Associate Director of Business Development

Novo Nordisk A/S; Cambridge (MA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 220,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401(k) savings plan

Bonus eligibility

Long-term incentive compensation

Job summary

Novo Nordisk Cambridge is seeking an Associate Director of Business Development to drive external growth opportunities, evaluate assets, and lead end-to-end transactions across R&D and commercial interfaces. The role sits at the center of strategic partnerships, mergers, and collaborations with internal leaders and external collaborators.

The successful candidate will interface with therapeutic area heads, S&E, alliance management, and senior management; strong deal experience and negotiation

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree strongly preferred.
• 7+ years of relevant experience; pharma/biotech experience preferred.
• Strong communication and leadership skills to effectively lead diligence teams.
• Proven experience presenting to senior management.
• Strong record of preparing deal comparables and crafting deal terms.
• Competency negotiating academic licenses and small outlicensing/sublicensing opportunities.
• Proven ability to lead deal through all stages with guidance.
• Demonstrated ability to build rapport with therapeutic and functional area leaders.
• Strong analytical skills required to provide sound inputs into financial evaluations.
• Ability to identify and prioritize risks across functional areas, weigh those with investment benefits.

Responsibilities

• Leads cross-functional evaluations across therapeutic programs from preclinical through clinical stages; guides diligence findings and go/no-go decisions.
• Leads diligence teams with search, legal, finance, and commercial groups to inform senior management proposals.
• Supports negotiations; leads term sheet and contract negotiations for select deals; operates with autonomy in negotiations.
• Contributes to strategy planning for financial investment trade-offs and mentors junior team members on deal processes.
• Prepares business cases and presentations for R&D committees; develops materials for deal governance and senior management presentations.

Skills

Cross-functional leadership

Diligence management

Negotiation

Strategic analysis

Senior stakeholder communication

Education

Bachelor’s degree

Advanced degree

Job description

Associate Director of Business Development

Facility: Business Development & Strategy

Location: Cambridge, MA, US

About the Department

The Novo Nordisk Cambridge location is the headquarters for Global Business Development across all of our therapeutic and technology areas. We contribute to innovation in one of the world's largest life sciences ecosystems by participating in events and discussions with renowned and upcoming scientists looking for the next scientific breakthrough to bring transformative treatments to patients. We work with start-ups, established companies, venture capitalists, teaching hospitals, and academic institutions to support the development of innovation for mutual benefit, and to help patients in all of our current therapy areas. Through a variety of partnership models, we accelerate ideas from the lab and clinic to advance and expand our product portfolio and to improve outcomes for the patients we serve.

The Position

Global Business Development is responsible for Novo Nordisk's corporate business development activities related to establishing external partnerships, collaborations and acquisitions, as well as integration and alliance management. The Group Vice President (GVP) area consists of units covering business development from end-to-end with Search, Evaluation & Intelligence, BD and M&A Transactions, Integration and Alliance Management.

The Associate Business Development (BD) Director will have responsibility for evaluating external growth opportunities and, where appropriate, executing transactions to access the assets of interest. The Associate BD Director regularly interfaces with therapeutic area heads, search and evaluation, alliance management and senior management. This position is at the epicenter of the evolving R&D landscape and is critical in helping identify, evaluate and weigh-in on opportunities in the marketplace.

Relationships

The Associate BD Director is a member of the global transactions team and reports to the Assistant Vice President Business Development Transactions and M&A. This position works with colleagues through a matrix organization. Key stakeholders include members of executive management and global members of management in Research and Development and Commercial organizations. External collaborators include industry peers, executives and academic researchers.

Essential Functions

• Leads cross-functional evaluations of all aspects of therapeutic drug programs from preclinical through clinical stages across the relevant assessment areas: proposed clinical benefit, mechanism, preclinical data, manufacturing, regulatory strategy, clinical development path, intellectual property and commercial potential. Actively guide team through collection and assessment of diligence findings and decision-making process for “go-no go” decisions.”
• Leads diligence teams effectively with search and evaluation, legal, finance, commercial, clinical and scientific teams to ensure all necessary inputs to make business development proposals to senior management.
• Participates as a team member sitting in internal and external meetings (as appropriate) and supporting work to assist in negotiations in large business transactions. Leads term sheet and contract negotiations for certain deals such as academic licenses and other smaller outlicensing/sublicensing opportunities. Operates with autonomy while conducting term sheet and contract negotiations.
• As a member of a team, considers broad corporate priorities and participates in strategy planning for financial investment trade-off decisions. Helps team to train more junior members of team on key elements of deal process such as preparing comparable transactions assessment and understanding steps of internal governance processes.
• Works closely with R&D, R&D leadership and Search & Evaluation, to put together business cases/PowerPoint presentations for each opportunity for R&D committees, which involves understanding and communicating how they will fit into the broad corporate priorities and strategy. Leads preparation of materials for deal governance committee presentations. Leads presentations of key business aspects of deals to senior management.

Physical Requirements

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree strongly preferred
• 7+ years of relevant experience required. Experience in pharmaceutical or biotechnology organizations preferred; Advanced degree may be substituted for experience as appropriate
• Strong communication and leadership skills necessary to effectively lead diligence teams
• Demonstrated experience presenting to senior management.
• Strong record of preparing deal comparables and crafting deal terms
• Competency negotiating academic licenses and small outlicensing/sublicensing opportunities
• Proven ability to lead deal through all stages with guidance; successful completion of such deals
• Demonstrated ability to build rapport with therapeutic and functional area leaders
• Strong analytical skills required to provide sound inputs into financial evaluations
• Ability to identify and prioritize risks across functional areas, weigh those appropriately with benefits of investment and effectively frame business decisions for senior management
• Ability to successfully navigate internal dynamics
• Experience working in a matrix organization preferred
• Ability to motivate others to advance goals and the ability to effectively manage multiple projects or roles in a rapidly evolving environment

The base compensation range for this position is $180,000 to $220,000. Base compensation is determined based on a number of factors. This position is also eligible for a company bonus based on individual and company performance. Novo Nordisk offers long-term incentive compensation depending on the position's level or other company factors.

Employees are also eligible to participate in Company employee benefit programs including medical, dental and vision coverage; life insurance; disability insurance; 401(k) savings plan; flexible spending accounts; employee assistance program; tuition reimbursement program; and voluntary benefits such as group legal, critical illness, identity theft protection, pet insurance and auto/home insurance. The Company also offers time off pursuant to its sick time policy, flex-able vacation policy and parental leave policy.

We commit to an inclusive recruitment process and equality of opportunity for all our job applicants.

At Novo Nordisk, we're not chasing quick fixes – we're creating lasting change for long-term health. For over 100 years, we've been driven by a single purpose: to defeat serious chronic diseases and help millions of people live healthier lives. This dedication fuels our constant curiosity and inspires us to push the boundaries of what's possible in healthcare. We embrace diverse perspectives, seek out bold ideas, and build partnerships rooted in shared purpose. Together, we're making healthcare more accessible, treating and defeating diseases, and pioneering solutions that create change spanning generations. When you join us, you become part of something bigger – a legacy of impact that reaches far beyond today.

Novo Nordisk is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by local, state or federal laws, rules or regulations.

If you are interested in applying to Novo Nordisk and need special assistance or an accommodation to apply, please call us at 1-855-411-5290. This contact is for accommodation requests only and cannot be used to inquire about the status of applications.