commercial Lead

Portal Biotech; London; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading biotech company is seeking a dynamic Commercial Lead to drive business development for its innovative proteomics platform. This role requires deep knowledge of biologics drug development and excellent commercial instincts, with responsibilities including market strategy, customer success, and partnerships. Candidates should have significant experience in the biopharma sector, strong analytical skills, and be effective communicators. Competitive compensation and an opportunity to shape a groundbreaking company culture await the right individual.

Benefits

Competitive Compensation

Equity

Benefits Package

Qualifications

• 7–15+ years of experience in business development or strategic sales in biopharma.
• Strong understanding of drug development lifecycle and CMC regulations.
• Exceptional communicator with strong storytelling abilities.

Responsibilities

• Identify and pursue new business opportunities across various sectors.
• Build relationships with decision-makers in analytical development and regulatory roles.
• Shape commercial hiring and sales operations as the team grows.

Skills

Business Development

Strategic Sales

Analytical Skills

Communication

Negotiation

Education

Degree in Life Science or Engineering

Tools

CRM Systems (e.g., Salesforce)

Proposal Software (e.g., Qwilr, PandaDoc)

Job description

About Portal Biotech

Portal Biotech is developing next-generation bench-top instruments for proteomics, building on decades of in-house expertise in nanopore technology. By analyzing full-length protein molecules at the single-molecule level, our platform delivers rapid, real-time information on protein identity, abundance, and structure. This insight opens frontiers in drug discovery, diagnostics, and fundamental research, helping scientists and clinicians to better understand human health and disease.

About the role

Location: London, White City (Hybrid), travel required
Team: Commercial
Seniority: Director / Senior Director / VP
Employment Type: Full-time

We are seeking a dynamic and strategically-minded BD / Commercial Lead to drive business development, customer engagement, and revenue growth for a breakthrough platform that redefines discovery, development and CMC analysis for biologics. This role sits at the intersection of science and business, requiring deep domain knowledge of biologic drug development and strong commercial instincts. The ideal candidate will have a proven track record in business development, technical sales and strategic partnerships within the biopharma, CDMO, or biologics analytics tools sector.

Responsibilities

• Market Development: Identify, qualify, and pursue new business opportunities across pharma, biotech, CDMOs, CROs, and academia.
• Value Proposition & Storytelling: Translate complex technical capabilities (e.g., high-resolution PTM profiling, accelerated release testing) into compelling, customer-centric narratives.
• Strategic Account Management: Build and deepen relationships with decision-makers in analytical development, quality, regulatory, and CMC leadership roles.
• Market Strategy: Refine customer segmentation, pricing, sales model (e.g., services vs. instruments), and commercial launch plans in partnership with Product and Marketing.
• Customer Success & Retention: Ensure customer onboarding and technical success, drive renewal and expansion, and coordinate with internal teams to maintain scientific and regulatory excellence.
• Partnerships & Licensing: Lead partnership development with CDMOs, reagent providers, and service labs to expand reach and commercial leverage.
• Internal Leadership: Shape commercial hiring, sales operations, and BD tooling as the team grows.

You Might Be a Fit If You:

• Have 7–15+ years of experience in business development, strategic sales, or alliances in biopharma, CDMOs, biotech, or life sciences tools closing deals
• Know the drug development lifecycle deeply - from discovery through CMC - and can speak fluently with technical and commercial stakeholders
• Have a strong grasp of CMC regulations (ICH Q6B, Q5E, Q8), analytical workflows (e.g., SEC, CE-SDS, LC-MS), and pain points in biologics release testing.
• Are able to engage with Heads of CMC, Analytical Development, and Quality on deep scientific topics such as PTM profiling, DAR, glycan analysis, or comparability studies.
• Understanding of FDA/EMA expectations for CMC filings, comparability protocols, and cGMP analytical validation.
• Familiarity with emerging biologic modalities, including bispecifics, fusion proteins, and nanoparticle-delivered therapeutics.
• Skilled at crafting tailored pitches, pricing models, and ROI narratives for technical buyers and procurement leads.
• Are an exceptional communicator with strong storytelling instincts and executive presence, equally comfortable presenting to C-suite, engaging with lab scientists, or negotiating with procurement.
• Are comfortable in a startup setting: resourceful, self-directed, and excited to build systems from scratch
• Thrive in cross-functional settings and enjoy translating between science, product, and market needs
• Hold a degree in a life science or engineering field (advanced degrees or MBAs are a plus)

Desirable

• Experience in selling new technology into the Biopharma sector.
• Proficiency in CRM systems (e.g., Salesforce), proposal software (Qwilr, PandaDoc), and sales-enablement platforms.
• Familiarity with emerging biologic modalities, including bispecifics, fusion proteins, and nanoparticle-delivered therapeutics.

Why Join Portal

You’ll be part of a team tackling one of the most fundamental challenges in biotechnology: reading proteins directly and precisely. We’re building tools that will change how new medicines are discovered, developed, and manufactured — and you’ll help bring those tools to the people who need them.

We offer competitive compensation, equity, and benefits — and the chance to help build a category-defining company from the ground up. If you are passionate about developing cutting-edge scientific tools and want to contribute to breakthrough innovations in proteomics, we encourage you to apply!