Business Development Manager

Overview

Element is seeking a driven Business Development Manager based in California to grow sales across both Northern and Southern California life sciences markets. This role carries balanced responsibility across Element’s Concord and Santa Fe Springs laboratories, supporting complementary service portfolios in microbiology-focused testing in Concord and analytical, regulatory, and pharmaceutical development services in Santa Fe Springs.

The ideal candidate may be based in either the Bay Area or the Greater Los Angeles region, with responsibility spanning both Northern and Southern California customer bases. This role serves as a key commercial connector across Element’s California laboratory network, leveraging the full breadth of capabilities across both sites.

 

You will build and manage relationships with key decision-makers, identify client needs across microbiology, analytical chemistry, and regulatory testing domains, and deliver tailored solutions that ensure compliance, quality, and speed to market for customers in the life sciences, pharmaceutical, biotech, and related regulated industries.

 

Salary: $120k–$160k Base (DOE) and Sales Compensation Incentives.

Please note: Sponsorship is not available for this opportunity.

Site Status: Hybrid + Travel

 

Responsibilities

• Establish and proactively maintain strong professional relationships with key decision makers and influencers across both Northern and Southern California accounts
• Drive profitable sales growth across Element’s California laboratory network, spanning Concord microbiology services and Santa Fe Springs analytical, regulatory, and pharmaceutical development testing capabilities
• Develop and expand business across microbiology-focused testing (including environmental monitoring, sterility, bioburden, and microbial identification) and analytical/pharma testing services (including chemistry, method development, validation, and regulatory support)
• Gather and analyze market, regulatory, and industry intelligence across biotech, pharma, and life sciences clusters in both regions to identify emerging customer needs
• Identify early-stage opportunities and align them to the appropriate laboratory capability (Concord vs. Santa Fe Springs) to optimize technical fit, turnaround time, and commercial value
• Deliver business development presentations, negotiate, and close business in coordination with technical experts and operational leaders across both laboratories
• Serve as a representative of Element across California, participating in industry associations, customer events, conferences, and scientific networking opportunities
• Prepare sales reports and pipeline analyses segmented across microbiology and analytical/regulatory service lines, as well as Northern and Southern California regions
• Follow up on quotations and proposals in a timely manner, ensuring alignment between customer requirements and laboratory capabilities
• Achieve sales targets by expanding existing accounts, converting new opportunities, and reactivating dormant accounts across both lab portfolios
• Collaborate closely with laboratory leadership, technical SMEs, and internal sales teams at both Concord and Santa Fe Springs to ensure strong solution delivery and customer satisfaction
• Lead full sales cycle activities including qualification, relationship building, technical needs assessment, solution development, proposal creation, and closing
• Identify cross-laboratory opportunities where microbiology and analytical services can be bundled to support broader customer programs
• Maintain CRM discipline including accurate activity logging, opportunity tracking, and pipeline management across both regions and service lines
• Participate in structured pipeline and forecast reviews, ensuring visibility of key opportunities and alignment across both laboratories
• Maintain strong working knowledge of Element’s microbiology testing portfolio (Concord) and analytical/regulatory/pharma testing portfolio (Santa Fe Springs)
• Ensure compliance with all Element policies, quality systems, safety requirements, and applicable regulatory standards

Skills / Qualifications

• 5+ years of technical experience with sales responsibilities
• Bachelor of Science preferred; other four-year degrees considered
• Experience selling in the pharmaceutical and/or life sciences markets
• Knowledge and understanding of pharmaceutical regulatory landscape
• Experience interpreting testing procedures and laboratory requirements
• Proficiency in Microsoft applications (Dynamics AX/CRM, Word, Excel)
• Ability to represent the company across a broad range of customer, industry, and internal settings
• Ability to manage competing priorities and remain composed under pressure
• Strong oral and written communication skills
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to build relationships across technical and commercial stakeholders
• Ability to develop proposals including scope, cost estimates, and commercial terms
• Ability to travel up to 50% of the time, including overnight travel

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Company Overview

Element is one of the fastest growing testing, inspection and certification businesses in the world. Globally we have more than 9,000 brilliant minds operating from 270 sites across 30 countries. Together we share an ambitious purpose to ‘Make tomorrow safer than today’.

 

When failure in use is not an option, we help customers make certain that their products, materials, processes and services are safe, compliant and fit for purpose. From early R&D, through complex regulatory approvals and into production, our global laboratory network of scientists, engineers, and technologists support customers to achieve assurance over product quality, sustainable outcomes, and market access.

 

While we are proud of our global reach, working at Element feels like being part of a smaller company. We empower you to take charge of your career, and reward excellence and integrity with growth and development.

 

Industries across the world depend on our care, attention to detail and the absolute accuracy of our work. The role we have to play in creating a safer world is much bigger than our organization.

Diversity Statement

At Element, we always take pride in putting our people first. We are an equal opportunity employer that recognizes diversity and inclusion as fundamental to our Vision of becoming “the world’s most trusted testing partner”.

 

All suitably qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment on the basis of objective work related criteria and without regard for the following: age, disability, ethnic origin, gender, marital status, race, religion, responsibility of dependents, sexual orientation, or gender identity or other characteristics in accordance with the applicable governing laws or other characteristics in accordance with the applicable governing laws.