Senior Business Development Manager - Life Sciences & Healthcare

Our Sales & Marketing team is looking for a Senior Business Development Manager for our Life Sciences & Healthcare (LS&H) sector, based in either our Bristol or London office.

This role is responsible for driving accelerated, profitable growth for the LS&H group. The primary objective is to identify and deliver internal and external BD activities that help identify, progress and capture cross‑border opportunities.

Success in this senior role will depend on the ability to influence and challenge at Partner level, often in the context of competing priorities and change. The Senior Business Development Manager will need to combine persistence and resilience with a strong commercial understanding of Osborne Clarke’s global business – seeing how the LS&H sector fits into, and contributes to, the wider firm strategy, and being mindful of opportunities and sensitivities that sit beyond their direct remit.

The role

The role will work directly with the international sector leadership team to draft the sector strategy, business plans and budgets, and will have overall responsibility for delivering these both internationally and within the UK. The role is supported by dedicated BD resource in the UK, as well as BD teams across OC’s core markets outside the UK.

The role will also be responsible for building a stronger, more cohesive and more engaged cross‑border team that can deliver the continued internationalisation of existing clients and new opportunities. There will be a particular focus on finding opportunities for key service lines including Intellectual Property, Data/AI, Regulatory, Corporate and M&A and Venture Capital.

In addition, the role will have overall responsibility for ensuring that the UK sector BD team, working closely with the fee‑earning team, continues to deliver growth and improved profitability in the UK. Growth will be driven by deepening relationships with existing clients, raising our profile in the most attractive segments (including Biotech and Pharmaceuticals, MedTech/Digital Health and Healthcare) and building a strong pipeline in both the UK and internationally.

Key responsibilities:

Team leadership and collaboration

• Team leadership and active day‑to‑day management – lead and manage LS&H BD team members in the UK.
• Ensure close and effective working relationships with BD team members based outside the UK.
• Build a stronger, more cohesive and engaged cross‑border team focused on internationalisation of clients and opportunities.

Strategy, planning and market focus

• Work closely with the sector leadership team to agree an international sector strategy, budget and critical objectives/milestones.
• Create and own the UK country plan and be accountable for delivery against it.
• Build cross‑border growth by working with cross‑border teams to identify, progress and capture opportunities from both existing and target clients.
• Profile raising in priority segments – build the LS&H profile in core European markets, particularly in Biotech and Pharmaceuticals, MedTech/Digital Health and Healthcare, leveraging the strong platform already established in the UK and utilising the full marketing mix.
• Market tracking – identify and leverage market trends that create additional growth opportunities, and adjust BD and Marketing activities accordingly.

Client, product and revenue growth

• Client development – bring rigour and discipline to building out existing relationships with a focus on profitable revenue growth.
• Work with key service line teams (including IP, Data/AI, Regulatory, Corporate and M&A and Venture Capital) to identify and pursue opportunities.
• Legal product development – collaborate with other BD, Marketing and service line teams to develop bundled service offerings that respond more effectively to clients’ opportunities and risks.
• Provide oversight of Sales & Marketing activity that drives growth across the LS&H sector.

Sector communications and profile

• Sector communications strategy – develop and deliver a sector communications strategy aligned with wider business objectives, working closely with OC’s Communications and Marketing teams.
• Raise the sector’s profile in those market segments offering the strongest growth opportunities, both in the UK and internationally.

What we’re looking for:

This is a high‑profile and influential role, working closely with international sector leaders, Partners and a wide range of stakeholders across the business. You will work collaboratively with our Communications, Sector BD, Client Relationship Development, Events, Marketing and Bids teams to ensure the sector benefits from the full range of expertise and tools available.

• A strong track record of developing and executing successful LS&H sector business development strategies, setting clear growth priorities and ensuring activity is tightly aligned to firm‑wide objectives.
• The ability to take accountability for the commercial impact of sector BD, interpreting financial and pipeline data to identify trends, inform decisions and refine strategic focus.
• Experience influencing and challenging at Partner and senior management level, demonstrating confident stakeholder leadership and the ability to secure commitment around competing priorities.
• Confidence and a track record in challenging established approaches and bringing new ideas to revenue generation.
• Excellent leadership and team management skills, including experience of leading through change.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to build credibility and influence senior management and Partners.
• Experience of working collaboratively with cross‑functional teams.
• Strong analytical skills, including the ability to analyse complex information and provide clear, concise advice.
• A proactive, commercially focused and results‑driven approach.

We offer competitive salaries and generous benefits. We value the health and wellbeing of our people and our wide range of initiatives and benefits support this.

Our recruitment process

Please note that although we include closing dates for our roles as a guide, we review and progress applications on a rolling basis. At Osborne Clarke we do not make any recruitment decisions using automated decision-making.

We are committed to providing an environment where you can perform to the best of your abilities at every stage of your recruitment experience and beyond. If you require any adjustments to be made during the application stage, interview process, or when working with us, please let us know in confidence.