Business Development Associate

MRI Global • Kansas City, MO

1d

About The Position

MRIGlobal’s Commercial Business Development team identifies, qualifies, and captures new business opportunities aligned with the organization’s multidisciplinary capabilities. The Business Development Associate supports growth in the pharmaceutical sciences business through research, prospecting, outreach preparation, pipeline discipline, coordination, and follow-through. This is an individual contributor role reporting to the Senior Director of Commercial Business Development. Senior business development professionals remain the primary relationship owners and lead discovery, solution development, negotiation, and closing, while the Associate helps generate qualified opportunities and prepare customer engagements. As the Associate builds capability and demonstrates readiness, opportunities may arise to take on increased ownership of prospecting and initial customer engagement.

Success in the role includes engaging relevant pharmaceutical and biotechnology prospects, converting early interactions into qualified opportunities, preparing senior business development leaders for customer conversations, advancing opportunities, and maintaining an accurate view of commercial activity and pipeline in Salesforce. The Associate collaborates with business development, marketing, scientific, program, quality, contracts, finance, and operations teams.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in life sciences, chemistry, business, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Working knowledge of the pharmaceutical development lifecycle—including preclinical development, IND activities, and Phase 1–3 clinical development—and related services such as CMC, GMP, and clinical supply, or demonstrated ability to learn these areas quickly.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to draft concise, professional, audience-specific outreach.
• Strong research and analytical skills, including the ability to synthesize company, market, pipeline, funding, and competitive information into practical business development insights.
• Ability to prioritize and manage multiple follow-ups, meetings, deliverables, and deadlines with strong attention to detail.
• Experience with Salesforce or another CRM platform and proficiency with Microsoft Office applications.
• Ability to work collaboratively across scientific, operational, and business teams while taking ownership of assigned work.
• Curiosity and coachability, with an interest in learning the science and business and applying feedback quickly.
• Persistence, resourcefulness, and judgment to follow up professionally, work through obstacles, and find useful information independently.
• Strong organization, attention to detail, accurate recordkeeping, timely follow-through, and ability to keep priorities visible.
• Effective listening and communication skills, adaptability to different audiences, and ability to produce clear, thoughtful, professional materials.
• Collaborative approach that builds trust across functions while remaining accountable for individual responsibilities.
• Data- and results-oriented approach, including use of activity and market information to prioritize effort and improve execution.
• Comfort working in a fast-paced environment and managing varied tasks and deadlines simultaneously.

Nice To Haves

• Experience supporting business development, marketing, sales, account management, or customer engagement activities.
• Experience in pharmaceutical development, biotechnology, life sciences, contract research, or another technically complex market.
• Experience using public sources and industry databases to research companies, funding, pipelines, clinical programs, or competitive activity.
• Familiarity with prospecting tools, digital outreach, conference preparation, proposal coordination, or commercial reporting.

Responsibilities

• Research, identify, and prioritize pharmaceutical and biotechnology prospects based on funding, pipelines, partnerships, clinical progress, and market trends.
• Prepare company profiles, account briefs, target lists, and decision-maker research to support outreach and qualification.
• Draft personalized outreach and follow-up materials for review and approval by business development leadership.
• Execute approved outreach, conference prospecting, and follow-up across multiple channels, tracking responses, qualification status, and next steps in Salesforce.
• Support lead generation and opportunity qualification by identifying potential customer needs, coordinating discovery preparation, and ensuring timely follow-up on prospect interactions.
• Maintain accurate CRM and pipeline data and prepare routine activity and opportunity reports.
• Coordinate customer and technical meetings, including briefs, logistics, notes, action items, and follow-through.
• Support ROMs, proposals, and commercial agreements by gathering inputs, tracking progress, and escalating delays.
• Track client commitments, key dates, risks, and growth opportunities, and connect clients with appropriate internal teams.
• Develop knowledge of MRIGlobal’s capabilities, pharmaceutical development, CMC, GMP, customer segments, and commercial processes.
• Collaborate across Business Development, Marketing, scientific, program, quality, contracts, finance, and operations teams to advance opportunities.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level