Head of Business Development - Life Sciences SaaS (Europe)
Life Sciences SaaS Commercial Expansion
Highlight
Placed a Head of Business Development who drove €4M in new ARR and expanded global partnerships for a Life Sciences SaaS platform.
The Brief
A Life Sciences SaaS platform integrating research, real-world, and clinical data needed a Head of Business Development to lead expansion across Europe and North America. The leadership team sought a commercially minded executive with scientific credibility – someone who could bridge enterprise SaaS sales with research-driven partnerships and accelerate deal cycles to support an upcoming funding round.
The Challenge
The ideal candidate required a rare blend of skills: deep understanding of Life Sciences data and validation standards combined with proven experience in complex enterprise software sales. The market was crowded with strong commercial leaders from SaaS backgrounds but few with the technical and regulatory fluency needed to sell into R&D and data-science environments. Speed was also critical, as the company needed revenue traction within a year to sustain investor confidence.
Our Approach
We mapped senior BD talent across European and North American Life Sciences software and analytics firms. Candidates were assessed on three dimensions – enterprise deal execution, strategic partnership experience, and ability to lead multi-market commercial teams. We prioritised profiles with experience selling GxP-validated or privacy-compliant data platforms to pharma and CRO clients and with existing networks across R&D and translational research. Engagement was discreet and outcome-focused, aligning each step to the client’s aggressive growth milestones.
Outcome
The appointed executive came from a fast-growing European SaaS provider in the real-world data and research analytics space. Within twelve months, they built a structured partner program, introduced a formal sales methodology, and secured three major enterprise agreements with top-tier pharma and CRO clients. The business achieved €4M in new annual recurring revenue and expanded operations into two new regions, giving the company the commercial foundation it needed to scale internationally.
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Sanderson House,
22 Station Road, Horsforth, Leeds.
LS18 5NT.
United Kingdom