ICON is a global healthcare intelligence and clinical research organisation united by a mission to bring new medicines and treatments to patients faster.
As a values-driven organisation, integrity, collaboration, agility, and inclusion are at the heart of how we work and interact with each other, customers, patients and suppliers.
Business Development Manager / Director (France)
We are seeking an ambitious and commercially driven Business Development Manager / Director to join our growing team. In this high-impact role, you will be responsible for driving new business opportunities and building long-term partnerships with biotechnology companies and small to mid-sized pharmaceutical organisations across France.
This is an exciting opportunity for a consultative sales professional with a strong understanding of the clinical development landscape and proven experience selling Phase II and Phase III clinical research services. You will play a key role in expanding our presence within the French market, working closely with cross-functional teams to deliver tailored solutions that support our clients' drug development goals.
While France-based candidates are preferred, we welcome applications from individuals located elsewhere in Europe who are fluent in French and willing to travel within France.
What You Will Be Doing
- Drive new business development activities across France, with a focus on biotechnology and small to mid-sized pharmaceutical companies.
- Develop and execute strategic territory plans to identify, engage, and win new client partnerships.
- Build strong relationships with key decision-makers, including executives, clinical development leaders and procurement stakeholders.
- Lead the full sales cycle from opportunity identification through proposal development, contract negotiation and successful close.
- Position and promote Phase II and III clinical development solutions, demonstrating a clear understanding of client needs and market dynamics.
- Collaborate closely with operational, proposal, therapeutic and executive teams to develop competitive and compelling client solutions.
- Maintain a strong understanding of industry trends, competitor activity and the evolving clinical research landscape.
- Represent the company at industry conferences, networking events and client meetings throughout France.
- Deliver against revenue targets and contribute to the continued growth of the organisation.
Your Profile
- Bachelor's degree in Life Sciences, Business, or a related field. Advanced degree preferred.
- Proven track record of business development and sales success within the CRO, clinical research, or pharmaceutical services industry.
- Experience selling Phase II and Phase III clinical trial services to biotech and pharmaceutical clients.
- Strong understanding of drug development, clinical trial operations and the outsourcing landscape.
- Established network within the French biotechnology and pharmaceutical sector is highly desirable.
- Excellent communication, presentation, negotiation and relationship-building skills.
- Ability to engage and influence stakeholders at multiple levels, from operational teams to C-suite executives.
- Self-motivated, strategic, and results-driven with a demonstrated ability to exceed revenue targets.
- Fluent in both French and English.
- Willingness to travel within France as required.
Employment with ICON is contingent upon having the legal right to work in the country where the role is based.
Rewards & Benefits
ICON offers a competitive and comprehensive total rewards package designed to support your health, wellbeing, and career development.
Benefits may include:
- Competitive base salary and performance related incentives
- Health and wellbeing programmes including medical, dental, and vision coverage where applicable
- Retirement and pension plans
- Life assurance and disability coverage
- Employee assistance programmes and wellbeing resources
- Learning and development opportunities through structured training and career pathways
Benefits may vary depending on role and location.
Visit our careers site to read more about the benefits ICON offers.
Inclusion and Accessibility
ICON is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to building an inclusive and accessible workplace where everyone feels valued and supported.
If you require reasonable accommodations during the recruitment process, please let us know or submit a request here.
Are you a current ICON Employee? Please click here to apply
Skills Required
- Bachelor’s degree in Life Sciences, Business, or a related field
- Advanced degree
- Proven business development and sales success in the CRO, clinical research, or pharmaceutical services industry
- Experience selling Phase II and Phase III clinical trial services to biotechnology and pharmaceutical clients
- Strong understanding of drug development, clinical trial operations, and the outsourcing landscape
- Established network within the French biotechnology and pharmaceutical sector
- Excellent communication, presentation, negotiation, and relationship-building skills
- Ability to influence stakeholders from operational teams through C-suite executives
- Self-motivated, strategic, and results-driven approach with ability to exceed revenue targets
- Fluency in French and English
- Willingness to travel within France as required
- Legal right to work in the country where the role is based
ICON plc Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about ICON plc and has not been reviewed or approved by ICON plc.
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Healthcare Strength — Benefits are described as comprehensive, with medical coverage and wellness initiatives highlighted. Larger sites are also associated with added wellness supports such as onsite fitness options and access to an employee assistance program.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Time-off and flexibility provisions are positioned as a meaningful part of the total package, including vacation/annual leave and flexible work scheduling. Flexibility is sometimes cited as helping offset long hours in certain roles.
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Retirement Support — Retirement and savings support is presented as a core component of the benefits package, including offerings such as pension arrangements in some locations and a U.S. 401(k) plan with company match. Financial planning resources are also emphasized as part of broader security benefits.
ICON plc Insights
What We Do
Since our foundation in Dublin, Ireland in 1990, our mission has been to help our clients to accelerate the development of drugs and devices that save lives and improve quality of life. We do this by delivering best in class information, solutions and performance, with an unyielding focus on quality at all times. We offer a full range of consulting, development and commercialisation services from a global network of offices in 53 countries. We focus our innovation on the factors that are critical to our clients – reducing time to market, reducing cost, and increasing quality – and our global team of experts has extensive experience in a broad range of therapeutic areas.
