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Salary: USD 250,000 - 350,000 / annual
Manifold Bio is a platform biotechnology company pioneering AI-guided protein design and massively multiplexed in vivo screening to unlock tissue-targeted medicines. The company uses proprietary molecular barcoding technology to screen hundreds of thousands of protein designs simultaneously in living systems, producing in vivo-validated datasets at unprecedented scale. These datasets power computational models that drive better drug designs, creating a flywheel effect. The team spans protein engineers, biologists, and computational scientists working across the full stack on both internal programs and partnerships with leading pharma companies.
You will lead business development efforts to source, structure, and close strategic partnerships that turn Manifold's platform and programs into value-driving collaborations. Reporting to the COO, you will own the full deal cycle from lead generation through signed definitive agreements. You will manage partnerships across research collaborations, platform licenses, co-development deals, and asset-level transactions with pharma and biotech partners.
Key responsibilities include:
- Drive lead generation and represent Manifold externally at industry conferences (BIO, JPM) and partnering meetings
- Build and manage the partnering pipeline, mapping target partners for each platform and payload combination
- Lead term sheet negotiations across research collaborations, platform and target licenses, options, co-development and co-commercialization deals, and asset sales
- Structure deal economics, balancing near-term cash with long-term value
- Bring financial fluency to deal valuation and modeling
- Protect Manifold's platform in every deal, defining what partners license and what Manifold retains
- Run end-to-end transaction processes, coordinating with R&D, IP, finance, and leadership
- Partner with alliance management, legal, and R&D post-signing to ensure collaboration success
- Advise leadership and the board on deal strategy, market terms, and comparable transactions
The ideal candidate combines strategic deal insight with hands-on deal craft and a proven record of closing complex biopharma transactions. You excel at conveying value propositions to both scientific and business teams, can hold firm positions with larger counterparties while maintaining productive relationships, and care deeply about getting both strategy and language right. You learn the science deeply enough to inspire partners to work with Manifold and thrive in a fast-moving startup environment.
REQUIREMENTS:
- Advanced degree (MS, PhD, PharmD, JD, MBA) or equivalent experience
- 10+ years of experience in biopharma business development, transactions, or life sciences transactional law
- Deep rolodex of relationships with pharma BD and search-and-evaluation teams
- Demonstrated deal sheet with clear ownership from identifying partners through converting outreach into signed transactions
- Lead negotiator experience on multiple signed biopharma collaboration and license agreements, from term sheet through definitive agreement
- Deep command of platform biopharma deal structures, market terms, and IP issues
- Understanding of platform technologies and drug discovery science sufficient to craft pitches and translate them into deal terms
- Sound judgment, composure, and clear written and verbal communication for high-stakes negotiations
- Comfort in fast-moving startup environments, balancing strategy and hands-on execution
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
- Transaction experience in biologics, antibody, delivery or shuttle technologies, or oligonucleotide therapeutics
- Experience partnering targeting and delivery platforms (AAV capsids, BBB shuttles, conjugate/delivery systems, radioligand targeting moieties) where the platform remains a component of the partner's final drug product
- Experience in both big pharma and biotech startups
- Familiarity with asset spin-outs or NewCo structures
- Experience building transaction processes, templates, and playbooks at a growing company
