Director of Business Development
Turbine · Remote · $220,000–$260,000 (stated in the posting)
Join our team as a Director of Business Development and help virtualize biological experiments to accelerate discovery!
Location: Remote - US East Coast
Reports to: Chief Business Officer
Travel: Up to 30%
About Turbine
A lab without limits, built for biopharma.
Turbine’s Virtual Lab (vLab®) enables scientists to run Virtual Assays across millions of biological conditions far beyond traditional laboratory throughput. Instead of narrowing hypotheses to fit experimental constraints, scientists can explore the broader biological search space computationally before deciding what to validate in the wet lab. Turbine doesn’t replace the wet lab. It makes every experiment count. Through an integrated lab-in-the-loop workflow, virtual findings become testable hypotheses, with validation results feeding back to strengthen subsequent predictions within the workflow.
In deployed programs, Turbine has reduced decision timelines from 12-18 months to approximately two months while cutting wet-lab experiments by more than 50%.
Working with scientists at leading biopharma like MSD (Merck & Co.), AstraZeneca and Bayer, Turbine’s virtual assays have rationalized experiments across more than 30 discovery programs.
Backed by leading tech and industry investors like Accel, MSD Global Health Innovation Fund, Interactive Venture Partners and Beiersdorf, Turbine is turning biology into an engineering discipline.
The Role
As we scale our commercial organization, we are looking for a Director of Business Development to drive new business growth across leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.
Turbine's Virtual Cell technology and Virtual Lab platform enable pharmaceutical researchers to explore biology through AI-powered virtual experimentation, generating predictions and insights that inform drug discovery and development decisions.
The Director of Business Development will be responsible for identifying, developing and closing commercial opportunities across Turbine's portfolio, from initial customer engagement through deal signature.
This is a customer-facing, revenue-generating role requiring a proactive approach to business development, a strong understanding of pharmaceutical R&D and the ability to translate sophisticated scientific capabilities into compelling commercial value.
The successful candidate will develop relationships with scientific, technology and business leaders interested in integrating Virtual Assays into their R&D workflows.
They will work closely with Turbine's Business Development, Marketing, Product and Scientific teams to develop opportunities ranging from focused discovery projects to broader enterprise platform agreements.
The position offers significant autonomy and direct access to executive leadership, while operating as part of a collaborative commercial team.
Key Responsibilities
1. New Business Development & Revenue Growth
- Proactively identify, originate and close new commercial opportunities with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.
- Own the end-to-end sales cycle, from initial outreach and qualification through solution development, proposal, negotiation and contract signature.
- Generate qualified pipeline through targeted prospecting, existing industry relationships, inbound opportunities, conferences and coordinated marketing activities.
- Build relationships with scientific, computational biology, technology and R&D decision-makers.
- Identify customer challenges and develop compelling value propositions around Turbine's Virtual Lab products and Virtual Assays.
- Drive new project and screening engagements that establish a foundation for broader customer relationships and future enterprise licenses.
- Consistently achieve or exceed individual sales and pipeline targets.
2. Strategic Account Development & Expansion
- Develop and execute account plans for priority pharmaceutical and biotechnology customers.
- Build relationships across multiple functions, therapeutic areas and levels of seniority within target accounts.
- Identify opportunities to expand initial project engagements into broader enterprise license agreements and long-term platform adoption.
- Develop long-term, value-based customer relationships that support repeat business and strategic growth.
- Engage senior customer stakeholders and executive sponsors to advance complex opportunities.
- Collaborate with Turbine's executive leadership on large strategic opportunities and enterprise agreements.
- Maintain commercial ownership of assigned accounts and opportunities, coordinating with scientific delivery teams to identify expansion potential.
3. Deal Strategy, Negotiation & Commercial Execution
- Lead the development, structuring and negotiation of commercial agreements.
- Work with Product, Scientific and Delivery teams to define customer requirements, project scope, deliverables and commercial value.
- Develop business cases and pricing proposals, aligning Turbine's pricing tools and commercial strategy with customer needs.
- Evaluate deal economics, commercial risks and strategic value.
- Coordinate cross-functional input from Legal, Finance, Product and Delivery to progress opportunities efficiently.
- Represent the voice of the customer internally, ensuring commercial proposals reflect customer priorities and practical R&D applications.
- Manage complex, multi-stakeholder negotiations through contract execution.
4. Pipeline Development & Sales Performance
- Maintain a strong, qualified pipeline sufficient to achieve individual revenue targets.
- Develop and execute structured prospecting and account engagement plans.
