Director of Business Development – West Coast USA

Position Summary

DefiniGEN is looking for a Director of Business Development for the West Coast regional market. This role requires a highly motivated and self-driven individual with previous experience of undertaking business development activities in the pharmaceutical pre-clinical, contract research or similar markets.

This position will be responsible for introducing the full range of services and ideal candidates should be adept at establishing and building long-lasting, strategic, and high revenue-generating opportunities with the biotech and pharmaceutical sector.

This role would particularly suit someone with several years sales experience in the life sciences sector, with a strong knowledge of the drug discovery process and good scientific acumen. The position requires good relationship-building skills and the ability to satisfy complex sales processes with multiple stakeholders. This is an exceptional opportunity for someone with a degree and existing life science sales experience, where commercial skill and scientific aptitude are essential. The position will be based in the California area, but there may be frequent travel to other US locations.

Roles open for both the east and west coast.

Key Responsibilities

• Identify and qualify prospects in target pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and academic organizations across whole continental USA to meet and surpass sales targets by building long-lasting relationships with key decision makers
• Maintain a comprehensive knowledge of the product and services portfolio of the Company and preferably have a good technical knowledge of gene editing, genomics, stem cell biology and the preclinical drug discovery process.
• Travel for client meetings, life science conferences and seminars will be an important part of the role
• Work closely with the company’s scientific team to create detailed proposals with emphasis on quality; co-ordinate dialogue, information flow and construct the commercial framework that underpins these partnerships.
• Pro-actively build lasting relationships with client organizations, identify product-market fit within identified accounts, provide creative consultative technical solutions, and proactively follow-up to ensure all requests are met promptly
• Accomplished in prospecting and creative identification of new sales opportunities – pro-actively manage customer pipeline and communicate progress regularly to Chief Business Officer

Qualifications – Experience/Education

• A minimum of a Bachelor’s degree in a biological science
• 7+ years of industry experience in technical sales or account management in a life science or drug discovery company
• Demonstrates a broad understanding of cell and molecular biology preferably including CRISPR and molecular bioassays
• Strong scientific knowledge – ability to speak fluently about biological sciences and experience in high-level technical solution selling, particularly in early-stage drug discovery and cell-based assays
• Utilize the customer-relationship management platform to manage a portfolio of emerging business partnerships.
• An in-depth understanding of the pre-clinical pharmaceutical and biotechnology sectors and their dynamics
• Extensive experience in selling to pharmaceutical customers, specifically working in the preclinical drug discovery arena

About DefiniGEN

Founded in 2013, DefiniGEN is a fast-growing provider of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived human cell disease models to support preclinical research. This cutting-edge platform can generate disease model human cells to support drug discovery, especially in orphan (rare) indications where no preclinical research models exist, and for metabolic disease research such as diabetes and NAFLD. The company uses CRISPR genome editing to manipulate the genome of the iPSC, then differentiates the stem cell into human-like diseased cells for screening and preclinical development.

Their global HQ is in Cambridge, UK and they have established partnerships with pharmaceutical, biotech companies across the globe doubling sales over the last year.

Applicants should apply by sending their cover letter and CV to: nicola@definigen.com