Sales Development Specialist

Work Schedule

Standard (Mon-Fri)

Environmental Conditions

Office

Job Description

ABOUT THE OPPORTUNITY

When you join Thermo Fisher Scientific, your work will have real impact. You will collaborate with talented colleagues and use the scale, capabilities, and reach of a global leader to help customers make the world healthier, cleaner and safer.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Sales Development Specialist plays a critical role in accelerating growth for the BioProduction Group by identifying and developing high-potential, early-stage biologics opportunities across targeted APJ accounts. The role owns the front end of the molecule design-in funnel - from validating target accounts and mapping decision-makers to initiating technical evaluations, developing Bioprocess Design Center (BDC) projects, enabling sample testing, and converting qualified opportunities into commercial wins.

The specialist also helps protect BPG participation as molecules move through development and manufacturing networks. When a customer transfers a molecule to a CDMO, joint venture, partner, another country, or a new facility, this role coordinates the relevant teams to preserve technical specifications, maintain opportunity visibility, and identify additional design-in and pull-through opportunities across the BPG workflow.

Working closely with country commercial teams, as well as regional and global BPG teams, this position builds a disciplined, insight-led pipeline and establishes BPG as a trusted partner early in the customer's molecule-development journey. The role creates long-term value by increasing BPG participation, supporting process lock-in, and expanding future revenue entitlement as molecules progress.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Build and prioritize the target-account and molecule pipeline.

• Validate and segment assigned accounts using agreed SEEDING Program criteria, including molecule stage, modality, business potential, current BPG engagement, and strategic fit.
• Develop complete customer profiles, including organization and decision-maker maps, funding and capacity insights, molecule intelligence, development timelines, manufacturing strategy, workflow needs, and competitive position.
• Create differentiated account and molecule strategies for priority opportunities, with clear milestones, ownership, risks, and next actions.

• Create demand through insight-led customer engagement.

• Proactively engage target customers through various engagement channels including in-person interactions; respond quickly to inbound interest and qualified leads.
• Use consultative discovery to understand scientific objectives, process challenges, decision criteria, budgets, timelines, funding readiness, and stakeholder dynamics.
• Build credibility with scientific, technical, procurement, operations, and executive stakeholders by connecting customer priorities to BPG's differentiated capabilities and value proposition.

• Identify and develop Bioprocess Design Center (BDC) projects.

• Identify customers that would benefit from early process, workflow, facility, scale-up, or manufacturing-design support, including new laboratories, pilot plants, GMP facilities, expansions, and technology-transfer programs.
• Qualify the BDC opportunity by clarifying project purpose, development phase, capacity requirements, facility strategy, investment timing, funding status, decision process, and partner ecosystem.
• Mobilize BDC, end-to-end pre-sales, applications, technical, service, and business-unit experts to shape an integrated concept and compelling customer value case.
• Use BDC engagements to enable early specification, cross-workflow pull-through, and future opportunities across divisions and business units.

• Advance opportunities from evaluation to technical win.

• Coordinate technical discussions, demonstrations, sample shipments, and evaluation plans with technical sales specialists, applications teams, and other subject-matter experts.
• Drive timely sample testing, remove barriers to evaluation, document outcomes, and maintain momentum across each relevant workflow step.
• Translate evaluation results into a clear customer value case, agreed technical position, and defined commercial next steps.

• Protect molecule continuity across CDMOs, joint ventures, partners, and APJ geographies.

• Map the customer's make-buy-partner strategy and anticipate where research, process development, clinical manufacturing, scale-up, or commercial production may move.
• Maintain a molecule continuity plan that captures the molecule owner, development partner, CDMO or JV, manufacturing site, country, development phase, anticipated transfer timing, workflow specifications, current BPG position, and identified risks.
• Coordinate cross-country and cross-account handovers with country sales teams, CDMO account owners, BDC and end-to-end pre-sales resources, technical specialists, and business units so that the molecule remains visible and actively managed.
• Protect existing specifications during technology transfer and identify additional opportunities created by clinical-batch production, scale-up, process change, capacity expansion, or construction of a new facility.
• Escalate ownership gaps, conflicting account strategies, or high-value transfer risks through the agreed APJ governance process and drive timely resolution.

• Convert technical wins into sustainable commercial outcomes.

• Develop and execute opportunity plans that move qualified demand toward process lock-in, initial orders, repeat purchases, scale-up, and broader workflow adoption.
• Partner with country sales teams and business units on pricing, proposals, contracting, competitive conversion, and multi-portfolio solution strategies.
• Transition formal commercial ownership when agreed maturity criteria are met while ensuring complete customer, molecule, BDC, evaluation, and transfer documentation.

• Lead disciplined funnel, forecast, and performance management.

• Maintain accurate, timely records of customer interactions, molecule intelligence, BDC projects, technical evaluations, manufacturing transfers, and opportunities in SFDC, Molecule 360, and other designated systems.
• Link customer needs and activity to defined opportunities, next steps, owners, milestones, risks, and expected outcomes.
• Review conversion and molecule-retention performance, identify bottlenecks, and continuously improve engagement and follow-up based on data and customer insight.

• Collaborate across the organization and strengthen market intelligence.

• Work closely with BAMs, country sales, CDMO account owners, BDC, end-to-end pre-sales, technical specialists, marketing, applications, service, product management, and regional leadership to deliver coordinated execution.
• Provide actionable insights on market development, customer funding and capacity, CDMO and JV activity, competitor positioning, pricing dynamics, cross-border collaborations, and emerging molecule opportunities.
• Support targeted workshops, executive engagements, roadshows, and other go-to-market initiatives that deepen customer relationships and create qualified demand.

REQUIREMENTS

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in biotechnology, biochemistry, life sciences, chemical engineering, bioprocess engineering, or a related discipline; equivalent relevant experience will also be considered.
• Typically 5+ years of commercial, business-development, technical-sales, applications, or customer-facing experience in bioprocessing, biopharmaceuticals, or the life-science industry.
• Working knowledge of biologics development and manufacturing workflows. Experience with monoclonal antibodies, recombinant proteins, ADCs, cell and gene therapy, or related modalities is advantageous.
• Demonstrated ability to prospect, qualify opportunities, conduct consultative discovery, and progress complex technical sales cycles.
• Experience with process or facility design, technology transfer, CDMO partnerships, joint ventures, scale-up, capital expansion, or multi-country programs is strongly advantageous.
• Ability to connect technical workflow requirements with commercial value and coordinate multiple stakeholders across countries, accounts, and business units.
• Experience using CRM and commercial data systems to manage activities, opportunities, forecasts, projects, and customer and molecule intelligence.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills in English and the relevant local language; able to communicate effectively with scientific, technical, operational, commercial, and executive audiences.