Director of Commercial Operations

About the role

Apheris enables secure data networks in healthcare and life sciences by safely connecting distributed data for analytics and AI. Our product, the Apheris Compute Gateway, enables AI models to be safely trained and deployed on distributed data.

We have just raised fresh capital and now look to enter our next stage of growth. We are seeking an experienced Director of Commercial Operations to identify, pursue and secure business opportunities within the pharma, biotech and TechBio industries. This role requires a forward-thinking individual with outstanding operational skills and a strong drive to collaborate with both commercial and technical stakeholders (e.g., data science, ML engineering) to generate new business opportunities across a range of use cases (e.g., drug discovery, clinical trials, RWE, clinical tooling). Building on their life sciences data and R&D expertise, the role will own all business development and pre-sales activities, from overseeing outreach and pipeline generation to scoping pilots and contracting.

A suitable candidate will have a track record of selling data insights, computational methods or models, ideally in the areas of drug discovery and early-stage drug development. An understanding of the TechBio space is greatly appreciated. The role will work together with our VP Life Sciences, who will provide in-depth scientific domain expertise.

What you will do

• Business Development: Co-develop and implement business development and sales strategies to grow the company’s presence in targeted pharma, biotech, and TechBio organizations. This includes customizing approaches for each opportunity and proactively identifying prospects to establish or join strategic consortia, such as those supported by initiatives like the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI).
• Client Engagement: Build and maintain relationships with key executives and stakeholders (incl. R&D executives, ML scientists, legal & compliance stakeholders and procurement) in life sciences, engaging them throughout the sales process.
• Pilot Scoping and Management: Work with field engineering and other internal and external stakeholders to define the scope, objectives, and success criteria of pilot projects. With a customer-first mindset, ensure timely execution by managing resources, aligning expectations, and addressing challenges as they arise to deliver impactful results.
• Procurement Negotiation: Lead discussions with procurement teams to negotiate contracts, terms, and pricing that align with both client needs and company goals. Build trust and ensure mutual understanding while navigating complex procurement processes.
• Overseeing Lead Generation: Identify and pursue new business opportunities regarding the application of federated computing within the pharma, biotech, and TechBio sectors. Oversee one direct report focused on outbound prospecting, including cold outreach and social selling. At the same, take a hands-on role in building pipeline and building supporting collateral together with internal stakeholders.
• Collaboration: Work closely with leadership and internal teams (pre-sales, customer sales engineering, AI programs) to shape commercial outreach and shepherd engagements from initial contact to contract closure.

What we expect from you

• By month 1: Demonstrate a solid understanding of the Apheris Compute Gateway, use cases, current target segments, and key stakeholders and compellingly articulate our value proposition to diverse audiences, with varying levels of technical and scientific expertise.
• By month 2: Show a growing pipeline of qualified leads within life sciences, underpinned by strong traction in discovery calls. Drive all aspects of the business development and pre-sales funnel, optimizing efficiency at every stage.
• By month 6: Establish a strong pipeline of qualified leads within the pharma, biotech and TechBio sectors. Have closed first pilots and secured initial recurring revenue.

You should apply if

• You have multiple years of work experience as part of or interacting with life sciences R&D.
  
• You have a proven track record of selling software, data, or data insights to life sciences companies, particularly in the context of relevant R&D use cases like drug discovery and early-stage drug development. Your experience demonstrates your ability to engage with and deliver value to pharma, biotech, and TechBio customers in these highly specialized areas.
• You understand the dynamics of pharma-to-biotech and pharma-to-site networks and can develop them to better fit use cases. Yo