Senior Business Development Manager

The Senior Business Development Manager

The Senior Business Development Manager is primarily responsible to contribute to a high performing team environment defined by a culture of commitment, collaboration, learning and dedication to excellence. Lead by example to demonstrate the importance of team culture and environment to more junior team members. Consistent achievement of net new business target for assigned territory / accounts on an annual basis. Annual target of US$15m – US$25m.

Ability to run complex, strategic opportunities (e.g., MSA and commercial term negotiations) with detailed account and deal planning, originating at the qualification stage through bid Defense conduct. Ability to negotiate budgets, contracts, escalations etc. Contributor to initiatives, process improvements, lessons learned, team meetings etc. Senior BDMs will be increasingly self-sufficient, while contributing more to team outcomes via mentoring, strategic insights, initiative ownership etc.

Responsibilities:

Team Involvement And Support

Business Development team follow a set of principles based on open engagement, transparency, integrity, collaboration, learning, and dedication to excellence. It is an absolute requirement that all team members conduct themselves in the spirit of these principles and always out the interests of the team, clients, the Business Development department, and Novotech before their own interests.

Core Responsibilities Include:

• Contribute to, team meetings, lessons learned sessions, and training.
• Facilitate growth and development opportunities for the team, not only in formal settings, but by listening, engaging and asking questions in all interactions, meetings and 1-2-1s.
• Commit to always delivering work (including emails and formal documentation) you believe to be of the highest possible quality.
• Support more junior team members (including in Client Ops, PBC, other departments, functions) to ensure they understand expectations and help them in meeting them.
• Treat all individuals and parties, both internal and external, with respect and courtesy.
• Always conduct yourself in a professional and cordial manner when representing Novotech and this team.
• Embrace open engagement by providing constructive feedback and suggestions regardless of position or seniority.
• Take all available opportunities to share knowledge and offer support to teammates.

Learning & Development

All members of the BD team must develop deep clinical trial and industry knowledge in order to position themselves as ‘clinical development consultants’ to our clients and prospective clients. Business Development Managers must show a more in-depth knowledge across all key areas and ability to use this knowledge to engage and educate clients and prospective clients. They must demonstrate an ability to use all our internal expertise, experience and services to truly help clients reach their goals, objectives and milestones.

Senior Business Development Managers will support content development and provide input and suggestions on areas of focus. They will also become actively involved in arranging and delivering training sessions.

Key Areas Of Focus Include:

• Biotech industry knowledge – BD Training Plan, Industry Newsletters.
• Clinical trial industry knowledge - BD Training Plan, Industry Newsletters, Internal Resources.
• Therapeutic area and modality knowledge across key areas of focus for Novotech – BD Training Plan.
• Asia-Pacific clinical trial landscape – Country Playbooks, Marketing Material, Internal Resources.
• Novotech knowledge – BD Training Plan, Marketing Material, Proposals, FAQs, Internal Resources.
• Sales process – BD Playbook.

Sales Funnel Management

Key to meeting annual sales targets is ensuring an adequate funnel of new opportunities. BDAs will work with marketing and their line manager to ensure this funnel is adequately filled and nurtured. While line managers will support, BDMs must demonstrate an understanding of what an ideal customer profile for Novotech is and an in depth understanding of their territory by providing feedback, thoughts and recommendations on target accounts.

BDMs and particularly Senior BDMs will demonstrate their industry knowledge and initiative by providing insight on their territories, advise and recommendations on conferences, and run / manage local events.

Territory / Account Planning

• Assess assigned accounts based on grading methodology. Review with line manager during regular 1-2-1 meetings.
• Develop an annual territory / account plan and present to management. This will be a living document, updated regularly.
• Conduct research (or review if provided by sales enablement team) on assigned accounts to understand funding, investors, board members, team members, therapeutic area, modality, stage of development, development history etc. as per BD Playbook.
• Identify connections and opportunities based on this internal research and plans for client nurturing and engagement.
• Follow prospecting processes and track all activity in SF.com to meet agreed sales funnel (pre-RFP) KPIs.
• Utilize SF.com and industry data sources to capture insights on accounts, pipeline opportunities, and specific deals.
• Report on activity, progress, and challenges to line manager on a weekly basis.
• Work closely marketing to ensure an enough flow of qualified, active accounts are received to meet KPIs and annual targets. Report challenges or concerns to line manager.
• Read industry news regularly to identify market trends and new targets. Share insights with manager, marketing and across the team.

Pre-Rfp Client Engagement

• Meet with assigned accounts prior to receipt of any RFP.
• Review previous research and create a client meeting plan in line with BD Playbook with the objective of understanding as much as you can about the account / client including their objectives, plans, preferences etc.
• Educate clients on potential advantages of Asia-Pacific as it relates to their company objectives and clinical development plans.
• Seek continued engagement with available Novotech resources and expertise (Feasibility, BioDesk, Medical).
• Understand key client drivers and decision-making criteria for any forthcoming opportunities.
• Work with marketing to nurture accounts between meetings and receipt of RFP.
• Utilize SF.com to track all calls / meetings, record key client information and review activity and next steps with line manager during regular 1-2-1 meetings.

