Senior Director, Business Development - Full Service Clinical CRO (Europe)

Senior Director, Business Development – Europe

Location: Europe, home-based (Ireland)

Work type: Remote, with domestic and international travel

Harvest Integrated Research Organization (HiRO) is an innovative, globally focused boutique Contract Research Organization (CRO) dedicated to advancing cross-border clinical trial pathways. We collaborate closely with biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies to help bridge the gap between scientific discovery and market commercialisation.

Our team members are curious, determined and committed to transforming challenges into opportunities. Our mission is to provide innovative, capital-efficient clinical development solutions with a high level of client-focused service—ultimately benefiting patients worldwide.

The Opportunity

HiRO is seeking an accomplished full-service CRO Business Development professional with a proven hunter mentality and demonstrated success originating and closing new clinical trial business across Europe.

This is a hands-on, revenue-producing individual contributor role for someone who actively builds pipeline, opens doors and converts new relationships into clinical trial awards. The primary focus is identifying, developing and closing new business with emerging and mid-sized biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.

The successful candidate will bring recent, direct experience selling full-service clinical development solutions within a CRO, an established network of European biotech and pharmaceutical decision-makers, and demonstrated success selling Phase I–III clinical trial services.

This individual will personally own opportunities from initial prospecting through qualification, RFP, bid defence, contract negotiation and award.

Primary Function

The Senior Director, Business Development is responsible for originating, developing and closing new CRO business with biotechnology and pharmaceutical sponsors across Europe.

The primary focus of this role is new-logo acquisition and revenue generation. Working closely with Business Operations and global cross-functional clinical teams, the Senior Director will develop competitive solutions aligned with sponsor needs while achieving or exceeding individual new-business revenue targets.

Key Responsibilities

• Prospect, originate and close new full-service clinical trial opportunities with biotechnology and pharmaceutical sponsors across Europe.
• Build and maintain a robust pipeline of qualified new-logo Phase I–III clinical development opportunities.
• Conduct consistent, targeted outbound prospecting and strategic outreach to generate new sponsor relationships and opportunities.
• Leverage an established European network of biotechnology and pharmaceutical decision-makers to create introductions, meetings, qualified leads, RFPs and project opportunities.
• Personally manage opportunities throughout the complete sales lifecycle, from initial prospecting and qualification through proposal development, bid defence, negotiation and award.
• Evaluate potential business leads for alignment with HiRO’s service capabilities, strategic priorities and operational capacity.
• Connect operational teams with prospective clients to translate business requirements into practical, competitive clinical development solutions.
• Partner with Clinical Operations, Business Operations, Medical, Regulatory, Biometrics and other subject-matter experts to develop compelling sponsor solutions.
• Lead the bid-defence process, coordinating cross-functional preparation and delivering effective, client-focused presentations.
• Represent HiRO at targeted biotechnology, pharmaceutical and clinical research conferences with defined prospecting and business-development objectives.
• Maintain accurate and current records of leads, opportunities and client interactions in Salesforce.
• Achieve or exceed individual new-business and revenue targets through personally generated project awards.
• Develop existing sponsor relationships to identify appropriate opportunities for expanded clinical development partnerships.

Qualifications and Experience

• A minimum of eight years of business development experience within the CRO industry, including recent experience selling full-service clinical development solutions.
• Direct experience selling Phase I–III full-service and/or multi-service clinical trial solutions to biotechnology and pharmaceutical sponsors.
• Demonstrated success as an active new-business hunter who personally prospects, originates, develops and closes new sponsor opportunities.
• Proven track record of generating new-logo revenue, securing clinical trial awards and meeting or exceeding individual sales targets.
• An established network of biotechnology and pharmaceutical clinical-development decision-makers and buying stakeholders across Europe.
• Experience managing the complete CRO sales lifecycle, including prospecting, opportunity qualification, RFP strategy, proposal development, bid defence, contract negotiation and award.
• Strong understanding of clinical development and the operational functions involved in delivering Phase I–III clinical trials.
• Strong commercial judgement, negotiation, presentation and executive-level communication skills.
• Ability to work effectively across countries, cultures, time zones and global cross-functional teams.
• Oncology CRO business development experience is strongly preferred.
• Experience within a boutique, mid-sized or growth-stage full-service CRO is preferred.
• Global and cross-border clinical trial business development experience is preferred; APAC experience would be an advantage.
• Ability to travel domestically and internationally as business needs require.

Education

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education and relevant professional experience.

Language Skills

Fluency in written and spoken English is required. Proficiency in an additional European language would be an advantage.

What We Offer

• A dynamic, innovative and internationally focused working environment.
• A competitive compensation package comprising base salary and commission.
• The opportunity to build upon a portfolio of experience in high-growth therapeutic areas and modalities.
• Supportive colleagues driven by a shared commitment to improving outcomes for patients.
• Opportunities for accelerated career development as HiRO continues to grow.
• Locally applicable benefits and paid time off, based on the successful candidate’s employing country.

The successful candidate must have the legal right to work in their country of employment. Employment is subject to HiRO having an established employing arrangement in that location.

HiRO is committed to providing equal employment opportunities. Employment decisions are based on qualifications, merit and business requirements. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and do not discriminate on any characteristic protected under applicable local law.

At HiRO, we believe curiosity drives innovation, hard work fuels success and creativity inspires solutions. We are looking for individuals who thrive on exploring new ideas and approaches. If you are passionate about your work and eager to contribute to a collaborative and inclusive environment, we want to hear from you.

This role is not open to agency solicitation. HiRO will not accept or review candidates submitted through unsolicited agency introductions.