- Maintain accurate opportunity records, forecasts and customer interactions in Turbine's CRM.
- Track and manage opportunities through defined sales stages, identifying risks and actions required to advance deals.
- Use pipeline analytics and conversion metrics to continuously improve commercial performance.
- Collaborate with Sales Operations to maintain forecasting accuracy, CRM discipline and consistent sales processes.
- Take ownership of individual performance, with a proactive and results-oriented approach to opportunity creation and deal progression.
5. Market Intelligence & Commercial Strategy
- Maintain a strong understanding of pharmaceutical R&D priorities, technology adoption trends and emerging commercial opportunities.
- Monitor developments in AI-enabled drug discovery, virtual biology, scientific software and computational R&D platforms.
- Track relevant competitors, licensing trends, partnership models and emerging business models in TechBio.
- Identify new customer segments, therapeutic applications and market opportunities for Turbine's technology.
- Provide customer and market insights to inform product development, positioning, pricing and commercial strategy.
- Contribute to the evolution of Turbine's go-to-market approach based on customer feedback and market experience.
6. Cross-Functional Collaboration & Market Representation
- Work closely with Marketing to develop effective customer-facing presentations, sales materials, case studies and campaigns.
- Collaborate with Product and Scientific teams to translate technical capabilities into customer value propositions.
- Coordinate scientific expertise for customer discussions, workshops and technical evaluations.
- Represent Turbine at relevant industry conferences, scientific meetings and executive-level engagements.
- Build Turbine's reputation as a credible and innovative partner within the pharmaceutical R&D ecosystem.
- Contribute to a collaborative Business Development team through knowledge sharing, account insights and best practices.
Requirements
Qualifications & Experience
Required
- Master's degree or higher in a life science discipline or closely related scientific field.
- 7+ years of relevant commercial experience, including business development, enterprise sales or strategic account development within biopharma, drug discovery or scientific technology.
- Demonstrated understanding of AI/ML-enabled technologies applied to pharmaceutical research and drug discovery.
- Experience working in or closely with drug discovery or early-stage drug development organizations.
- Proven experience selling scientific technologies, AI-enabled platforms, software or services to pharmaceutical R&D stakeholders.
- Demonstrated track record of independently originating, structuring, negotiating and closing complex commercial agreements.
- Proven ability to achieve or exceed individual sales targets.
- Experience developing initial customer engagements into broader enterprise licensing relationships.
- Strong understanding of the biopharma R&D ecosystem, including technology, data and service providers.
- Experience developing business cases, evaluating deal economics and structuring commercial proposals.
- Strong pipeline management, forecasting and CRM skills.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate complex scientific concepts and articulate business value.
- Ability to independently develop and execute strategic account plans and manage multiple customer stakeholders.
- Demonstrated ability to collaborate and influence across Product, Scientific, Delivery, Legal and Finance teams.
- Willingness and ability to travel up to 30%.
Preferred
- Established network within pharmaceutical R&D, computational biology, translational research or drug discovery.
- Experience selling AI-enabled drug discovery platforms, computational biology solutions or scientific software.
- Experience structuring complex enterprise technology or platform licensing agreements.
- Familiarity with pharmaceutical R&D procurement, contracting and technology evaluation processes.
- Experience converting initial scientific projects into multi-program enterprise license agreements and long-term platform partnerships.
- Experience using HubSpot or a comparable CRM platform.
- Experience operating in a high-growth, venture-backed biotechnology or technology company.
You are a Turbiner if You:
- Are curious and self-aware: You actively seek to understand new scientific and commercial challenges and maintain a growth mindset.
- Continuously improve: You welcome feedback, adapt your approach and apply learnings to achieve better outcomes.
- Take ownership: You are independently motivated, proactive and accountable for delivering meaningful results.
- Collaborate constructively: You engage in thoughtful, respectful discussion and work across disciplines to achieve the strongest scientific and business outcomes.
- Think commercially: You connect scientific innovation to customer needs, business value and measurable impact.
- Thrive in ambiguity: You are comfortable operating in a fast-moving environment, identifying opportunities and creating momentum without requiring extensive direction.
Benefits
Compensation:
Base salary: $220K - $260K, OTE: $260-$300K
Benefits:
- HO allowance $410: You can spend your amount within your first 6 months. Purchase the item for your home office (desk, ergonomic chair, router, etc.).
- 401(k) with company match
- Comprehensive medical coverage, dental, and vision options
- You are also eligible for 20 paid vacation days each calendar year accrued per pay period plus 8 days of paid sick leave per calendar year