Director, Life Science & Biopharma Accounts

Owkin; United States; On-site; USD 260,000 - 300,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401(k) retirement plan

Paid time off

Flexible Spending Accounts

Job summary

Owkin is seeking a sales professional to join our US commercial team, focusing on pharmaceutical, biotech, CRO, VC/PE, and life sciences organizations. You will identify opportunities and guide complex deals from first conversation to contract signature.

You will own the full sales cycle, engage with scientific and business stakeholders, and shape Owkin K Pro solutions to address drug discovery, translational research, and portfolio decisions.

Qualifications

• Track record in winning new business within complex B2B sales.
• Experience building pipelines and closing with multiple stakeholders.
• Familiarity with life sciences, healthcare, technology, data, AI, SaaS, or research services.
• Demonstrated ability to engage credibly with scientific and business audiences.
• Strong prospecting, discovery, qualification, presentation, negotiation, and value-selling skills.
• Commercial judgment and ability to identify differentiated value.
• Curiosity, resilience, autonomy in a fast-moving company.
• Rigorous efficiency in planning and executing activities.
• Experience using Salesforce or similar CRM, with forecasting and pipeline discipline.
• Willingness to travel within US and internationally.

Responsibilities

• Own a focused NA target accounts portfolio.
• Generate and qualify pipeline via prospecting and events.
• Build relationships with senior stakeholders across pharma/biotech/CRO/VC.
• Own full sales cycle from discovery to close.
• Lead consultative conversations to uncover priorities.
• Translate needs into proposals, pilots, or Owkin opportunities.
• Collaborate with Technical Sales, Product, Delivery, Legal, Finance, Marketing.
• Maintain momentum in multi-stakeholder deals.
• Keep CRM activity and forecasts accurate.
• Provide market feedback to Sales, Marketing, Product, leadership.
• Help refine positioning for NA market.

Skills

New business wins

Pipeline development

Life sciences familiarity

Stakeholder engagement

Sales cycle ownership

Value-selling

CRM proficiency

Travel ready

Job description

About Us

Owkin is an agentic AI company pioneering Biological Artificial Superintelligence to solve problems in biology where human researchers alone have failed.

Owkin builds K Pro - an AI scientist for pharmaceutical research and strategic decision-making. K Pro orchestrates a suite of AI skills and tools to decode complex biology, accelerate research, and dramatically increase productivity.

K Pro is built on Owkin’s unrivalled multimodal patient data network, state-of-the‑art AI for biology and a decade of experience working with pharmaceutical partners.

The position is based from our New York offices or remotely in the North East of USA.

About The Role

Owkin is looking for a sales professional to join our US commercial team, with a focus across pharmaceutical companies, biotech companies, CROs, VC/PE firms and selected investor-backed life sciences organizations.

This is a new business development focused, individual contributor role, perfect for someone who enjoys creating commercial opportunities from the ground up while working closely with colleagues across Sales, Partnerships, Technical Sales, Product, Delivery and Marketing. You will identify and build relationships with scientific, digital, innovation, commercial, and executive stakeholders, and guide complex opportunities from first conversation through contract signature.

You’ll be selling solutions more than simply a technology platform. Your role will be to help customers understand how K Pro can support their challenges in areas such as drug discovery, translational research, clinical development, and portfolio decision‑making. In turn, your customer insight will help the wider commercial team recognise market demand and refine our proposition, messaging, and approach.

You will be able to engage credibly with life sciences customers, ask the right questions, identify value quickly, and move opportunities forward to conclusion. Every success moves you towards winning the large partnership opportunities that Owkin is achieving with K Pro.

In Particular, You Will

• Own a focused portfolio of North American target accounts, aligned with the wider sales strategy and team priorities.
• Generate and qualify pipeline within your portfolio through proactive prospecting, referrals, networks, events, and account‑based activity.
• Open and develop relationships with senior stakeholders across pharmaceutical, biotech, CRO and VC/PE organizations.
• Own the full sales cycle, from qualification and discovery through proposal, negotiation and close.
• Lead consultative conversations that uncover scientific, operational, and business priorities.
• Translate customer needs into clear proposals, business cases, pilots, feasibility studies, or broader Owkin K Pro opportunities.
• Work with Technical Sales, Product, Delivery, Legal, Finance, and Marketing to shape practical solutions and move deals forward.
• Build internal champions and maintain momentum across complex, multi‑stakeholder sales cycles.
• Keep CRM activity, pipeline, and forecasts accurate.
• Bring customer feedback and market intelligence back to Sales, Marketing, Product, and leadership.
• Help refine our positioning, target segments, sales materials, and commercial approach as the North American market develops.

About You

Required qualifications / experience:

• A track record in winning new business within complex B2B sales, strategic account development, or consultative selling environments.
• Experience in proactively creating pipelines and closing opportunities with multiple stakeholders.
• Familiarity with life sciences, healthcare, technology, data, AI, SaaS, research services, or other technically complex environments; an established platform of connections in these arenas would bring a significant advantage.
• A demonstrated ability to engage credibly with both scientific and business audiences.
• Strong prospecting, discovery, qualification, presentation, negotiation, and value‑selling skills.
• Commercial judgment and the ability to identify where Owkin can create differentiated value.
• Curiosity, resilience, and the ability to operate with autonomy in a fast‑moving company.
• Rigorous efficiency in how you plan, prioritise and execute your sales and development activities.
• Experience using Salesforce or a similar CRM, with sound forecasting and pipeline discipline.
• Willingness to travel within the US and internationally as needed.

Preferred Qualifications/bonus

Experience in at least one of the following would be advantageous:

• Pharmaceutical R&D, biotech, CROs, AI or data platforms, drug discovery, clinical development, biomedical research, investment or PE/VC backed life sciences firms.
• An academic background in life sciences, technology, or business is welcome but not essential.

What success could look like in the first 3, 6 to 9 months

• Clear insight into customer needs, competitive differentiation, and the strongest use cases for Owkin and, in particular, K Pro.
• A focused portfolio of target accounts, a qualified pipeline aligned with team priorities and a plan of priorities and engagement tactics.
• Rekindled existing connections and built new relationships leading to commercial opportunities across priority customer segments.
• Early wins through pilots, feasibility studies, or broader solution engagements.

This is an opportunity to join a high‑performing commercial team at an important stage in K Pro’s development. You will have the autonomy to build relationships and create opportunities within your portfolio, while working closely with colleagues across Sales, Partnerships, Product, Technical Sales, Delivery, and Marketing to develop the strongest approach for our customers.

Salary And Benefits

Owkin uses a compensation framework that is externally benchmarked and internally leveled. This framework assesses each role based on its expected autonomy, impact, and responsibility. The final compensation alignment will be determined by role level appointed, which will be assessed and confirmed through the in‑depth interview process.

Competitive Salary & Excellent Benefits Package Include

• OTE (On‑Target Earnings) - Director Level: In the range of $260,000 (made up of base salary + performance‑based bonus)
• Equity Options
• Comprehensive Benefits:
  • Health insurance (individual & family),
  • 401(k) retirement plan, and
  • generous paid time off (35 days annually, in addition to state and federal holidays).
• Flexible Spending Accounts: To support your health and financial well‑being.

What we offer

• Flexible work organization
• Friendly and informal working environment
• Opportunity to work with an international team with high technical and scientific backgrounds

Recruitment Process & Security

• Owkin is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, sex, gender, sexual orientation, age, color, religion, national origin, protected veteran status or on the basis of disability.