Principal, Business Development

The Starts Principal executes on the international and market access strategy of the Medical Alley’s Starts program. This role is responsible for expanding Medical Alley’s global footprint through partnerships with international trade hubs, innovation agencies, and healthcare clusters—positioning Minnesota as a world-class destination for health tech market entry, investment, and innovation exchange. The Principal is responsible for designing and delivering economic trade and market access delegation visits—both public and private—connecting global companies, investors, and government stakeholders to the U.S. healthcare ecosystem.

The Starts Principal leads the programming of Medical Alley’s Innovation Garage, including sponsor-aligned learning and workshop series that create high-impact opportunities for education, collaboration, and innovation. This role is also responsible for curriculum design and delivery for the U.S. Market Access Accelerator program, along with related global programs, ensuring world-class execution for foreign startups entering the U.S. Healthcare market.

• Lead the development and execution of Medical Alley’s global engagement strategy, strengthening partnerships with international trade organizations, accelerators, and innovation hubs.
• Develop and manage scalable global partnership frameworks that deliver measurable value for startups, partners, and the State of Minnesota.
• Drive international startup recruitment and ensure a high-quality experience across all global market access programs.
• Advance Medical Alley’s global brand visibility and position it as a preferred partner for health innovation and U.S. market entry.

• Design, manage, and continuously improve the U.S. Market Access Accelerator curriculum and delivery model, ensuring strong product-market fit and execution.
• Lead programming for the Innovation Garage and Medical Alley Academy, including sponsor-aligned workshops, learning series, and experiential programming.
• Plan and execute global programs and initiatives from concept through delivery, maintaining accountability for timelines, quality, and outcomes.
• Build and maintain a curated network of speakers, mentors, site visits, and cultural experiences to support accelerator cohorts and delegations.
• Implement structured program management processes, including SOWs, KPIs, and performance tracking, to ensure consistency and quality across global engagements.

• Drive business growth by prospecting, selling, closing, and delivering programs, products, and services that meet or exceed annual revenue targets.
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with new and existing companies, partners, and sponsors to expand participation and long-term engagement.
• Manage all prospecting, partner, and client activity in Hub Spot (CRM), ensuring accurate tracking of leads, contacts, and opportunities.
• Generate and present regular pipeline and performance reports, including conversion activity and progress toward revenue goals.
• Secure partner commitments through consistent follow-up and formal enrollment processes.

• Plan and execute international trade and market access delegations, overseeing itineraries, logistics, meetings, site visits, and hosted events.
• Build and maintain strategic relationships with global trade partners, foreign governments, academic institutions, and economic development agencies.
• Strengthen Minnesota’s ecosystem readiness to host global delegations through partnerships with consulting, academic, healthcare, and corporate stakeholders.
• Facilitate foreign direct investment (FDI) opportunities through Medical Alley’s market access programs.
• Expand program offerings to include services such as regulatory guidance, IP commercialization support, clinical trial access, and venture capital introductions.
• Collaborate closely with internal teams to ensure alignment across Starts platform goals, organizational mission, and partner success.
• Serve as a primary global liaison across internal and external stakeholders to ensure seamless coordination and…