Head of Business Development

About Graphite We’re a digital experience agency specialising in healthcare and life sciences. Through strategy, research and design, we help organisations understand what creates value for the people they serve, then turn that understanding into digital experiences that are relevant, useful and easy to use. Our work spans everything from customer research and experience strategy to service design, digital products, design systems and continuous optimisation — helping some of the world’s leading healthcare organisations create and scale better experiences for HCPs, patients and the people who support them. Joining Graphite means becoming part of a collaborative and diverse team that genuinely cares about the quality and impact of our work — for our clients, their customers and each other. We value curiosity, collaboration and continuous improvement, and give our people the opportunity to develop their craft while working on meaningful challenges in healthcare. We’re headquartered in Brighton, with our team working remotely and hybrid across the UK. Travel to Brighton or London is required and we need the successful applicant to be 2 hours from the Brighton office or London. The role The Head of Business Development is accountable for shaping and delivering Graphite Digital’s growth strategy across both new business and marketing. The role owns the direction, performance and evolution of brand visibility, market positioning, thought leadership, lead generation and new business acquisition, ensuring a strong and sustainable pipeline aligned to Graphite Digital’s strengths in strategy, research and design for healthcare and life sciences. Leading both the new business and marketing functions, the role ensures that market awareness, demand generation and new business activity work together to drive commercial growth. You will work in close partnership with the senior leadership team, client service and delivery leads to drive growth that is both commercially strong and strategically sound. This is a senior role: setting direction, building capability, and creating the conditions for the team to succeed — while remaining actively engaged in senior-level conversations with prospective clients and partners. The role balances strategic oversight with hands-on involvement, particularly in complex, high-value or strategically important opportunities. Key responsibilities Strategy and growth leadership ● Help shape Graphite’s vision and positioning ● Define an integrated growth strategy spanning marketing, lead generation, partnerships and new business ● Translate agency and department ambitions into clear departmental objectives, targets and measures of success ● Identify priority growth areas across services, sectors, geographies and partnerships ● Maintain a strong understanding of the healthcare and pharma landscape, including who is investing, where change is happening, and where Graphite can add differentiated value New business ownership ● Overall accountability for new business performance, pipeline health and forecasting ● Ensure a balanced mix of short-term opportunities and longer-term relationship building ● Oversee inbound and outbound approaches, ensuring consistency, focus and quality ● Lead pitches and strategic proposals Align and support Marketing who own ● Align with marketing on the agency's marketing strategy, budget and plan ● Ensure marketing activity supports new business priorities and revenue targets, drives demand and creates pipeline opportunities ● Contribute to consistent brand expression across all channels and touchpoints with positioning and messaging that differentiates Graphite ● Contribute to content strategy, thought leadership, PR, social media and represent ● Graphite externally, through event activity, with credibility, warmth and strategic clarity ● Monitor marketing performance, including awareness, engagement, lead generation and conversion metrics for real time adjustments Collaboration and internal alignment ● Work closely with Client Service, Strategy, Design and Delivery leads to ensure joined-up thinking ● Ensure briefs are well interrogated and opportunities are shaped collaboratively ● Help the wider team understand what good looks like from a commercial and client perspective ● Keep senior leadership informed without pulling them into unnecessary detail Commercial rigour and reporting ● Create strong alignment between new business and marketing objectives, processes and KPIs ● Key role in reporting, forecasting and scenario planning for new business and marketing ● Use data and insight to adjust approach and priorities as needed 2 ● Ensure tools (e.g. Hubspot, MA) are used effectively ● Accountable for performance against agreed targets Team leadership and capability ● Recruit, develop and mentor the team and their management of external marketing partners ● Set clear expectations, goals and accountabilities, empowering the team without micromanaging ● Create a culture of confidence, learning and commercial curiosity ● Ensure the team is focused on the right opportunities Requirements ● Significant experience in business development (new business and marketing) within a digital, design, CX, comms, or technology-led agency ● Deep understanding of pharma and healthcare, including regulatory complexity, buying dynamics and internal client realities ● Proven experience selling complex digital programmes — from discovery and strategy through to design and build ● Strong grasp of user-centred design, research, technology and how these come together in practice ● Experience building and leading teams, not just delivering individual results Skills and attributes ● Strategic thinker who can zoom out without losing credibility on the detail ● Confident communicator, able to explain decisions, trade-offs and value clearly at senior level ● Commercially astute, with the ability to frame ROI in terms of outcomes, risk and long-term value ● Comfortable challenging briefs, assumptions and ways of working when needed ● Calm under pressure, able to absorb feedback and make decisions without constant reassurance ● Naturally collaborative, bringing clarity and momentum rather than friction Benefits Read our employee experience introduction to see an overview of our benefits; including: ● Private health insurance with high standards of cover ● Comprehensive private dental plan ● Personal development time and annual training budget ● Regular social meet-ups and events ● 25 days holiday, increasing after 2 years ● Opportunities to give back with dedicated time for community engagement and charitable initiatives to suit your interests — young talent; diversity and inclusion; environment and sustainability; wellness ● Free employee assistance support for personal challenges, whether legal, financial or medical ● Cycle to work scheme 3 ● Pension scheme with employer contributions Professional and personal growth We’re committed to professional and personal growth. Through comprehensive onboarding, ongoing training and knowledge sharing across teams, we support continuous development. We set personalised annual objectives (aligned with the agency’s vision/goals and upskilling); with check-ins at regular intervals to ensure progress. This approach helps to build new skills and confidence as our team grow in their careers. ● Group training with external industry experts to deepen our expertise and maintain our specialism in health and pharma ● Graphite Learns - all agency knowledge sharing presented by different team members ● Coassemble internal platform for ongoing training Application If you are passionate about helping to transform healthcare experiences and drive positive impact, we invite you to join our team at Graphite. Apply now to be part of our exciting journey to shape the future of healthcare technology! Applications are via our online application system and include a covering letter along with your CV. At Graphite we are committed to building a truly inclusive and diverse workplace where there are equal opportunities for everyone regardless of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation, or is disadvantaged by conditions or requirements which cannot be shown to be relevant to performance as protected by applicable law. If you are interested in this role but don’t meet every requirement or your skills don’t perfectly align, we’d encourage you to apply anyway and tell us why you are the best candidate. We are always open to meeting new great people who we can learn from, we seek and welcome diversity of experience, knowledge and perspectives and all that it brings to our teams. If you have a disability or need that requires accommodation at any point in the application or interview process, please let us know.