Senior Director, Business Development

ISHE; New York, Northern (NY, KY); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

ISHE seeks a Senior Director of Strategic Partnerships to drive growth for its healthcare communications and education agency. This consultative hunter will open doors with Pharmaceutical brands, build executive relationships, and craft innovative engagement strategies that improve clinician and patient outcomes.

The role emphasizes strategic thinking, creativity, and partnership development over traditional sales, with travel up to 25% and Northeast U.S. location expectations.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in B2B pharma/healthcare marketing or partnerships.
• Proven track record building strategic growth plans and trusted client relationships.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills; able to influence at executive levels.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute a strategic growth plan to achieve revenue goals.
• Identify and engage Brand Managers and commercial leaders within pharmaceutical/biotech companies.
• Lead consultative discovery conversations to uncover opportunities for education, digital, AI-enabled, and engagement solutions.
• Present agency capabilities and strategic recommendations that differentiate our organization.
• Lead the complete business development process from prospecting through proposal development, negotiation, and contract execution.
• Build, manage, and accurately forecast a healthy sales pipeline.
• Represent the agency at industry conferences and client meetings; travel up to 25%.

Skills

Strategic partnerships

Business development

Relationship management

Sales leadership

Healthcare marketing

Education

MBA

Bachelor's in Marketing/related field

Tools

Salesforce

CRM tools

Job description

We are seeking an entrepreneurial, highly creative, and consultative Senior Director, Strategic Partnerships to drive growth for our expanding healthcare communications and health education agency.

This is not a traditional sales role. We are looking for a curious "hunter" who enjoys opening doors, building relationships, and partnering with pharmaceutical marketers to solve meaningful business challenges. The ideal candidate is energized by developing new ideas, uncovering unmet needs, and connecting clients with innovative solutions that improve healthcare professional engagement, strengthen patient education, and ultimately help more patients receive better care.

We're looking for someone who doesn't simply sell agency services - they bring ideas. Someone who can walk into a meeting with a Professional or Consumer Brand Manager, ask insightful questions, understand their business challenges, and leave with the beginnings of a solution. This person should be equally comfortable discussing brand strategy, omnichannel engagement, field force effectiveness, patient engagement, digital innovation, AI-enabled solutions, and educational initiatives that create value for brands, healthcare professionals, and patients.

Success in this role requires equal parts business development, strategic thinking, creativity, and relationship building. You will become a trusted partner to pharmaceutical marketing teams by helping them solve challenges - not by selling products, but by bringing fresh ideas that improve outcomes.

• Located in the northeastern U.S.
• Develop and execute a strategic growth plan to achieve and exceed annual revenue goals.
• Identify, research, and engage Professional Brand Managers, Consumer Brand Managers, Brand Directors, and other commercial leaders within pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.
• Build trusted executive relationships by understanding client business objectives, commercial challenges, and patient needs.
• Leadconsultative discovery conversations that uncover opportunities where innovative educational, digital, AI-enabled, and engagement solutions can create measurable value.
• Bringfresh strategic ideas to every client interaction and proactively recommend solutions that improve healthcare professional engagement, strengthen patient education, enhance patient support, and drive measurable business outcomes.
• Partnerwith internal strategy, medical, creative, and digital teams to develop customized solutions that address client needs.
• Presentagency capabilities, strategic recommendations, and creative concepts that differentiate our organization from traditional healthcare agencies.
• Leadthe complete business development process from prospecting through proposal development, negotiation, and contract execution.
• Build, manage, and accurately forecast a healthy sales pipeline.
• Represent the agency at industry conferences, client meetings, and networking events while expanding the agency's visibility and reputation- this role requires up to 25% travel.