Strategic Business Development Manager CDMO

Sumitomo Chemical Co. Ltd. is one of the world's leading chemical manufacturers, conducting business across four sectors: Agro & Life Solutions, ICT & Mobility Solutions, Advanced Medical Solutions, and Essential & Green Materials. Through a global network of approximately 30,000 employees across more than 50 countries, the company supplies innovative products and solutions serving a wide range of industries worldwide.

Sumitomo Chemical Europe SA/NV headquartered in Zaventem, Belgium, is the European Sales & Marketing office responsible for Europe and Turkey.

Since more than 50 years, Sumitomo Chemical’s Pharma Solutions Business, known for its quality, reliability, and excellent service, is supplying the global pharmaceutical industry with regulatory starting materials, GMP intermediates, and APIs, and our offering spans small molecules, peptides, and oligonucleotides. Over the last years, Sumitomo Chemical has emerged as the world-leading commercial supplier of high-purity gRNA for genome-editing.

To further expand its Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) activities across Europe, Sumitomo Chemical is looking for a passionate and entrepreneurial Strategic Business Development Manager CDMO.

• You will be responsible for developing and managing a portfolio of biotech, mid-sized and large pharmaceutical companies across Europe.
• You will identify, develop and secure new business opportunities with new and existing customers active within the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, CDMO and advanced therapeutics markets.
• You will manage the full business development cycle, from lead generation and opportunity qualification through proposal development, contract negotiation and deal closure.
• You will identify customer needs and translate complex technical requirements into creative and value-adding commercial solutions in close collaboration with technical teams in Europe and Japan.
• You will prepare commercial proposals, pricing strategies, supply agreements and customer contracts while leading related negotiations.
• You will coordinate customer projects from A to Z, ensuring effective collaboration between customers, commercial teams and technical stakeholders across Europe, Japan and the United States.
• You will utilise market intelligence tools, industry databases and networking activities to identify promising projects, emerging technologies and market opportunities.
• You will organise customer visits, technical discussions, due diligence activities and commercial follow-up meetings involving international stakeholders.
• You will coordinate closely with technical, operational and commercial teams in Europe, Japan and the United States to ensure successful project execution.
• You will develop and execute strategic account plans and commercial growth initiatives aligned with Sumitomo Chemical's European business objectives.
• You will represent Sumitomo Chemical at major industry exhibitions, conferences and networking events such as CPHI, TIDES and other advanced therapeutics forums.
• You will maintain a thorough understanding of market developments, outsourcing trends, CDMO dynamics and emerging technologies within the pharmaceutical and biotechnology landscape.
• You will report directly to the Head of Advanced Medical Solutions Europe.

Profile

• You hold a Bachelor's, Master's or equivalent degree in Chemistry, Biotechnology, Pharmacy, Life Sciences or a related field. A Master's degree or PhD is considered an asset.
• You have several years of successful business development, commercial or strategic sales experience within the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, CDMO or advanced therapeutics sector.
• You possess a strong understanding of organic chemistry and are capable of discussing complex technical concepts with both scientific and commercial stakeholders.
• You are familiar with pharmaceutical development processes, GMP environments and the dynamics of long and highly consultative sales cycles.
• You have experience building new business opportunities from scratch and enjoy a hands-on commercial and strategic approach.
• You combine strong hunting capabilities with the ability to develop long-term customer relationships.
• You are highly entrepreneurial, self-driven and comfortable operating with significant autonomy.
• You possess excellent communication, negotiation and presentation skills.
• You are able to translate complex technologies into compelling and commercially relevant customer value propositions.
• You are culturally sensitive and enjoy working within highly international environments involving European, Japanese and American stakeholders.
• You demonstrate resilience, patience and perseverance in managing complex sales processes with multiple decision-makers and long l