Business Development Associate (m/f/d)

CENTOGENE GmbH; Cambridge (MA); On-site; USD 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

CENTOGENE GmbH in Boston is seeking a proactive Business Development professional to grow CENTOGENE’s presence in the local life sciences ecosystem. You will initiate conversations, build relationships, and translate client needs into tailored service concepts.

Reporting to the Global Head of Pharma Business, you will identify opportunities, attend events, and collaborate with scientific and delivery teams to shape offerings and proposals.

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.

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.

Skills

Networking

Relationship building

Lead generation

CRM experience

Communication

Industry knowledge

Education

Bachelor's degree in life sciences or related field

Tools

LinkedIn

Microsoft Office

CRM systems

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.