Senior Director of Business Development

Reports To:

Head, Portfolio Strategy & Business Operations

About This Role:

The Senior Director of Business Development (Search & Evaluation) will lead the scouting, identification, and prioritization of external partnership and in-licensing opportunities that advance the company’s rare-disease strategy.

This role will focus on sourcing and assessing innovative programs – particular with the U.S and China innovation ecosystems – and coordinating cross-functional evaluations to advance high-value opportunities to the deal development stage in accordance with the corporate BD decision making process.

The ideal candidate combines strategic thinking, scientific depth, market awareness, and cross-functional leadership to connect external innovation with internal portfolio and growth priorities.

This is a strategic role, tightly integrated with Corporate Business & Portfolio Development (B&PD), to guarantee global alignment prioritization, valuation and transaction execution.

What You’ll Do:

• Scouting and Identification
- Proactively source differentiated external innovation across prioritized therapeutic and technology areas.
- Maintain deep knowledge of market trends, emerging technologies and competitive landscapes to anticipate emerging opportunities and white space areas.
- Build and nurture relationships with biotech and pharma companies, VCs, incubators and academic institutions, with a focus on the US and China markets.

• Evaluation & Analysis
- Drive initial opportunity evaluation, including scientific, clinical, regulatory, and commercial assessment, in close collaboration with internal functional experts and ensuring alignment with B&PD evaluation frameworks and governance.
- Lead cross-functional assessment teams (R&D, Regulatory, Medical, Commercial, Finance, Legal) to evaluate strategic fit, technical feasibility and value potential.
- Translate opportunity assessments into clear business cases and present recommendations to Corporate B&PD, executive leadership and the Board of Directors.

• Cross Functional & Corporate Partnership
- Serve as the interface between US and Corporate BD, aligning on search priorities, evaluation criteria and portfolio strategy.
- Build organizational understanding of China’s innovation flow, licensing dynamics, partnership ecosystems and regulatory environment.
- Partner with Corporate BD on due diligence and contribute to validation and risk assessments to advance opportunities to transaction discussions.
- Support Corporate BD in negotiation and execution of transactions, providing scientific, clinical and commercial insights to inform deal structures and decisions.
- Provide regular and structured reporting on asset pipeline, scouting status, and recommendations to Corporate B&PD.

• Strategic & Organizational Impact
- Contribute to the evolution of the company’s growth strategy by identify external innovations that address unmet needs or strengthen existing capabilities.
- Develop and execute business development strategies aligned with corporate goals.
- Represent the company at relevant events and leverage network to build and expand relationships with biotech/pharma companies, academic institutions, and investors.

• Up to 35-45% domestic and international travel for conferences, partner meetings, and site visits.

Who You Are:

The ideal candidate combines strategic thinking, scientific depth, market awareness, and cross-functional leadership to connect external innovation with internal portfolio and growth priorities. This is a strategic role, tightly integrated with Corporate Business & Portfolio Development (B&PD), to guarantee global alignment prioritization, valuation and transaction execution.

Required Skills:

• 5-10 years of experience in business development, search & evaluation, corporate strategy, investment banking, or venture scouting within the biotech/pharma industry.

• Advanced scientific or business degree (e.g. PhD, Pharm

D, MBA) preferred.

• Strong scientific literacy and deep understanding of drug development, regulatory pathways, and commercialization in rare diseases.

• Proven ability to source, evaluate and prioritize external opportunities, integrating…