Vice President, Life Sciences Sales - Global Corporate in London

GLG is seeking a tenacious, senior commercial leader to join our Healthcare & Life Sciences team, supporting pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, and diagnostics clients. The VP of Sales – Life Sciences is a senior, hunter-focused, individual contributor role on GLG’s Corporate Sales team and will play a critical part in GLG’s growth across EMEA. The role is responsible for originating and developing strategic partnerships across top 30 global pharmaceutical, biotech, medtech and diagnostics companies, as well as high‑growth innovators, and for materially increasing GLG’s share of wallet within these accounts. Based in London, this role will initially be a senior individual contributor position with clear potential to evolve into a player‑coach remit (building and leading a small team) as the business scales. At GLG you will have the opportunity to grow professionally while working in a collaborative, fast‑paced environment with high‑performing colleagues across Europe, the US, and globally.

Key Responsibilities

• Commercial Leadership & New Business Generation: Lead GLG’s life sciences new logo and expansion efforts in EMEA, with a specific focus on top‑tier pharma, biotech, medtech, and diagnostic clients. Own and execute a proactive hunting strategy: identify, qualify, and close high‑value opportunities across priority accounts and whitespace prospects. Develop and execute strategic account plans for your book of business, including multi‑year growth strategies, revenue targets, and clear action plans by stakeholder, product, and geography. Consistently build, manage, and convert a robust pipeline of opportunities, with strong discipline around qualification, forecasting, and deal progression.
• Senior Client Engagement & C‑Suite Relationship Building: Build, deepen, and institutionalise senior‑level relationships (Director, VP, SVP, C‑Suite) across R&D, Medical, Commercial, Market Access, Strategy, Business Development / Licensing, and Insights / Market Research. Serve as a trusted advisor to clients, articulating how GLG’s expert network, integrated solutions, and data & insights can address strategic, clinical, commercial, and operational challenges. Lead complex, multi‑stakeholder sales cycles, including enterprise‑level, cross‑functional agreements, multi‑year commitments, and global / regional frameworks. Prepare and deliver compelling, tailored pitches and proposals that clearly demonstrate ROI and differentiation versus alternative information & research providers.
• Territory & Account Strategy: Define and own a focused territory and account strategy for Life Sciences in the UK & broader EMEA, aligned with GLG’s growth priorities. Map key accounts end‑to‑end (functions, decision‑makers, budget owners, influencers), identifying expansion paths across brands, franchises, business units, and geographies. Partner closely with regional and global sales leadership to prioritise bets, structure commercial constructs, and align on pricing / negotiation strategy.
• Cross‑Functional Collaboration & Execution: Work closely with GLG project and client solutions teams to ensure flawless delivery against client needs, including expert consultations, surveys, and integrated solutions. Collaborate with research teams to identify emerging therapeutic areas, modalities, and technology trends where GLG can build differentiated offerings for life sciences clients. Coordinate with marketing to shape campaigns, events, and content tailored to priority accounts and segments; actively participate in industry conferences and GLG‑hosted events. Engage with internal stakeholders (legal, compliance, finance, operations, IT) to structure complex deals, manage risk, and enable scalable growth.
• Leadership & Future Team Building (Player‑Coach Evolution): Act as a senior commercial voice within the EMEA Healthcare & Life Sciences team, sharing best practices and supporting the development of more junior sales colleagues. Help define the future operating model for Life Sciences sales in London / EMEA, including input into hiring plans, territory design, and go‑to‑market approach. Over time, take on management responsibility for a small team of hunters / BDMs while maintaining direct ownership of key strategic accounts (“player‑coach” model).
• Operational Excellence & Governance: Maintain rigorous CRM hygiene: log activities, opportunities, and account plans; provide accurate, timely pipeline and forecasting updates to senior management. Track and report on key sales KPIs (pipeline coverage, win rates, sales cycle length, ACV, expansion, retention), using data to refine strategy and tactics. Stay up‑to‑date on pharmaceutical / biotech regulatory developments, market dynamics, and competitive landscape (including other expert networks and insight providers), and translate these into commercial opportunities. Travel regularly to client sites and industry events across the UK and EMEA to build and reinforce long‑term client partnerships.

Ideal Candidate Profile

• Bachelor’s degree or above; an advanced degree (e.g. MSc, PhD, MBA) and/or a life sciences‑related field (biology, chemistry, pharmacology, biomedical sciences) is strongly preferred.
• 7–10 years of professional experience, with the majority spent in quota‑carrying B2B sales / business development roles selling into pharmaceutical / biotech / medtech / diagnostics clients.
• Proven track record of hunting and closing new business with enterprise‑scale life sciences organisations, ideally across multiple EMEA markets.
• Experience selling knowledge, data, SaaS, consulting, market research, or analytics solutions to life sciences clients (e.g. expert networks, MR agencies, HEOR, RWE, or clinical / commercial data platforms).
• Demonstrated success managing complex, multi‑stakeholder sales cycles and negotiating significant contracts (six‑figure plus annual contract values; multi‑year agreements a plus).
• Strong understanding of the pharmaceutical and biotech value chain (from discovery and early development through clinical, regulatory, launch and lifecycle management), and how insight / information products support decision‑making at each stage.
• Experience with both new logo acquisition and expansion / cross‑sell / upsell within existing accounts; comfortable building “land & expand” strategies.
• Previous exposure to subscription, SaaS, or recurring revenue models, including experience with renewals and expansion of annual contracts.
• Outstanding written and verbal communication and presentation skills; able to engage credibly with senior scientific, medical, commercial, and strategy stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to work autonomously in a high‑performance environment, take ownership of a revenue number, and consistently meet or exceed targets.
• High integrity, professionalism, and sound commercial judgment; comfortable operating in a highly compliant, regulated environment.
• Proficiency with CRM systems (e.g. Salesforce) and common sales enablement tools; strong command of Microsoft Office (PowerPoint/Excel) for building account plans and client‑ready materials.
• Willingness and ability to travel regularly across the UK and EMEA as client and business needs require.

Location & Compensation

Location: London, UK (travel to client sites and GLG offices as required). Compensation: Competitive base salary plus uncapped performance‑based incentive plan, commensurate with experience and market benchmarks for senior life sciences sales talent in London. GLG is committed to fair and equitable compensation practices; actual compensation will be based on factors including skill set, depth of experience, and specific profile.

About GLG

GLG is the world’s insight network. Our clients rely on GLG’s global team to connect with powerful insight from our network of approximately 1 million experts – and the hundreds of new experts we recruit every day. We serve thousands of the world’s leading businesses, from Fortune 500 corporations and top technology companies to professional services firms and financial institutions. We connect our clients to first‑hand expertise from executives, scientists, academics, former public sector leaders, and specialist practitioners. GLG’s industry‑leading compliance framework allows clients to learn in a structured, auditable, and transparent way, consistent with their internal compliance obligations and the highest professional ethical standards. Our compliance standards are a major competitive differentiator and a key component of our culture.