Marketing Activities

• Review conference plan with marketing and line manager and provide insight and recommendations on approach, customer targets, messaging and customer events.
• Speak at an industry conference at least annually as agreed with manager.
• Identify new potential conferences for attendance and/or local events and provide recommendations to marketing.
• Support marketing activities for therapeutically aligned conferences.
• Maximize effectiveness of all marketing campaigns through thorough advance prospecting.
• Report on outcomes and effectiveness of marketing campaigns / events through SF.com and set-up and/or maintain campaigns within SF.com as appropriate.

Rfp Management

Once an RFP is received, BDMs will be the primary point of contact, along with assigned Client Ops, for the client. They will act as the Project Manager or Scrum Master of the process, both internally and externally, to ensure engagement on both sides throughout. They will be responsible for the quality, relevance and timing of the final deliverable to the client and the outcome thereafter. They will take ownership and responsibility for outcomes.

• Review protocol / RFP / other documents received
• Follow RFP kick off process as outlined in BD Playbook
• Conduct an internal strategy call (where possible) to provide team with all available qualifying detail and key considerations to win the opportunity and align on next steps.
• Conduct alignment and strategy calls with client as per BD Playbook to guide content and key requirements of proposals.
• Review budgets and proposals in line with BD Playbook and checklists and ensure key messages and content is included and budget is in line with client expectations
• Manage proposal submissions, client follow up and engagement
• Prepare for and manage bid defence meetings as per BD Playbook
• Drive opportunities through resolution – won, lost or deferred.
• Oversee re-costing, follow up, contracting process
• Handover contracted opportunities to Operations with an enough detail to allow smooth start-up and effective client management
• Track and manage all stages of the opportunity via SF.com and provide weekly updates with accurate forecast details.

Current Clients

• Keep abreast of developments on studies for current clients, checking in both internally and with client periodically.
• Review status of current clients with Project Director and Customer Portfolio Director / Manager.
• Serve as a point of escalation for client concerns and join calls to address.
• Understand and report on current clients’ company objectives, milestones, plans and priorities across their full pipeline.
• Develop client relationships that position Novotech as their clinical development partner with global regulatory / drug development support and clinical reach.

Departmental Initiatives, Goals And Objectives

In line with the BD team’s ethos and culture, there is an expectation on everyone to take a team first mindset, with increasing expectations at more senior levels. BDMs and Senior BDMs who wish to progress to Associate Director / Director level must demonstrate a capacity to support others and progress the team, while also having the capability to manage their own workload and meet their own KPIs. This demonstrates leadership, maturity, and commitment.

Specifics may be discussed with our line manager but areas where the BDMs and Senior BDMs can contribute include:

• Contribute lessons learned on various sales strategies including but not limited to customer development approaches and/or win strategies against competitors at monthly meetings.
• Use experience and industry knowledge to identify areas for Novotech to target and work across teams to recycle information, develop case studies etc.
• Use experience and industry knowledge to develop new initiatives for a territory / therapeutic area.
• Lead other key BD initiatives as they arise.
• Support quality initiatives such as development of checklists, refresh of templates and material.
• Support content development for training modules.

Minimum Qualifications & Experience

• Graduate in a clinical or Life sciences related field.
• Relevant experience/qualifications in all aspects of CRO study management.
• In-depth understanding of clinical trial industry and market trends.
• In-depth understanding of biotech industry and market trends.
• In-depth understanding of Asia-Pacific clinical trial landscape and how it compares to other key markets (US, Europe).
• Understanding of clinical trial budgets, proposals, and contracts to facilitate both internal reviews and client discussions and negotiations.
• Can demonstrate cross-functional knowledge and expertise.
• Understanding of general sales approaches, methodologies, and processes.
• Proven track record in meeting targets and KPIs.
• Proven track record in executing company/department strategies.
• Proven track record in problem-solving, process improvement, and initiative execution.
• Ability to manage upwards (management reporting) and downwards (team coaching and support).
• Ability to lead teams to successful outcomes based on objective measures (KPIs).
• Ability to generate positive, affirmative team culture in line with Novotech BD team principles.

Novotech is a global full-service clinical Contract Research Organization (CRO).

Headquartered in Sydney, Australia, Novotech has 34 offices across Asia-Pacific, North America, and Europe. Novotech employs over 3000 employees and has over 5000 site partnerships and the resources and infrastructure to scale regionally and globally as clinical programs advance.

Novotech provides clinical development services across all clinical trial phases and therapeutic areas including feasibility assessments, ethics committee and regulatory submissions, data management, statistical analysis, medical monitoring, safety solutions, central lab services, report write-up to ICH requirements, project and vendor management. Novotech obtained the ISO 27001 certification which is the best-known standard in the ISO family providing requirements for an Information Security Management System. Together with the ISO 9001 Quality Management system, Novotech aims at the highest IT security and quality standards for patients and biotechnology companies.