DIRECTOR / SENIOR DIRECTOR, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT & OPERATIONS
Biotech — Confidential Search · Managed by TSE Executive Search
THE COMPANY
This is a high-conviction biotech that operates with the discipline of a top-tier firm and the urgency of a startup. The organization is looking for an exceptional operator who can hold scientific credibility and business rigor in the same hand — and who is energized by the complexity that comes with both.
THE OPPORTUNITY
This is not a traditional BD role. As Director or Senior Director, Business Development & Operations, you will own and shape the scientific, operational, and external-facing dimensions of one or more value-driving programs — serving as the connective tissue between the science, the strategy, and the stakeholders who need to understand both.
You will build and own the business plan, scientific plan, budget, and strategy for the programs in your portfolio. You will lead teams, manage industry relationships, drive competitive intelligence, build NPV models, and translate complex scientific and financial information into clear, decision-ready communication for senior leadership.
This role is for someone who is as comfortable interrogating a clinical development strategy as they are building a financial model — and who brings equal intellectual rigor to both.
WHAT YOU WILL OWN
Scientific & Program Leadership
- Develop deep command of the scientific, operational, and external-facing dimensions of assigned programs
- Set, prioritize, and manage milestones and deliverables for team members across one or more programs
- Coordinate team meetings and delegate effectively to technical experts — holding the team accountable to quality, precision, and speed
- Interpret, collate, and communicate key data findings in a succinct, executive-ready manner to senior management
- Develop and maintain the scientific plan for each program — questioning assumptions, stress-testing strategy, and identifying blind spots
Business Development & Financial Analysis
- Own the business plan, strategy, and budget for programs in your portfolio
- Build and maintain NPV models and financial frameworks that underpin investment and partnership decisions
- Lead competitive intelligence efforts — synthesizing landscape data into clear strategic implications
- Manage and develop industry relationships that support BD objectives and pipeline advancement
- Identify problems independently, locate the right resources, and drive data-driven solutions without waiting for direction
Cross-Functional Communication & Leadership
- Distill complex scientific and business issues into clear, concise narratives for diverse internal and external audiences
- Serve as the authoritative voice on your programs — internally to leadership and externally to partners, investors, and collaborators
- Inspire excellence in the teams and colleagues around you — modeling the intellectual rigor, ownership mindset, and patient-first values that define the organization’s culture
WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR
Education
- Advanced degree (PhD, MD, MBA, or equivalent) from a top-tier academic institution; or a scientific undergraduate degree with highly distinguished industry experience
Experience
- Strategic planning, operating, and program management experience within a biotech startup or top-tier pharma organization
- Management consulting from a top-tier firm (McKinsey, Bain, BCG, or equivalent) and/or investment banking experience — strongly preferred
- Demonstrated ability to interpret and question scientific strategy across molecular biology, chemistry, translational medicine, and/or clinical development
- Track record of building financial models, business plans, and competitive intelligence frameworks in a life sciences context
- Experience leading cross-functional teams and managing external industry relationships
Competencies
- Scientific literacy — you don’t need to be in the lab, but you need to be in the conversation
- Financial acumen — comfortable with NPV modeling, budgeting, and scenario analysis
- Communication excellence — you translate complexity into clarity, every time
- Independent judgment — you identify the problem, find the data, and drive the solution without being asked
- Ownership mindset — you treat the programs you cover as if they are your own
THE RIGHT PERSON
The organization describes its best team members in four ways — and they mean it:
Patient Champion — Puts patients first in every decision, upholds ethical standards without compromise.
Entrepreneurial Operator — Drives toward practical solutions, moves with urgency, and owns outcomes end-to-end.
Truth Seeker — Detailed, rational, and humble. Finds the real answer, not the comfortable one.
Excellence Inspirer — Holds themselves and those around them to the highest standard — and makes the team better by being in it.
HOW TO APPLY
This search is managed exclusively and confidentially by TSE Executive Search.
Qualified candidates should submit a resume/CV and deal sheet to:
jobs@tseworldwide.com
All applications are held in the strictest confidence.