Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) is a leading product development partnership (PDP) in the field of antimalarial drug research and development. Its mission is to reduce the burden of malaria in disease-endemic countries by discovering, developing and delivering new, effective and affordable antimalarial drugs.

Over the past two decades, MMV has worked with an extensive network of donors, private and public sector partners, experts and clinical centres in malaria-endemic countries to develop the largest existing portfolio of antimalarial projects.

MMV operates as a ‘virtual’ organization, working with partners to discover, develop and make accessible high-quality anti-malarial drugs meeting a range of patient needs. The Business Development Team is responsible for several core functions that underpin MMV’s business model including partnering, alliance management and the outsourcing of services required for all aspects of product development and access. 

We are currently seeking a Business Development Associate Director to join our Outsourcing team. The Associate Director will lead the process of identification, selection and management of service providers in support of MMV’s Research & Development (R&D) and Access & Product Management (APM) teams in alignment with organizational goals. Ensures selection of service providers that deliver to the highest quality standards and represent fair market value through identification, due diligence and effective bidding processes, contract negotiation, and service provider management.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

Identification and Selection of Service Providers

Manage the selection of service providers including contract research organizations (CROs) and other partners, from the receipt of a request to finalisation of the agreement including the following activities:

• Collaborate with Project Directors to determine the scope of project activities to be contracted.
• Propose potential service providers based on capabilities, capacity, strategic-fit, expertise, quality, performance and price.
• Manage the selection process by preparing RFP packages including detailed specifications for contract activities; reviewing and providing cost comparisons for all received proposals; organizing and chairing presentations; and managing the decision process in consultation with the Project Directors and project team members.
• Lead negotiation of financial and project-specific terms.
• Ensure that the final contract covers activities necessary to fully support the project; support MMV’s Legal team in negotiation of contractual terms, as needed.
• Document the selection process in preparation for audits by MMV donors.

Service Provider Management

• Ensure an ongoing awareness of project progress; identify and action or escalate as appropriate any issues such as out-of-scope activities or quality issues that may lead to budget increases or changes to the timelines and project deliverables.
• Manage changes in contract scope, change orders, and amendments to ensure accurate and timely revisions to terms and/or services.
• Support project teams as representative of the Outsourcing function.
• Support the Finance team in preparation for financial audits and/ or by MMV’s donors.

Strategic Outsourcing

• Support MMV’s cross-functional teams in developing outsourcing strategies in support of project deliverables. 
• Develop strong relationships with key service providers to ensure that MMV is seen as a ‘preferred client’.
• Foster trust-based, collaborative external working relationships: prepare and manage the relationship launch; monitor relationship health and recognize and address potential issues and conflicts at an early stage, support resolution of those issues, and ensure escalation as appropriate; manage and direct any partnership governance activities.
• Ensure that service provider performance, with respect to quality of work, timelines and budget, and other related parameters, is regularly assessed and shared; co-ordinate with MMV’s Quality team for service provider audits in accordance with MMV SOPs.
• Active participation in MMV’s ‘Service Provider Management’ programme involving selected CROs including annual performance reviews of selected CROs, Lessons Learned’ and ‘End of Study’ meetings.
• Contribute to process improvement or other projects that enhance and streamline outsourcing processes, systems, tools and other resources.
• Monitor outsourcing environment to stay current on providers and industry trends.
• Deliver training to teams or functions on outsourcing and contracting processes.

Education and Experience

• Master’s degree or higher in Science or Public Health (other qualifications including   Business Administration may be accepted if accompanied by appropriate experience)
• Minimum 6 years of industry experience in service provider selection and management in an international pharmaceutical or biotechnology company, CRO, or equivalent setting.
• At least 4 years’ experience in clinical outsourcing is essential with abroad range of experience in areas such as: manufacturing, pre-clinical development and market access.
• Experience working in a collaborative international environment with a wide range of partners from industry, academia, governments, NGOs, and clinical trial sites
• Track record of contracts management and budget negotiation.
• Experience in relationship management, including as a customer, as a provider, and/or in an alliance management capacity is desirable.

Technical Skills

• Proficient with Microsoft Office.
• Fluency in English (oral and written)
• High degree of numeracy, able to analyse complex and detailed budgets.

Behavioural Skills / Competencies

Proficiency in MMV’s core competencies of communication, collaboration, initiative, self-management and analytical thinking and decision making, as evidenced by:

·           Strong business acumen.

·           Excellent written and oral communication skills. Able to demonstrate diligence especially in the analysis of budgets submitted by service providers. Able to present clear arguments, analyses, and recommendations to project teams to support them with their decision making in the selection and management of service providers and lead negotiations to a successful conclusion.

·           Excellent organisation, time management, and project management skills. Ability to manage multiple demands from different project teams, work to deadlines and prioritise workload to meet the MMV organisational, project team and individual objectives.

·           Excellent interpersonal skills, able to work effectively in diverse cross-functional teams and builds strong, trusting relationships with colleagues and team members as well as with external stakeholders. Demonstrable understanding of the needs and perspectives of partners and able to adapt to different working styles whether driven by diverse cultures or processes. Able to demonstrate the ability to engage others in effective joint problem-solving to address key challenges.

·           A positive approach to problem-solving with an ability to manage rapidly changing and challenging situations while providing options and/or solutions calmly and constructively for timely resolution.

Starting date: At soonest notice  

Interested applicants should send their CV and a cover letter giving reasons for their interest in the position before 16 May 2025

We consider individuals for employment based on their skills, abilities, and experience. We thrive to attract and hire a strong, talented, and diverse workforce, prohibiting discrimination based on race, colour, religious or political beliefs, age, nationality, physical, mental or developmental disability, gender, sexual orientation.

We are working in a hybrid workplace environment representing partial office work/remote work (50% to 75% office work depending on residency CH or FR). This is not a remote hire and MMV offers relocation assistance for suitable qualified candidates coming from abroad.

For more information about MMV’s activities please refer to our website https://www.mmv.org. 

Recruitment agencies are kindly requested to refrain from submitting applications.