Vice President, Business Development and Licensing

BioSpace; New York (NY); Hybrid; USD 336,000 - 404,000; Full time

Job summary

Recursion, a clinical-stage TechBio company, seeks a senior corporate development leader in New York City. You will drive licensing, acquisitions, and partnerships with pharma and biotech, interfacing with senior leadership and cross-functional teams.

This office-based role offers remote flexibility, travel every 4–6 weeks, and a competitive base salary with bonus and equity.

Qualifications

• BS/BA in life sciences (biology, chemistry, pharmacy, medical).
• Advanced degree (JD, MBA, PhD, PharmD) strongly preferred.
• 12–15+ years in biotech/pharma with oncology and I&I focus.
• 7+ years in business development and licensing, buy- and sell-side.
• Strong network across biotech and large pharma.
• Deep knowledge of drug development from discovery to commercialization.
• Proven track record leading complex multi-stakeholder negotiations.

Responsibilities

• Initiate and build relationships with senior BD and licensing counterparts.
• Identify value-maximizing partners for Recursion’s assets.
• Diligence in-licensing and asset acquisition opportunities in oncology and I&I.
• Structure, negotiate, and execute licensing, acquisition, co-development agreements.
• Consolidate feedback and advise on data-package deliverables.
• Represent Recursion's platform to senior leaders across industry.

Skills

Senior relationships network

Negotiation leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Strategic thinking

Communication with leadership

AI-enabled drug discovery interest

Education

BS/BA in life sciences

Advanced degree preferred

Job description

Your work will change lives. Including your own.

The Impact You’ll Make

Recursion is at the forefront of reimagining drug discovery. We are building an AI-native platform spanning biology, chemistry, and clinical development; we've signed validating collaborations with partners across biopharma and tech; and we've built a robust internal pipeline with multiple clinical trials underway.

In This Role, You Will

• Initiate and build enduring relationships with senior business development and licensing counterparts at pharma and biotech organizations
• Identify value-maximizing development and commercialization partners for Recursion’s existing clinical and preclinical assets
• Partner with search and evaluation teams and cross-functional department leads to identify, prioritize, and diligence in-licensing and asset acquisition opportunities in Recursion’s key therapeutic areas (oncology, I&I)
• Structure, negotiate, and execute a diverse array of agreements (licensing, acquisition, co-development/co-commercialization, spin-out) that align with Recursion's strategic objectives and values
• Consolidate industry-wide feedback and advise internal teams on critical data-package deliverables
• Represent Recursion's platform and acquisition strategy to senior scientific and business leaders across the industry

The Team You'll Join

You will be an essential member of Recursion's Corporate Development team, reporting to our Chief Business Officer. The team is an empowered, execution-minded group of business development and alliance management professionals responsible for building Recursion's clinical- and preclinical-stage portfolio through strategic acquisitions, licensing deals, and partnerships. You will work seamlessly with our asset leadership team that focuses on market intelligence, screening, and technical assessment of potential targets. In this collaborative environment, you will need self-initiative, a collaborative mindset, and the ability to communicate with colleagues at all levels.

The Experience You'll Need

• BS/BA in life sciences (biology, chemistry, pharmacy, medical)
• Advanced degree (JD, MBA, PhD, PharmD) strongly preferred
• 12-15+ years of experience in the biotechnology or pharmaceutical industry, with a focus on oncology and I&I
• 7+ years of direct business development and licensing experience with a strong track record of success in both buy-side and sell-side transactions
• Strong network of senior relationships across biotechnology and large pharma
• Deep knowledge of the drug development process from early discovery through clinical development and commercialization
• Track record of leading complex, multi-stakeholder negotiations and closing high-value transactions
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple complex projects efficiently with a high degree of independence
• Exceptional cross-functional collaboration skills and ability to communicate complex technical and commercial concepts to diverse audiences
• Demonstrated interest in AI-enabled drug discovery space

Working Location & Compensation:

This is an office-based role in our New York City office, with flexibility to work remotely as needed. Travel to conferences and partnering events is expected every 4-6 weeks.

At Recursion, we believe that every employee should be compensated fairly. Based on the skills, experience, and qualifications needed for this role, the estimated annual base salary range is: $336,380–$404,140. In addition to base salary, this role is eligible for an annual bonus, equity compensation, and a comprehensive benefits package.

The Values We Hope You Share

• We act boldly with integrity. We are unconstrained in our thinking, take calculated risks, and push boundaries, but never at the expense of ethics, science, and trust.
• We care deeply and engage directly. Caring means holding a deep sense of responsibility and respect - showing up, speaking honestly, and taking action.
• We learn actively and adapt rapidly. Progress comes from doing. We experiment, test, and refine, embracing iteration over perfection.
• We move with urgency because patients are waiting. Speed isn’t about rushing but about moving the needle every day.
• We take ownership and accountability. Through ownership and accountability, we enable trust and autonomy—leaders take accountability for decisive action, and teams own outcomes together.
• We are One Recursion. True cross-functional collaboration is about trust, clarity, humility, and impact. Through sharing, we can be greater than the sum of our individual capabilities.

Our values underpin the employee experience at Recursion. They are the character and personality of the company demonstrated through how we communicate, support one another, spend our time, make decisions, and celebrate collectively.

More About Recursion

Recursion (NASDAQ: RXRX) is a clinical-stage TechBio company decoding biology to radically improve lives. Recursion is advancing a portfolio of differentiated investigational medicines across its wholly owned and partnered pipeline in oncology, rare disease, neuroscience, immunology, and other therapeutic areas with significant unmet need. Enabling its mission is the Recursion OS, an AI-native, end-to-end drug discovery and development platform integrating biology, chemistry, and clinical development into a unified intelligence system. Powered by proprietary multimodal data, purpose-built AI models, and bilingual teams fluent in both science and AI, the Recursion OS is designed to translate complex science into medicines that matter — faster, better, and at scale — for patients who are waiting.

Recursion’s platform infrastructure is anchored in Salt Lake City, Utah and Milton Park, Oxfordshire, where its automated biology and chemistry laboratories generate proprietary data at industrial scale. Recursion also maintains offices in New York, Montréal, and London, three global hubs for talent and leadership at the intersection of AI and scientific innovation. Learn more at www.recursion.com, or connect on X and LinkedIn.

Recursion is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state, local, or provincial human rights legislation.

Accommodations are available on request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process.