Senior Director, Business Development Pharma AI

Basecamp Research • Boston, MA

3d • Hybrid

About The Position

Basecamp Research is seeking a Senior Director, Business Development Pharma AI to build and lead strategic commercial relationships with global pharmaceutical companies. This role is crucial as AI becomes central to drug discovery, and companies with diverse training data will lead the field. The Senior Director will own the full lifecycle of enterprise relationships, from initial engagement to negotiating and executing multi-year collaborations covering AI, data access, and biological platform partnerships. The ideal candidate will understand pharma's AI strategy, external innovation, and data infrastructure, with a proven track record in TechBio, AI, or life sciences platforms, translating complex capabilities into commercially viable propositions.

Requirements

• 8+ years of experience in business development, strategic alliances, enterprise partnerships, or commercial strategy within the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, or AI/ML-driven life sciences sector.
• Proven track record of building and closing high-value, complex strategic partnerships with global pharmaceutical organizations at the enterprise level (multi-year platform or data collaborations, not transactional licensing).
• Deep familiarity with how major pharma companies approach AI and external innovation, including computational platforms, training data procurement, foundation model development, and strategic data partnerships.
• Credible scientific or technical fluency in AI/ML applied to drug discovery, computational biology, genomics, or related fields.
• Strong executive presence and comfort operating at the C-Suite and VP level with sophisticated, scientifically literate counterparts at global pharma companies.
• Experience designing and negotiating non-standard, creative deal structures.
• Based in the Boston, MA or London, UK with willingness to travel internationally for key partner engagements and conferences.

Nice To Haves

• Prior experience in a TechBio, BioPharma, AI drug discovery, or AI data company in a BD, partnerships or commercial role.
• Existing senior network within global pharma R&D, computational biology, or AI strategy functions at major pharmaceutical companies.
• Familiarity with the economics and commercial architecture of therapeutic licensing and AI-pharma partnerships.
• Background in a high-growth, early-stage environment where you have built partnership motion, commercial infrastructure, or team capability from the ground up.
• Exposure to biodiversity, genomics, protein design, or related frontier biology.
• Advanced degree (PhD, MBA, or equivalent) in a relevant scientific or business discipline.

Responsibilities

• Own Basecamp Research’s global pharma partnership strategy, identifying intersections between biological AI, BaseData, and therapeutic drug discovery capabilities with pharma R&D and AI strategies.
• Develop and execute a playbook for enterprise relationships with global pharma, including target identification, value proposition design, and long-term partnership management.
• Monitor pharma's evolving AI in drug discovery approaches (build vs. buy vs. partner, training data procurement, computational platform partnerships) and position Basecamp Research accordingly.
• Identify and develop novel commercial models for enterprise pharma, such as multi-year platform access agreements, co-development of biological foundation models, exclusive data collaboration windows, and milestone-linked R&D partnerships.
• Build and manage C-Suite, Chief Scientist, and VP R&D relationships at priority pharmaceutical accounts, serving as Basecamp Research’s senior commercial representative.
• Lead the full deal lifecycle for enterprise pharma transactions, including opportunity origination, commercial structuring, scientific scoping, term sheet negotiation, and contract execution.
• Design creative, balanced deal structures for long-term relationships, including multi-year data access tiers, co-development economics, milestone and royalty arrangements, exclusivity provisions, and equity components.
• Maintain a disciplined partnership pipeline, ensuring rigorous forecasting and deal velocity.
• Translate Basecamp Research’s biological and AI capabilities into clear value propositions for pharma R&D audiences.
• Collaborate with science, product, and engineering teams to ensure technical grounding of partnerships and to inform the platform roadmap with partner requirements.
• Represent the voice of global pharma customers internally, translating their needs for biological AI and biodiversity data into product, data, and capability priorities.
• Produce high-quality partner-facing materials, scientific narratives, and commercial proposals.
• Represent Basecamp Research at life sciences and AI conferences and industry forums to cultivate networks and generate inbound interest.
• Contribute to Basecamp Research’s external positioning and thought leadership at the intersection of biological AI, biodiversity data, and drug discovery.
• Help build the commercial foundation for a growing enterprise partnerships function, contributing to hiring, process design, and team culture.

Benefits

• Competitive salary
• Equity
• Pension plan
• Healthcare so strong that most employees' family members opt into our plan over their own
• Twice yearly promotion opportunities
• Personal development
• Real ownership

What This Job Offers

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