Director of Biopharma Partnerships

Unilabs seeks a Director of Biopharma Partnerships in Basel to lead business development for Unilabs.AI, focusing on clinical data and recruitment solutions for biopharma sponsors.

This role drives the commercial strategy for Unilabs.AI, a venture-backed startup leveraging Unilabs' extensive diagnostic infrastructure. The position focuses on connecting biopharma sponsors with real-world data and patient recruitment solutions to accelerate clinical trial timelines.

Responsibilities

• Identify biopharma companies with active Phase 2b/3 trials in rare diseases, oncology, and immunology that face patient recruitment challenges.
• Arrange executive-level discussions with clinical operations and real-world data leaders to demonstrate the value of the multi-modal operating system.
• Leverage established industry networks to initiate direct conversations with clinical decision-makers, bypassing traditional procurement processes.
• Collaborate with pharmaceutical sponsors to determine diagnostic requirements and convert these into commercial agreements for data access and patient recruitment.
• Manage the complete sales process, including negotiating multi-year SaaS, data licensing, and milestone-based recruitment contracts from initial agreements to final execution.
• Act as the primary liaison between pharmaceutical clinical teams and internal engineering and informatics groups to ensure alignment.
• Verify that deployed data pipelines and screening tools deliver the patient volumes and data quality specified in contractual agreements.
• Expand existing partnerships by utilizing internal champions to secure broader therapeutic portfolio contracts after successful pilot programs.

Requirements

• Five to ten or more years of direct business development experience selling real-world data, complex CRO services, genomic testing, or technology-driven clinical trial solutions to biopharma clients.
• Proven track record of successfully closing large, complex commercial agreements.
• Fluent proficiency in English is required.
• Deep understanding of clinical trial phases, real-world evidence applications, and targeted therapeutic development.
• Comprehensive knowledge of Phase 2a versus Phase 3 trial requirements, synthetic control arms, and the complexities of recruiting patients for rare genetic conditions.

Nice to have

• Professional-level proficiency in French or German is considered a strong advantage.

What the company offers

• Flexible hybrid work arrangement combining office presence with remote options.
• Opportunity to work within an international, collaborative, and highly regulated healthcare environment.
• Competitive salary package and comprehensive benefits.
• Long-term strategic ownership of a key healthcare product.
• Entrepreneurial environment with startup execution speed and equity upside potential.

About the company

Unilabs operates as one of Europe's premier diagnostics organizations, conducting over 237 million diagnostic tests each year across fourteen countries. Unilabs.AI functions as an independent, seed-stage venture backed by Unilabs and A.P. Møller Holding, designed to transform extensive legacy infrastructure into a structured, queryable, real-time clinical data asset.

• International and collaborative work environment.
• Regulated product setting.
• Entrepreneurial ownership culture.
• Startup execution speed with equity upside.