Strategic Research Partnerships & Grants Manager - AI DRUG DISCOVERY
Location: France / Europe & Switzerland - Fully Remote Role
Travel: European travel as required
Sector: AI / Biotechnology / Drug Discovery
MUST HAVE EXPERIENCE WITHIN AI DRUG DISCOVERY RESEARCH PARTNERSHIP & GRANTS TO BE CONSIDERED
About the Role
We are working with an innovative life sciences technology company developing advanced AI and computational biology solutions to transform how biological research and drug discovery are approached. As the company continues to expand its scientific and commercial ecosystem, they are looking for a Strategic Research Partnerships & Grants Manager to identify, develop and secure new research partnerships and grant opportunities across Europe and Switzerland.
This is an opportunity for someone who understands both the scientific research landscape and funding ecosystem, and who can build relationships with universities, research institutes, industry partners, consortiums and funding bodies.
The successful candidate will play a key role in identifying strategic opportunities, building collaborative research programmes and leading grant applications that support the company's scientific and strategic objectives.
Key Responsibilities
- Identify and evaluate European and Swiss research funding opportunities, including national, European and collaborative funding programmes.
- Develop and manage a pipeline of relevant grant and strategic research opportunities aligned with the company's scientific priorities.
- Build and maintain relationships with universities, academic institutions, research organisations, biotech companies and other strategic partners.
- Identify opportunities to establish new research collaborations and strategic partnerships across Europe.
- Lead the preparation and coordination of grant proposals, from opportunity identification through to submission.
- Coordinate internal scientific, technical and commercial stakeholders to develop compelling research proposals and consortium applications.
- Support the development of multi-partner research consortia, identifying complementary scientific and technology capabilities.
- Manage relationships with external partners throughout the grant and partnership lifecycle.
- Monitor European research and funding trends to identify emerging opportunities relevant to AI, computational biology, multi-omics, drug discovery and related fields.
- Translate scientific and technological capabilities into compelling partnership and funding propositions.
- Support negotiations around research collaborations, consortium agreements and partnership structures.
- Track grant deadlines, deliverables, budgets and partner commitments.
- Represent the organisation at relevant scientific conferences, funding events, partnering meetings and European research forums.
- Work closely with scientific leadership and senior management to ensure partnerships and funding activity supports the wider company strategy.
Ideal Background
- Experience in grants, research funding, research partnerships, technology transfer, scientific business development or a related function.
- Strong understanding of the European research and innovation funding landscape.
- Experience preparing or coordinating successful EU or national grant applications.
- Experience working with academic institutions, research organisations and/or life sciences companies.
- Background in biotechnology, life sciences, computational biology, AI, genomics, drug discovery or a closely related scientific field.
- Strong understanding of how to develop and manage multi-party research collaborations.
- Demonstrated ability to build relationships with senior scientific and institutional stakeholders.
- Excellent written communication skills, particularly the ability to turn complex scientific concepts into compelling funding and partnership proposals.
- Strong project management and organisational skills, with the ability to manage multiple opportunities and deadlines simultaneously.
- Comfortable working in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment where priorities can evolve quickly.
- Fluency in English is essential; French would be highly advantageous.
Key Skills
- European Grant Strategy
- EU Funding & Research Programmes
- Grant Writing & Proposal Management
- Strategic Research Partnerships
- Academic & Industry Collaboration
- Consortium Development
- Biotechnology / Life Sciences
- AI & Computational Biology
- Scientific Business Development
- Stakeholder & Relationship Management
- Research Programme Development
- Project & Bid Management
What Makes This Opportunity Interesting?
This is a highly strategic role sitting at the intersection of AI, computational biology, biotechnology and European research funding. You will have the opportunity to build a research partnership ecosystem from the ground up, identify significant European funding opportunities and work directly with leading scientific and industry organisations to establish collaborations that can accelerate the development and application of next-generation biological technologies.
If this of interest please apply directly or send an updated CV to agreatorex@barringtonjames.com