Chief Commercial Officer

Barrington James; España; On-site; EUR 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

Barrington James seeks a Chief Commercial Officer / Chief Operating Officer to lead operations and commercial strategy in a life sciences context at the intersection of AI, biotechnology, drug discovery and data-driven biology. Remote, EU candidate preferred.

The role requires building strategic partnerships, guiding corporate development, investor relations, and driving growth across pharma, biotech, CROs, and research institutions.

Qualifications

• Significant senior leadership experience within biotech, pharma, life sciences, AI-driven drug discovery, computational biology, healthtech, or a related environment.
• Proven track record of building commercial strategies and driving business growth.
• Strong existing relationships across pharma and biotech for high-value partnerships.
• Experience with CROs, research organisations, academia, technology firms, or data providers.
• Experience negotiating and managing strategic collaborations, licensing, co-development, partnerships, or M&A.
• Experience in a high-growth or entrepreneurial environment, ideally in a startup/scale-up.
• Understanding of how AI, data and emerging tech transform drug discovery.
• Experience engaging with investors, boards, and senior stakeholders for fundraising or corporate development.
• Excellent commercial judgement, negotiation, and strategic thinking.
• Ability to operate strategically and hands-on, bridging corporate strategy and execution.
• Strong communication and relationship-building skills for external representation.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day business operations, ensuring efficient execution of strategic priorities, organisational scalability, and sustainable growth.
• Translate corporate strategy into actionable business plans, establishing clear priorities, milestones, resource allocation, KPIs, and measurable outcomes.
• Drive business development and commercial growth, identifying new market opportunities and developing relationships with customers, partners, and key industry stakeholders.
• Build and manage strategic partnerships with pharma, biotech, research institutes, CROs, and other stakeholders across service, co-development, technology integration, and data-generation opportunities.
• Develop the company’s strategic ecosystem to support data generation, model training and validation, technology development, and commercial adoption.
• Lead corporate development activities, including strategic collaborations, licensing, co-development, M&A, and other value-creating transactions.
• Monitor market, customer, competitive, and technology trends to inform business strategy, product direction, commercial priorities, and investment decisions.
• Support investor relations and corporate reporting, including investor communications, business updates, performance reporting, fundraising activities, and materials for the Board and investors.
• Represent the company externally with customers, partners, investors, KOLs, and other strategic stakeholders.
• Act as a key commercial and operational partner to the CEO, providing strategic insight and helping shape the company’s next phase of growth.
• Develop and maintain a high-value network across pharmaceutical, biotechnology, AI, life sciences, investment, and technology ecosystems.
• Help establish the organisational structures, processes, and commercial infrastructure required to scale the business internationally.

Skills

Commercial leadership

Strategic partnerships

Life sciences knowledge

Negotiation

Investor relations

Strategic thinking

Executive communication

Startup / scale-up experience

AI in drug discovery

Job description

Chief Commercial Officer / Chief Operating Officer

Location: Remote, EU Candidate is preferred

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced COO / CCO to join an ambitious, growth-focused life sciences company operating at the intersection of AI, biotechnology, drug discovery, and data-driven biology.

This is a senior leadership position with broad responsibility across business operations, commercial strategy, business development, strategic partnerships, corporate development, and company growth. The successful candidate will work closely with the CEO and leadership team to translate the company’s vision into scalable execution and build the strategic ecosystem required for long-term commercial success.

This role would suit a commercially minded executive who combines operational leadership with strong industry relationships across pharma, biotech, CROs, research institutions, investors, and technology partners.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day business operations, ensuring efficient execution of strategic priorities, organisational scalability, and sustainable growth.
• Translate corporate strategy into actionable business plans, establishing clear priorities, milestones, resource allocation, KPIs, and measurable outcomes.
• Drive business development and commercial growth, identifying new market opportunities and developing relationships with customers, partners, and key industry stakeholders.
• Build and manage strategic partnerships with pharma, biotech, research institutes, CROs, and other stakeholders across service, co-development, technology integration, and data-generation opportunities.
• Develop the company’s strategic ecosystem to support data generation, model training and validation, technology development, and commercial adoption.
• Lead corporate development activities, including strategic collaborations, licensing, co-development, M&A, and other value-creating transactions.
• Monitor market, customer, competitive, and technology trends to inform business strategy, product direction, commercial priorities, and investment decisions.
• Support investor relations and corporate reporting, including investor communications, business updates, performance reporting, fundraising activities, and preparation of materials for the Board and investors.
• Represent the company externally with customers, partners, investors, KOLs, and other strategic stakeholders.
• Act as a key commercial and operational partner to the CEO, providing strategic insight and helping shape the company’s next phase of growth.
• Develop and maintain a high-value network across pharmaceutical, biotechnology, AI, life sciences, investment, and technology ecosystems.
• Help establish the organisational structures, processes, and commercial infrastructure required to scale the business internationally.

Candidate Profile

We are looking for a senior executive with a strong combination of commercial leadership, operational expertise, strategic partnerships, and life sciences industry knowledge.

The ideal candidate will have:

• Significant senior leadership experience within biotech, pharma, life sciences, AI-driven drug discovery, computational biology, healthtech, or a related technology-led environment.
• A proven track record of building commercial strategies and driving business growth.
• Strong existing relationships across pharma and biotech, with the ability to open doors and develop high-value strategic partnerships.
• Experience working with CROs, research organisations, academic institutions, technology companies, or data providers.
• Demonstrable experience negotiating and managing strategic collaborations, licensing, co-development agreements, partnerships, or M&A.
• Experience operating in a high-growth or entrepreneurial environment, ideally within a startup, scale-up, or technology-led life sciences company.
• Strong understanding of how AI, data, computational biology, and emerging technologies are transforming drug discovery and life sciences.
• Experience engaging with investors, Boards, and senior stakeholders, including fundraising or corporate development activities.
• Excellent commercial judgement, negotiation skills, and strategic thinking.
• The ability to operate both strategically and hands-on, moving comfortably between high-level corporate strategy and day-to-day execution.
• Strong communication and relationship-building skills, with the credibility to represent the company externally at an executive level.