Sr. Director / VP, Business Development

Manifold Bio•Boston, MA

4d•$250,000 - $350,000

About The Position

Manifold Bio is seeking an experienced business development leader to source, structure, and close strategic partnerships. The role sits at the intersection of AI-guided protein design and biopharma partnering, helping determine how tissue-targeted medicines reach patients. The business development leader will convert the company’s platform and programs into partnerships that drive Manifold’s value, leading sourcing and negotiations with pharma and biotech partners across research collaborations, platform licenses, co-development deals, and asset-level transactions. The position owns the full deal cycle, from lead generation and initial pitches through term sheets and signed definitive agreements. The ideal candidate brings strategic deal insight and hands-on transaction skills, can communicate the value of platforms and assets to scientific and business audiences, and can negotiate firmly while sustaining long-term partner relationships. The role reports to the COO and requires learning the science deeply enough to make the platform compelling to partners.

Requirements

Hold an advanced degree (MS, PhD, PharmD, JD, MBA) or have equivalent experience.
Have a deep rolodex of relationships with pharma business development and search-and-evaluation teams.
Have 10+ years of experience in biopharma business development, transactions, or life sciences transactional law.
Have a deal sheet and clear ownership from identifying partners and building relationships through converting outreach into signed transactions.
Have served as lead negotiator on multiple signed biopharma collaboration and license agreements, from term sheet through definitive agreement.
Have deep command of platform biopharma deal structures, market terms, and IP issues.
Understand platform technologies and drug discovery science well enough to craft pitches and translate them into deal terms.
Bring sound judgment, composure, and clear written and verbal communication to high-stakes negotiations.
Be comfortable in a fast-moving startup, setting strategy one day and doing hands-on work the next.

Nice To Haves

Transaction experience in biologics, antibody, delivery or shuttle technologies, or oligonucleotide therapeutics.
Experience partnering targeting and delivery platforms (e.g., AAV capsids, BBB shuttles, conjugate/delivery systems, radioligand targeting moieties), where the platform remains a component of the partner’s final drug product.
Experience in both big pharma and biotech startups.
Familiarity with asset spin-outs or NewCo structures.
Experience building transaction processes, templates, and playbooks at a growing company.

Responsibilities

Drive lead generation with leadership and represent Manifold externally, including at BIO, JPM, and partnering meetings.
Build and manage the partnering pipeline, mapping target partners for each shuttle and payload combination.
Lead term sheet negotiations across research collaborations, platform and target licenses, options, co-development and co-commercialization deals, and asset sales.
Structure deal economics, balancing near-term cash with long-term value.
Build or critically review deal valuation models and bring financial fluency to transactions.
Protect Manifold’s platform in every deal by defining what partners license and what Manifold retains.
Run end-to-end transaction processes, from internal approvals and due diligence through timelines and cross-functional coordination with R&D, IP, finance, and leadership.
Partner with alliance management, legal, and R&D after signing to make collaborations successful.
Advise leadership and the board on deal strategy, market terms, and comparable transactions.