Senior Director, Business Development

Structure Therapeutics•South San Francisco, CA

1d•$254,000 - $321,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Structure Therapeutics develops life-changing medicines for patients using advanced structure-based and computational drug discovery technology. The company’s platform combines the latest advancements in visualization of molecular interactions, computational chemistry, and data integration to design orally available, superior small molecule medicines that overcome current limitations of biologic and peptide drugs. We are advancing a clinical-stage pipeline of differentiated treatments focused on chronic diseases with high unmet need, including cardiovascular, metabolic, and pulmonary conditions. Structure Therapeutics is led by an experienced group of international drug innovators and financed by top-tier global life sciences investors. The company completed an initial public offering (IPO) in February 2023. With offices in California and Shanghai, Structure Therapeutics has the benefit of being at the center of life science innovation in both the US and China and capitalizing on the strengths of each geographic location. Structure Therapeutics is seeking a Senior Director, Business Development to support the company’s strategic growth through high-impact external innovation, in-licensing, partnering, and transaction execution. This individual will play a key role in identifying, evaluating, and advancing business development opportunities that align with Structure’s therapeutic strategy and pipeline priorities. The ideal candidate will bring deep business development transaction experience, particularly from the sell side, with a strong understanding of pharmaceutical and biotechnology deal processes, asset positioning, diligence, valuation, and partner engagement. Dedicated sell-side experience involving lung disease, including idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, pulmonary arterial hypertension, or broader fibrosis indications, is a strong plus. This individual should have an established external network across biotechnology, pharmaceutical companies, investors, bankers, advisors, academic innovators, and other relevant ecosystem participants, and be able to proactively leverage that network to identify high-quality opportunities, access decision-makers, and generate actionable market intelligence. Experience in metabolic disease is also highly valued. This role requires a highly strategic and execution-oriented professional who can operate with a high degree of independence. The successful candidate will be a self-starter who can build structure around ambiguous opportunities, drive workstreams without heavy supervision, and move opportunities from initial identification through strategic assessment, diligence, recommendation, and execution. Strong scientific and clinical development fluency is critical, including the ability to understand disease biology, mechanism of action, preclinical and clinical data, development strategy, regulatory considerations, competitive positioning, and potential clinical differentiation.

Requirements

Advanced degree in life sciences, medicine, business, or a related field preferred; MBA, PhD, MD, PharmD, or equivalent experience strongly valued.
10+ years of relevant experience in biotechnology, pharmaceutical business development, corporate development, investment banking, venture capital, strategy consulting, or a related field.
Significant sell-side business development or transaction advisory experience, ideally involving biotechnology or pharmaceutical assets.
Demonstrated experience supporting or leading out-licensing, in-licensing, strategic partnership, collaboration, acquisition, or asset transaction processes.
Established network across the biopharma ecosystem, including biotechnology companies, pharmaceutical companies, investors, bankers, advisors, academic institutions, scientific founders, and key opinion leaders.
Proven ability to proactively source opportunities, develop relationships, generate deal flow, and engage external counterparties at senior levels.
Strong understanding of drug development, including translational research, preclinical data, clinical development strategy, trial design, regulatory considerations, competitive positioning, and clinical differentiation.
Ability to critically evaluate scientific rationale, mechanism of action, clinical data, development plans, and therapeutic area fit in collaboration with internal subject matter experts.
Experience in lung disease, including IPF, PAH, pulmonary fibrosis, or broader fibrosis-related indications, is highly preferred.
Experience in metabolic disease, cardiometabolic disease, obesity, diabetes, or related therapeutic areas is a plus.
Proven ability to synthesize complex scientific, clinical, financial, and strategic information into actionable recommendations.
Strong executive presence, communication skills, and ability to influence across functions and levels of seniority.
Excellent analytical, financial, presentation, and project management skills.
Demonstrated ability to operate independently, take initiative, structure ambiguous problems, and drive projects forward with limited oversight.
Ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial biotechnology environment with shifting priorities and high standards for execution.

Nice To Haves

Prior role in biotechnology or pharmaceutical business development with direct involvement in deal execution.
Investment banking, sell-side advisory, or transaction-focused experience supporting life sciences companies.
Hands-on experience preparing partnering materials, management presentations, valuation models, diligence materials, and transaction documentation.
Strong, active external network that can be leveraged for sourcing opportunities, market intelligence, expert input, and partner engagement.
Experience evaluating clinical-stage or late preclinical assets in pulmonary, fibrotic, or metabolic diseases.
Scientific, clinical development, or R&D strategy experience that supports independent assessment of therapeutic opportunities and development risk.
Track record of independently originating, advancing, or materially contributing to business development opportunities.

Responsibilities

Provide sell-side expertise to help position assets, evaluate partnering strategies, and structure compelling external narratives for potential collaborators or counterparties.
Proactively source and identify licensing opportunities and external innovation aligned with Structure Therapeutics’ strategic priorities, leveraging an established network of biopharma executives, investors, bankers, advisors, academic institutions, and other industry participants.
Build and maintain productive relationships with biotechnology companies, pharmaceutical partners, venture investors, investment banks, scientific founders, key opinion leaders, and other external stakeholders to generate proprietary or differentiated deal flow.
Support the identification, assessment, and execution of external innovation, in-licensing, partnering, and transaction opportunities.
Lead or contribute to business development workstreams, including opportunity sourcing, strategic assessment, competitive landscape analysis, valuation, diligence, and transaction support.
Independently drive business development projects from initial opportunity screening through internal recommendation, coordinating cross-functional input and maintaining momentum across multiple parallel workstreams.
Apply scientific and clinical development judgment to evaluate asset quality, mechanism of action, translational rationale, clinical data packages, development plans, regulatory paths, and differentiation versus current and emerging standards of care.
Partner closely with cross-functional teams to conduct scientific, clinical, commercial, financial, legal, and intellectual property diligence.
Prepare high-quality presentations, investment memos, opportunity assessments, valuation analyses, diligence summaries, and recommendations for senior leadership and governance discussions.
Support negotiations, term sheet development, transaction structuring, and execution of licensing, collaboration, acquisition, or other strategic partnership agreements.
Monitor industry trends, emerging science, clinical readouts, competitive activity, financing activity, deal flow, and innovation across relevant therapeutic areas.
Serve as a trusted business development partner to internal stakeholders, bringing strategic perspective, transaction execution discipline, scientific fluency, and strong ownership.