Associate Director Corporate Development in London

The Associate Director, Corporate Development will play a key role in shaping and executing the company's long-term growth strategy. The successful candidate will focus on identifying, developing, and managing strategic partnerships that expand the organisation's capabilities, market access, and commercial opportunities. Working closely with the executive leadership team, this individual will lead initiatives spanning corporate strategy, strategic alliances, market intelligence, and mergers and acquisitions.

This role requires a commercially astute and analytically rigorous professional with the ability to assess new growth opportunities, cultivate and manage high-value external relationships, lead proactive partner engagement, negotiate collaboration agreements, and drive strategic projects from concept through to execution. The successful candidate will work cross-functionally with commercial, finance, operations, product, and scientific teams to maximise partnership value and deliver sustainable business growth.

Key Responsibilities

• Corporate Strategy & Growth
  • Support the development and execution of the company's corporate growth strategy.
  • Conduct market assessments, competitive analysis, and strategic evaluations to identify new growth opportunities.
  • Build business cases and strategic recommendations for investments, partnerships, collaborations, and expansion initiatives.
  • Contribute to long-term strategic planning alongside the executive leadership team.
• Strategic Partnerships & Alliances
  • Lead the identification, outreach, and origination of strategic partnership opportunities across pharmaceutical, biotechnology, healthcare technology, diagnostics, AI, and digital health sectors.
  • Build and maintain a robust pipeline of prospective partners and strategic collaborators.
  • Evaluate and prioritise partnership opportunities that strengthen the organisation's capabilities, commercial positioning, market reach, or access to new technologies and customer channels.
  • Develop and present compelling partnership propositions and integration opportunities to external stakeholders.
  • Support commercial negotiations and the structuring of partnership agreements.
  • Manage strategic alliances post-signature, ensuring effective governance, strong relationship management, and delivery against shared objectives.
  • Design and oversee structured partner programmes, including co-development and joint innovation initiatives, establishing governance frameworks, shared roadmaps, and measurable success metrics.
• Strategic Projects
  • Lead high-impact strategic initiatives from inception through execution.
  • Coordinate cross-functional teams to ensure successful and timely delivery of business-critical objectives.
  • Drive alignment across commercial, operational, scientific, and product functions.
• Market & Industry Intelligence
  • Monitor industry trends, emerging technologies, and competitive developments across precision medicine, AI, digital health, medical imaging, and clinical research.
  • Deliver actionable insights and recommendations to support executive decision-making.
  • Maintain awareness of market dynamics, emerging opportunities, and potential risks impacting the business.
• Mergers & Acquisitions
  • Identify and evaluate potential acquisition targets, strategic investments, and inorganic growth opportunities.
  • Coordinate and support commercial, operational, and financial due diligence activities.
  • Develop financial models, valuation analyses, and transaction materials to inform investment decisions.
  • Support integration planning and post-transaction execution where appropriate.
• Executive Reporting & Stakeholder Engagement
  • Prepare presentations, reports, dashboards, and strategic materials for executive leadership and the Board.
  • Communicate strategic analyses and recommendations clearly and effectively to senior stakeholders.
  • Support discussions with investors, partners, and other strategic external stakeholders as required.

Candidate Profile

• Essential Experience & Qualifications
  • Bachelor's, Master's, or PhD in a relevant discipline such as STEM, Life Sciences, Business, Finance, or Economics.
  • Experience within corporate development, corporate strategy, investment banking, management consulting, private equity, venture capital, or M&A advisory.
  • Prior exposure to life sciences, healthcare, biotechnology, medtech, digital health, AI, or CRO environments is strongly preferred.
  • Demonstrated experience delivering complex strategic or cross-functional initiatives, with exposure to business development, strategic partnerships, or alliance management.
  • Strong analytical, commercial, and financial modelling skills.
  • Ability to evaluate market opportunities and translate analysis into strategic recommendations.
  • Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and relationship-building capabilities, with confidence engaging senior executives and external partners.
  • Proven ability to originate partnership opportunities, build trusted alliances, and coordinate internal and external stakeholders to drive successful collaborations.
  • Highly organised with excellent project management and prioritisation skills.
  • Comfortable operating within a fast-paced, evolving, and entrepreneurial environment.
  • Proactive, detail-oriented, and results-driven, with exceptional written and verbal communication skills.
• Desirable
  • MBA or equivalent commercial or strategic qualification.
  • Experience working within AI-enabled healthcare, precision medicine, advanced analytics, or clinical technology businesses.
  • Exposure to strategic transactions, licensing, or partnership agreements within the life sciences ecosystem.

Please apply within or send an updated email to agreatorex@barringto njames.com