Chief Business Officer (CBO) / Head of Business Development

CONFIDENTIAL RETAINED SEARCH

Search Reference: TNF-LS-CBO-2026 | Corporate Development Leadership Mandate, Life Sciences

CHIEF BUSINESS OFFICER (CBO) / HEAD OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

ABOUT THIS SEARCH

Top Notch Finders has been retained on an exclusive and strictly confidential basis to identify a Chief Business Officer for a client in the San Diego / CaliBaja life sciences corridor. To protect the interests of our client and of every candidate who engages with us, the identity of the company is disclosed only to qualified candidates under a confidentiality agreement. All inquiries and applications are received and managed solely by Top Notch Finders.

POSITION SNAPSHOT

• Company profile: Biotech or medtech company pursuing licensing, partnerships, or M&A.
• Reports to: CEO.
• Location: San Diego / CaliBaja region; specifics disclosed to qualified candidates.

THE OPPORTUNITY

The Chief Business Officer leads corporate development, licensing, and strategic partnership activity, increasingly paired with commercial-growth responsibility as capital markets remain selective and companies rely more heavily on partnership-driven revenue.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Lead deal sourcing, negotiation, and execution for licensing, partnership, and M&A transactions.
• Develop and maintain relationships with pharma and biotech business development counterparts.
• Oversee due diligence processes for inbound and outbound deals.
• Partner with the CSO/CMO to position pipeline assets for partnering discussions.
• Lead corporate strategy input on capital allocation and portfolio prioritization.
• Represent the company at partnering conferences such as BIO and the JPM Healthcare Conference.
• Help position AI-enabled platforms and data assets to pharma partners.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Advanced degree preferred (MBA, PhD, JD, or a combination).
• 12+ years of business development or corporate development experience in life sciences.
• Demonstrated track record of closing licensing or M&A transactions.
• Strong therapeutic-area credibility and network within the pharma BD community.
• Excellent negotiation, financial modeling, and deal-structuring skills.
• Familiarity with AI-enabled platform positioning is an emerging differentiator.

CONFIDENTIALITY AND HOW TO APPLY

This is a discreet, retained engagement. Your candidacy will never be presented to any organization without your explicit prior authorization, and no application will be visible to the hiring company at this stage. Accomplished business development executives are invited to submit a resume in confidence through the Top Notch Finders website. Please reference search code TNF-LS-CBO-2026 in your submission. Do not include patient-identifiable, trial-blinded, or other confidential clinical information of any kind in your application materials. Only candidates whose backgrounds align closely with the mandate will be contacted.