Senior Director Business Development

Alchemab Therapeutics Ltd; Cambridge; On-site; GBP 150,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Alchemab Therapeutics Ltd, Cambridge, UK, is seeking a Senior Director, Business Development to lead licensing initiatives and partnerships across the company’s therapeutic pipeline. You will act as the front-line representative to pharmaceutical partners and shape the partnering narrative.

You will develop structured deal structures, engage in strategic collaborations, and support corporate strategy and financing at the leadership level. Strong ethics and scientific credibility are essential.

Qualifications

• Substantial experience in business development or licensing within biotech/pharma.
• Proven track record in negotiating and executing licensing agreements and strategic collaborations.
• Experience engaging pharmaceutical executives and investors.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end licensing projects from identification to execution.
• Secure discovery collaborations, co-development partnerships and strategic alliances.
• Build and manage a structured pipeline of partnering opportunities.

Skills

Licensing negotiations

Strategic partnerships

Biotech industry

Communication

Negotiation

Stakeholder engagement

Education

PhD in a relevant field

MBA (desirable)

Job description

The Senior Director, Business Development reports to the Chief Business Officer (CBO) and will lead the identification, evaluation, negotiation and execution of strategic partnerships that maximise the value of the Company's therapeutic pipeline and discovery platform. The primary focus of the role is the partner development candidates stage programs. The role will also pursue selective discovery platform partnerships and support the CBO and Leadership team on corporate strategy and financing.

This is an outward-facing role. The successful candidate will be the Company's front-line representative to pharmaceutical partners, building a structured and professional partnering function and positioning Alchemab as a partner of choice.

Key Responsibilities

Business Development & Strategic Partnerships

• End-to-end leadership of licensing projects, from identifying and approaching potential partners through evaluation, negotiation and execution.
• Identify and secure discovery collaborations, co-development partnerships and strategic alliances that strengthen Alchemab's platform and pipeline.
• Build and manage a structured pipeline of partnering opportunities and manage incoming partnering discussions.
• Develop deal structures that maximise the long-term value of Alchemab's assets, technology platform and intellectual property.
• Support the negotiation and management of the Company's contractual agreements with pharmaceutical, biotechnology and academic partners.

External Engagement

• Represent Alchemab at international partnering conferences, investor events and industry forums, and lead the development of the Company's external partnering narrative and materials.
• Monitor scientific, commercial and competitive developments and translate market intelligence into partnering recommendations.

Corporate Strategy and Financing

• Support the CBO and management team on corporate strategy and financing, including investor engagement and materials.
• Support commercial due diligence, valuation and financial assessment of potential partnerships and strategic transactions.

Experience & Knowledge

• Substantial experience in business development or licensing within the biotechnology or pharmaceutical industry, with a proven track record of negotiating and executing licensing agreements and strategic collaborations with pharmaceutical companies.
• Experience of partnering from the biotech side is highly relevant, including the ability to build and sustain engagement with pharmaceutical partners from first contact through to signed agreement. Experience within a pharmaceutical business development or search and evaluation function is also valued.
• Strong commercial and strategic judgement, with the ability to assess the value of scientific assets and translate market insight into partnering opportunities.
• Excellent communication, negotiation and influencing skills, with the credibility to represent a highly scientific organisation to pharmaceutical executives, scientific leaders and investors.
• Experience across one or more therapeutic areas; a background in neuroscience is an advantage but not a requirement.
• Strong ethical principles and commitment to integrity, compliance and corporate responsibility.

Personal Qualities

• Collaborative, approachable and humble, with the firmness to negotiate effectively.
• Builds partnerships founded on scientific quality and genuine fit rather than transactional selling.
• Persistent and resilient, able to sustain long partnering processes and difficult negotiations.

Formal Qualifications

• A PhD, MBA or equivalent qualification in a relevant scientific or business discipline is desirable.

The Company

Alchemab has developed a highly differentiated platform which enables the identification of novel drug targets and therapeutics by analysis of patient antibody repertoires. The platform uses well-defined patient samples, deep B-cell sequencing, and computational analysis to identify convergent protective antibody responses among individuals that are susceptible but resilient to specific diseases.

Alchemab is building a broad pipeline of protective therapeutics for hard-to-treat diseases, with an initial focus on neurodegenerative conditions and healthy ageing. The Company's first programme has been licensed to Eli Lilly, with further wholly owned programmes approaching the clinic. The company is headquartered in Cambridge, UK with the widely acclaimed Dr. Jane Osbourn leading the company as CEO.

NOTE:

This job description is not intended to be all inclusive. Employees may perform other related duties as negotiated to meet the ongoing needs of the organisation.