(Senior) Director, Business Development - Pharma Services

Passionate about precision medicine and advancing the healthcare industry?

Recent advancements in underlying technology have finally made it possible for AI to impact clinical care in a meaningful way. Tempus' proprietary platform connects an entire ecosystem of real-world evidence to deliver real-time, actionable insights to physicians, providing critical information about the right treatments for the right patients, at the right time.

About Tempus

Tempus is a healthcare technology company at the forefront of precision medicine and the Al revolution. Our proprietary platform connects an entire ecosystem of real-world evidence (RWD/E) to deliver actionable insights to providers and life sciences. Beginning in Oncology, Tempus has now expanded into other areas including Neurology, Cardiology, Radiology, rare diseases, and more. Tempus’ offerings can be segmented across two distinct, yet interconnected verticals:

• Diagnostics: molecular and algorithmic tests to generate insights for providers

• Data and Apps: multimodal data and solutions to power life sciences R&D

Within our Data and Apps business unit, we have a Pharma Services group which empowers researchers to bridge the gap between the lab and the clinic, and brings together a few of our key CRO offerings, including:

• Modeling: Tempus provides patient-derived tumor organoid (PDO) screening service accelerates oncology drug discovery and translational decision-making. Our ex vivo tumor-derived organoid library is molecularly characterized and linked to clinical outcomes, enabling fixed and custom PDO panels for de-risk programs, providing drug response profiling, biomarker discovery, and assisting with asset prioritization.

• Compass: Tempus’s full-service contract research organization (CRO), supporting global Phase I–IV clinical trials in oncology, cardiology, neurology, and rare diseases. Tempus Compass combines operational excellence in trial delivery with Tempus’s differentiated capabilities—diagnostic labs performing nearly one million diagnostic sequencing tests per year, the TIME clinical trial network, which is the country’s largest oncology clinical trial site network, and real-world insight from direct EHR connectivity across nearly 1,000 oncology practices and ordering data representing more than 60% of U.S. oncologists—which together accelerate feasibility, site activation, and patient enrollment.

• Studies: Designs and implements prospective research that pairs longitudinal clinical outcomes with imaging and biospecimens to produce multi-omics evidence aligned to real-world treatment response. We help biopharma leaders answer high-stakes strategy questions—predictive biomarkers, cross-tumor opportunity signals, and external control arm datasets—by combining robust study operations with Tempus’s vast diagnostics footprint, EHR data connectivity, and the TIME clinical trial network.

• Loop: Tempus’s oncology-focused target discovery and validation platform that connects multimodal real-world patient data with patient-derived organoids and high-throughput CRISPR screening in a closed “lab-in-the-loop” workflow. Loop helps teams identify patient subpopulations, generate target hypotheses using the industry’s largest oncology foundation model, validate in human-derived models, and then contextualize findings back in real-world cohorts to guide preclinical development.

The Opportunity

We are seeking a Director/Senior Director of Business Development to join our Pharma Services team, with a focus on large pharma and strategic accounts. You will serve as the primary expert for Biological Modeling and Studies, as described above. This role is responsible for establishing and expanding high-value partnerships by deploying a consultative, enterprise sales approach. 

Key Responsibilities

• Commercial Discipline: Maintain a rigorous focus on meeting/exceeding bookings and revenue goals, managing all activity and forecasting within Salesforce.

• Pipeline Execution: Drive top-of-funnel opportunity creation, manage contract pull-through, and stay informed on the shifting pipelines/priorities for target accounts

• Integrated Opportunity Generation: Build and execute an account-based prospecting strategy targeting Clinical Development, Translational Science, and Clinical Operations.

• Consultative Solution Design: Work closely with pharma partners to understand their R&D objectives, determining where Biological Modeling and Studies offerings can most effectively impact their pipelines, programs and research objectives

• Enterprise Relationship Management: Build and maintain deep relationships with R&D executives, navigating multi-faceted organizations to identify repeat business opportunities.

• Cross-Functional Leadership: Collaborate with Tempus field teams, lab scientists, and computational biologists to develop novel, multimodal solutions for partners

• Product Evolution: Contribute to the development of the Tempus portfolio by providing "voice of customer" feedback to leadership regarding market trends and emerging scientific questions

• Scientific & Product Expertise: Serve as the technical expert for Pharma Services offerings relevant to the customer

• Pipeline Management: Drive the sales process end-to-end, from high-initiative outbound prospecting to qualifying RFPs and managing the close plan.

Qualifications & Experience

• Educational Background: BS/MS in a biological discipline (e.g., Cancer Biology, Molecular Biology, Computational Biology). An advanced degree (PhD, MS, or MBA) is strongly preferred.

• Industry Expertise: 7+ years of experience in Life Sciences Business Development, ideally in the CRO services space across pre-clinical and clinical development 

• Scientific Fluency: Solid understanding of the drug development lifecycle, from target ID to clinical studies

• The "Tempus" Mindset: An entrepreneurial, proactive approach with the ability to thrive in a high-growth, fast-paced environment where science meets technology.

• Communication: Exceptional ability to articulate complex scientific issues and present technical capabilities to both internal stakeholders and external executives.

Success in the First Year

• First 90 Days: Build a prioritized account/territory plan and establish a consistent outbound cadence with pharma decision-makers.

• 6–12 Months: Generate a predictable flow of qualified pharma opportunities and maintain healthy pipeline coverage against quota.

Travel: Approximately 30–50%

Location: Remote (U.S.)

The expected salary range above is applicable if the role is performed from Illinois and may vary for other locations (California, Colorado, New York). Actual salary may vary based on qualifications and experience. Tempus offers a full range of benefits, which may include incentive compensation, restricted stock units, medical and other benefits depending on the position.

We are an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.