How to Hire a Business Development Manager for a CDMO

A CDMO's business development team is responsible for bringing in new work, so a hire that doesn't perform can cost months of pipeline. For hiring teams, the challenge is knowing what to look for before the search begins.

To find out, we sat down with Harry Kennedy, one of our Talent Partners, who recruits commercial and business development talent for CDMOs. We also asked fellow Talent Partners James Mitchell and Antony Bryson-McAteer how they help hiring teams define the role and test the brief early.

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What does a strong CDMO business development hire look like?

When Harry builds a shortlist, he works through a handful of signals that tell him whether someone is likely to succeed in a CDMO commercial role.

The first is a scientific background. "A CDMO is quite science driven," he explains. "If they've got a scientific degree and moved into commercial, you've got a scientist with a blend of commercial. They know what they're selling."

The second is tenure. Harry looks for people who've spent around two years in each role. "If you've left after every year, it means you've had no pipeline. Whereas if you've done two, it means you've grown a network and gone again the second year." Candidates who change jobs every year don't make his list, since there's a good chance they'll do the same again.

The third is experience inside a CDMO. Moving on after a couple of years is fine, but Harry wants to see that someone has survived the commercial side of a CDMO before they join another.

Location and a proven record in new business complete the picture, and we'll come back to both. If a candidate hits three out of those five, Harry's view is that they'll get hired. Someone who hits all five is a rare profile.

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Why does performance data carry so much weight?

For Harry, the most reliable signal is a candidate's record in new business. In most CDMO business development roles, he sees winning new work as more important than managing existing accounts, and he wants the evidence on the page.

"Performance doesn't lie," he says. "You can sell a room, especially in commercial. You can sell anything you want, but show me. Have you done that?"

He encourages candidates to separate the business they've won from the accounts they've managed, and that's the breakdown hiring teams should ask for. Someone who has proven they can win new logos, picking up the phone and turning a conversation into work, is the profile most CDMOs are after.

A strong year can also make up for other gaps. Harry has seen a single standout year in new business get someone hired, even without the scientific background he'd normally look for.

For hiring teams, that means asking for figures early and probing how they were achieved. A candidate who can talk you through their numbers role by role, with a story that stays consistent under questioning, gives you far more to go on than a polished interview.

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Hunter or farmer: what does the role need?

Before a search starts, it's worth deciding which kind of business developer the role needs. James Mitchell, who recruits across drug delivery and primary packaging, sees this as one of the biggest distinctions in commercial hiring.

"Are they a farmer or are they a hunter?" he asks. "Are they somebody that loves engaging with accounts and nurturing accounts, or are they somebody that likes going out?"

Some candidates have a good balance of both, which suits certain roles. James has seen those candidates lose out at the final stage when the client wanted one or the other, so settling it in the brief saves time on both sides.

He also reads a candidate's career as a story. Does it show they understand the market, the processes and the stakeholders they'll need to engage with? Does it build from one role to the next? If someone has moved through adjacent markets, James looks at whether those businesses overlap with the client's, since that experience can give them a full picture of how the market operates.

Well-known names on a CV will catch the eye, but James is careful not to lean on them. Plenty of innovation comes from smaller companies, so he weighs what someone has done more heavily than where they did it.

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Where should your business development hire be based?

Territory matters in every CDMO commercial search, and Harry is clear about where US candidates need to be. "The hubs are Boston, San Diego, San Fran," he says. "There'll be more, but they're the three main hubs in the US."

On the East Coast, Boston carries particular weight because so many biotechs are based there. Harry finds most CDMOs want someone who can be in the Boston area for close to three days a week, prospecting. A candidate based a long drive away can't realistically do that, and most clients won't cover the cost of the travel.

On the West Coast, clients want their people in the Bay Area or San Diego. Harry gives the example of a candidate in Bend, Oregon, close to facilities with relevant expertise such as spray drying, who still sits outside the California hubs clients are targeting.

Flexibility can open things up, so Harry asks clients early how much room they have on location. Someone in wider Boston who can get into the city each month might be a strong option, and knowing that at the brief stage widens the pool.

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How do you get the brief right before the search starts?

Antony Bryson-McAteer, one of our Senior Talent Partners, often sees hiring teams arrive with a long list of requirements, sometimes ten bullet points of experience and competencies from an AI-produced job description. He works with them to agree around five key areas to search and interview for. Those include softer traits, such as how confident someone is and how they approach their work.

Within the first week, Antony aims to present what he calls a calibration shortlist: candidates who sit close to the brief agreed at the intake call. How many suitable people turn up in that first week tells both sides how hard the search will be. "If we know it's going to be a really tough search, we set expectations," he says.

James takes a similar approach to budget. Once he's been through the market, he'll show the client someone slightly above budget, someone on budget and someone below, so they can see what each level of salary will get them.

Momentum matters as well. Antony stresses the value of pinning down the hiring team's interview availability early and keeping weekly calls going, so CVs don't sit in an inbox for a week. Harry adds that questions about notice periods and start dates need answers before the final stage, or a process can stall just as it's about to close.

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Planning a business development hire?

Vector Talent is a specialist recruitment partner for CDMOs, CROs and biotech, with Talent Partners dedicated to commercial and business development roles. If you're looking for support with CDMO business development recruitment, Harry and the team are happy to talk through your brief. You can get in touch at https://www.vectorta.com/contact