Business Development Associate (m/f/d)

CENTOGENE GmbH; Cambridge (MA); On-site; USD 75,000 - 105,000; Full time

Job summary

CENTOGENE GmbH in Boston seeks a proactive business development associate to grow the company's presence in the life sciences community. You will initiate conversations with pharma and biotech partners, translate client needs into tailored service concepts, and work with scientists and proposal teams to shape opportunities.

Reporting to the Global Head of Pharma Business, you will build a local network, attend events, manage CRM notes, and help advance opportunities from outreach to closure.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in life sciences, business, marketing, or related field.
• Zero to two years of relevant experience; internships or networking experience encouraged.
• Strong communication, organization, and interpersonal skills.
• Interest in genomics, rare diseases, drug development, and life sciences services.
• Familiarity with Microsoft Office and LinkedIn; CRM experience is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Create opportunities proactively: Identify prospective clients, initiate outreach, and explore how CENTOGENE’s capabilities could address their needs.
• Build a strong local network: Engage with Boston’s life sciences community through events, hubs, associations, and direct client meetings.
• Turn conversations into solutions: Understand client challenges and work with internal experts to shape tailored service concepts and opportunities.
• Help incubate new offerings: Bring market insights and client feedback to support development of new service packages and partnerships.
• Collaborate on proposal development: Translate client needs into tailored service solutions and coordinate follow-up to progress opportunities toward closure.
• Develop existing relationships: Follow up with local clients, identify additional needs, and engage relevant account owners.
• Take ownership of follow-through: Maintain accurate CRM records and track next steps to move conversations forward.
• Collaborate with scientific, proposal, and delivery teams to ensure proposed solutions are relevant and feasible.

Skills

Communication

Organization

Interpersonal skills

Education

Bachelor’s degree in life sciences, business, marketing, or related field

Tools

Microsoft Office

LinkedIn

CRM

Job description

About the Role

We are looking for a proactive, entrepreneurial individual to help grow CENTOGENE’s presence within the Boston life sciences ecosystem. This role is ideal for someone who enjoys initiating conversations, building relationships, identifying unmet needs, and turning ideas into tangible business opportunities.

You will act as an incubator of new opportunities, engaging with pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology firms, and service providers—including CROs and central laboratories. Working alongside the Business Development representative, account owners, and scientific teams, you will help translate meaningful client conversations into tailored service solutions, proposals, and ideas for new products and offerings.

Reporting directly to the Global Head of Pharma Business, you will combine lead generation and local networking with consistent follow-up on existing client relationships.

Key Responsibilities

• Create opportunities proactively: Identify prospective clients, initiate outreach, and explore how CENTOGENE’s capabilities could address their needs.
• Build a strong local network: Engage with Boston’s life sciences community through industry events, innovation hubs, professional associations, and direct client meetings.
• Turn conversations into solutions: Understand client challenges and work with internal experts to shape relevant service concepts and actionable commercial opportunities.
• Help incubate new offerings: Bring market insights and client feedback to the team to support the development of new service packages, products, and partnership models.
• Collaborate on proposal development: Work alongside the Business Development representative and relevant account owners to translate client needs into tailored service solutions, contribute to proposals, and coordinate follow-up to advance opportunities toward closure.
• Develop existing relationships: Follow up regularly with local clients, identify additional needs, and coordinate engagement with the relevant account owners.
• Take ownership of follow-through: Maintain accurate CRM records, track next steps, and ensure promising conversations progress.
• Collaborate with scientific, proposal, and delivery teams to ensure proposed solutions are relevant and feasible.

Your profile

Who We Are Looking For

• A self-starter with an entrepreneurial mindset, comfortable taking initiative and creating opportunities.
• A natural relationship builder who enjoys networking and connecting people, ideas, and capabilities.
• Someone curious about clients’ businesses who asks thoughtful questions and recognizes unmet needs.
• A practical, action-oriented individual who follows through and turns ideas into concrete next steps.
• A collaborative colleague who can work independently while drawing on the expertise of others.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in life sciences, business, marketing, or a related field.
• Zero to two years of relevant experience; recent graduates with internships, entrepreneurial projects, or strong networking experience are encouraged to apply.
• Strong communication, organization, and interpersonal skills.
• Interest in genomics, rare diseases, drug development, and life sciences services.
• Familiarity with Microsoft Office and LinkedIn; CRM experience is a plus.
• Based in, or willing to relocate to, Greater Boston, with availability for local meetings and events.

Why us?

Direct exposure to senior commercial leadership, collaboration with scientific experts, and the opportunity to help shape business opportunities and future offerings within a global life sciences organization.