Business Development Manager - Life Science

Location: Palmer,Massachusetts,United States

IMI plc

We are a global specialist engineering company that creates breakthrough solutions. We are curious and like to solve problems, partnering with our customers to solve the demands of today and prepare for the challenges of tomorrow. We embrace innovation and care about outcomes that are good for business, everyday life and making a better world – creating lasting impact for everyone.

We design, build and service highly engineered products in fluid and motion control applications. We focus on five market sectors: Industrial Automation, Process Automation, Climate Control, Life Science, and Transport.

Our partnership approach breaks through problems and reduces complexity. We don’t invent in isolation – we collaborate with our customers. We listen closely and we think differently, creating space for diverse minds to innovate. We are working together to make businesses safer, more sustainable and more productive.

Role Overview:

The Business Development Manager (BDM) is responsible for driving growth within the Life Sciences sector by identifying, developing, and converting new business opportunities with OEM customers. This role focuses on proactive prospecting, early-stage customer engagement, and opportunity development across defined markets, applications, and geographies. The BDM operates with a high degree of autonomy, engaging senior decision-makers and shaping opportunities from initial identification through successful close.

Work Environment: Remote

Key Responsibilities: 

• Identify and develop new business opportunities with targeted accounts to support go-to-market growth objectives.
• Build and execute a structured prospecting plan and opportunity pipeline with a strong understanding of customer experience, market dynamics, and competitive landscape within the Life Sciences sector.
• Identify, qualify, and win new business opportunities, ensuring focus on the right projects and delivering above-market revenue growth through new customer acquisition and expansion of existing customers.
• Take ownership for delivering profitable new customer and product sales aligned with annual targets and the longer-term commercial growth strategy.
• Work closely with Life Sciences leadership and collaborate cross-functionally with Sales, Engineering, Marketing, Customer Support, and Operations to progress opportunities.
• Allocate time and resources toward markets, applications, and customers where profitable growth potential is greatest.
• Support development of value-based pricing approaches informed by customer needs and competitive positioning.
• Develop, maintain, and manage accurate sales and revenue forecasts on a monthly and annual basis.
• Build business cases for new product, application, or technology opportunities in collaboration with engineering, program teams, and manufacturing sites.
• Lead early-stage customer engagement, shaping opportunities from initial contact through successful close.
• Support smooth transition of newly won business into longer-term customer ownership to enable sustained growth and customer value.
• Contribute to targeted growth initiatives, strategic projects, and potential acquisition-related activities as required.

Critical Competencies for Success

• Proven experience driving new business growth in B2B technical or Life Sciences markets.
• Strong ability to identify, qualify, and close complex opportunities with OEM customers.
• Commercially minded, with the ability to assess value, pricing, and profitability.
• Comfortable engaging senior decision-makers (Director, VP, C-suite).
• Able to operate independently in a growth-focused, opportunity-driven role.
• Effective collaborator with technical and commercial teams.
• Willingness to travel up to approximately 50 percent.
• Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Business, or equivalent experience preferred.

Key Behaviors

• Demonstrate effective use of strategic selling techniques to increase account penetration and market share.
• Excellent customer focus combined with excellent communication and negotiation skills. 
• Be able to build relationships with, and gain respect of, customers and other internal IMI functions and personnel.
• Act in a positive and proactive manner, while representing the company, division, its products, services, and policies.
• Ability to differentiate between a company/products and competitor products and communicate this differentiation in a compelling manner using oral and written communication as well as various other tools.
• Results oriented, self-driven