Senior Director, Business Development

Position Overview

Adaptive Biotechnologies is a leader in immune medicine and aims to translate the massive genetic code of the adaptive immune system to improve human health. Adaptive has built a robust immune medicine platform that includes proprietary T cell receptor and B cell receptor sequencing technologies.

The Immune Medicine (IM) business includes a growing portfolio of customers at top tier academic institutions and biopharmaceutical/biotechnology companies that incorporate Adaptive’s immunosequencing technologies in different areas of research, including in oncology, autoimmunity, infectious diseases, and neurodegenerative disorders. The Immune Medicine team at Adaptive supports customers in incorporating immune receptor data in basic research to better understand disease, host immune response, and accelerate the development of innovative drugs.

The Senior Director, Business Development will execute on IM’s commercial growth strategy. As a player/manager, this role is responsible for generating sales, achieving revenue targets, and managing a business development team. This role is accountable for sourcing, negotiating, closing deals, and growing a book of business that includes fee-for-service (FFS) offerings, strategic partnerships, and data licensing opportunities. This book of business is comprised of a portfolio of global biopharmaceutical companies and academic institutions. The successful candidate will have exceptional negotiation, deal-structuring, contract-management skills, and strong deal-making capabilities. This candidate will be responsible for existing and new market opportunities that grow the IM business and that embed Adaptive as the preferred partner and ‘go-to’ platform.

Leaders at Adaptive demonstrate behaviors consistent with Adaptive’s Core Values and Leadership Principles. Critical functions of your role include helping establish individual team member goals, aligning those individual goals with broader team objectives, and ensuring those objectives drive the achievement of company goals. Providing thoughtful coaching and consistent feedback to your team members will drive performance excellence and accountability, as well as support your team members’ growth and development. Leaders at Adaptive create an environment of belonging, respect, and open and honest communication every day.

This role reports to the Chief Commercial Officer, Immune Medicine.

Key Responsibilities and Essential Functions

• Manage team responsible for prospecting and acquisition of new business with pharmaceutical and institutional customers
• Develop and refine BD strategy aligned to corporate objectives and long-term R&D investment priorities
• Proactively identify high value external innovation opportunities—including therapeutic assets, enabling platforms, technologies, and strategic collaborations
• Lead high stakes negotiations spanning in licensing, out licensing, research collaborations, co-development agreements, strategic alliances, joint ventures, and equity-linked structures
• Lead the team to engage in complex search and evaluation efforts and conduct thorough and informative competitive landscape and market analyses to provide actionable recommendations
• Drive delivery of new bookings and revenue from Pharma customers in line with the company’s corporate goals
• Structure, negotiate, and close significant and complex deals in line with the company's business development goals
• Represent Adaptive externally and deliver scientific presentations to identify opportunities
• Work cross-functionally to deliver transactions, execute and manage deal commitments
• Support team with conducting search & evaluation for complex business opportunities, including scientific, technical and commercial assessments
• Create and maintain a team of high-functioning and high-level business development professionals by evaluating and developing team members, providing timely and constructive feedback, and actively managing team member career growth and development
• Drive existing collaborations forward: work cross-functionally to deliver industry leading customer service, revenue predictability and opportunities to broaden and deepen existing partnerships (new therapeutic assets, new indications, etc.)
• Supervise the development and management of yearly and quarterly account plans and prospecting plans
• Utilize your existing network to help the business development team expand Adaptive’s partnerships further and make new connections through networking, introductions, and conference attendance
• Build and maintain a strong network across pharma, biotech, academic institutions, CROs, and technology providers to source partnerships and accelerate market expansion
• Work closely with senior leaders in drug development companies to build partnerships in existing and in new market segments
• Establish and maintain frequent contact with clients through focused client visits and presentations to ensure high levels of client satisfaction on client issues and needs
• Contribute to developing and implementing the marketing and sales strategy
• All other duties as assigned

Position Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree and 17+ years of progressive related experience in the biotech or life sciences industry (or similar combination of education and experience)
  • Advanced degree preferred
• 8+ years of progressively senior business development experience in biotech or pharma with a proven track record closing complex deals
• 6+ years managing and growing teams, developing people with a strong focus on culture
• Strong understanding of drug discovery and development, including modalities such as small molecules, biologics, ADCs, bispecifics, or AI enabled drug discovery
• Extensive network across our customer base
• Ability to tease apart customers’ needs and motivations to successfully influence them
• Excellent negotiation, communication, and relationship building skills
• Strong presentation skills and have a good strategic and analytic skillset
• Entrepreneurial and self-starter mindset 
• Extensive experience working with internal/external multidisciplinary teams including R&D, Commercial, Legal, IP, Finance and Operations
• Strong communication, interpersonal skills and good judgment. The ability to synthesize complex scientific ideas into concise and impactful presentations
• Ability to work in a matrix environment and leverage cross-functional resources
• Ability to work effectively with senior leadership and executives, internally and externally
• Independent strategic thinker with strong ability to solve complex problems
• Ability to see the bigger picture and create a cohesive team culture to achieve broad success in addition to individual success

Working Conditions

This position will be field based, may require up to 40% travel and a willingness to work according to global hours when needed to support global customers.

#LI-Remote

Compensation

Salary Range: $206,400 - $309,600

Other compensation elements include:

• equity grant
• bonus eligible