Corporate Business Development Director (Biopharma)
Oxford Nanopore Technologies
Location: Oxford, UK (Hybrid)
Travel: Monthly
Oxford Nanopore Technologies is a pioneering company in the field of DNA and RNA sequencing, developing innovative nanopore-based technology that enables real-time, accessible, and scalable analysis. With applications spanning research, clinical diagnostics, and industrial settings, Oxford Nanopore is transforming how biological insights are generated and applied worldwide.
We are seeking an experienced Corporate Business Development Director with a strong track record in the biopharma sector to lead and support partnership activities that drive strategic growth.
About the Role
As part of the Business Development team, you will play a central role in building a global ecosystem of partnerships to accelerate the adoption of nanopore sequencing across applied and clinical markets. This role focuses on developing and executing collaborations with biopharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to enable the commercialisation of innovative applications in priority end markets.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead business development activities for the biopharma segment, identifying and establishing strategic partnerships across drug discovery, development, and manufacturing
- Engage with pharmaceutical and biotech organisations to structure collaborations in areas such as cell and gene therapy, biologics characterisation, and genomic analytics
- Evaluate and prioritise partnership opportunities, develop business cases, and construct financial models
- Lead and coordinate cross-functional collaboration with Commercial, Marketing, Product, Finance, Legal, and other teams
- Manage the full deal lifecycle from opportunity assessment through negotiation, execution, and ongoing relationship management
- Prepare and present partnership proposals for executive review and approval
- Negotiate commercial agreements, ensuring alignment with financial and strategic objectives
- Maintain oversight of active partnership projects and ensure delivery against commitments
- Support the development of internal partnering frameworks and promote best practices
- Mentor and support the growth of business development team members
What We’re Looking For
- Extensive experience in business development, partnerships, and deal-making within the life sciences sector
- Strong background working with or within biopharma and biotech organisations
- Demonstrated success in structuring and negotiating complex commercial agreements
- Excellent analytical, financial modelling, and communication skills
- Strong understanding of market dynamics and partnership strategy
- Proven ability to work cross-functionally and deliver against strategic objectives
- Experience across both SME/start-up and larger organisational environments is advantageous
This is an opportunity for a commercially driven and strategically minded professional who thrives in a collaborative environment and is motivated to build impactful partnerships that advance cutting-edge genomic technologies.
Apply now to join Oxford Nanopore Technologies and help shape the future of molecular sensing and genomic innovation.
Please note that no terminology in this advert is intended to discriminate on the grounds of a person's gender, marital status, race, religion, colour, age, disability or sexual orientation. Every candidate will be assessed only in accordance with their merits, qualifications and abilities to perform the duties of the job.
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About UsOxford Nanopore Technologies: Our goal is to bring the widest benefits to society through enabling the analysis of anything, by anyone, anywhere. The company has developed a new generation of nanopore-based sensing technology for faster, information rich, accessible and affordable molecular analysis. The first application is DNA/RNA sequencing, and the technology is in development for the analysis of other types of molecules including proteins. The technology is used to understand and characterise the biology of humans and diseases such as cancer, plants, animals, bacteria, viruses, and whole environments. With a thriving culture of ambition and strong innovation goals, Oxford Nanopore is a UK headquartered company with global operations and customers in more than 125 countries.
Skills Required
- Extensive experience in business development within life sciences
- Strong background with biopharma and biotech organizations
- Demonstrated success in structuring commercial agreements
- Excellent analytical and communication skills
- Understanding of market dynamics and partnership strategy
Oxford Nanopore Technologies Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Oxford Nanopore Technologies and has not been reviewed or approved by Oxford Nanopore Technologies.
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Fair & Transparent Compensation — Pay is considered good to above average across many roles, with employer-provided ranges visible for several U.S. commercial and applications positions and company materials emphasizing market‑competitive base pay. Commercial and some senior technical posts, particularly in the U.S., are positioned as competitive and often paired with strong variable components.
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Equity Value & Accessibility — All‑employee share plans in the UK and a U.S. employee stock purchase plan indicate broad access to equity as part of total reward. Company communications highlight attractive bonus and share plans that add meaningful upside beyond base pay.
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Healthcare Strength — U.S. roles indicate strong health insurance and core protections, while official materials and country overviews reference private medical coverage and wellbeing support. These elements position the health package as a notable strength alongside cash compensation.
Oxford Nanopore Technologies Insights
What We Do
Our goal is to enable the analysis of anything, anywhere, by anyone. We have developed the world’s first and only nanopore DNA and RNA sequencing platform. It’s a new generation of sequencing technology — the only one to offer: scalability to portable or ultra-high throughput formats, real-time data delivery, and the ability to elucidate rich biological data. We are aiming to disrupt the way that biological analyses are currently performed, and open up new applications that have a profound, positive impact on society. Our devices offer real-time analysis, for rapid insights, in fully scalable formats — from pocket to population scale — and the technology is being used in more than 100 countries worldwide. Founded in 2005 as a spin-out from the University of Oxford, the company now employs more than 600 people from multiple disciplines including nanopore science, molecular biology and applications, informatics, engineering, electronics, manufacturing and commercialisation. The management team, led by CEO Dr Gordon Sanghera, has a track record of delivering disruptive technologies to the market.
