Business Development Manager

Business Development Manager

About Us:

How many companies can say they've been in business for over 179 years? ZEISS certainly can! As the pioneers of science, ZEISS handles the everchanging environments in a fast-paced world, meeting it with cutting edge of technologies and continuous advancements. ZEISS believes that innovation and technology are the key to a sustainable future and solutions for global change. We have a diverse range of portfolios throughout the ZEISS family in segments like, Industrial Quality & Research, Medical Technology, Consumer Markets and Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology. We are a global company with over 42,000 employees and have over 4,000 in the US and Canada alone! Make a difference, come join the team!

Location/Region: Remote USA, best location Philadelphia, PA but also can reside in DC, MA, IL, TX, VA and PA.

What's the role?

As a Business Development Manager, you get to work with an astonishing team that plays a vital role in Academic Life Sciences.

We are seeking a highly motivated and results-oriented Business Development Manager (BDM) to drive new opportunity generation, create market focused content, and support the commercial success of our portfolio in the Academic Life Sciences Customer Segment and related subsectors. This individual will play a pivotal role in developing and executing go-to-market strategies and content to drive business growth in North America.

The BDM will identify and interpret market signals, engage potential and existing customers to understand their needs and jobs to be done, assess competitive dynamics, and translate these insights into segment strategies, product positioning, sales enablement, and market-focused content.

This individual will play a pivotal role in developing and executing go-to-market strategies that will increase the number and quality of opportunities across relevant product lines and subsectors. The role is responsible for building customer and market understanding, identifying areas for growth, developing differentiated value propositions and content, and enabling the sales organization to target customers effectively.

The BDM will work closely with the North American Marketing Communications team, which owns website management, campaign execution, audience activation, distribution, and reach. The BDM will provide the customer insights, subject-matter expertise, positioning, and core content required to support these activities.

This position requires a strategic mindset with strong business acumen, excellent communication, and marketing skills, coupled with a technical understanding of microscopy solutions, the key target market, and the competitive landscape.

At all times, the conduct of the BDM must be in accordance with company guidelines and standards.

Sound Interesting? Here's what you'll do:

• Growth in the number and value of qualified opportunities within the North American Academic Life Sciences Customer Segment, measured by subsector and relevant product line.
• Identification and development of new market opportunities, applications, partnerships, and customer use cases.
• Quality and timely delivery of market intelligence, including customer insights, market trends, competitive analysis, and recommended commercial actions.
• Development and adoption of differentiated product positioning, value propositions, and customer-facing content.
• Customer and KOL engagement, including the quality and breadth of relationships across priority subsectors.
• Community development: building ZEISS solution ecosystems within the Academic Life Sciences networks
• Expense management
• Training & sales enablement initiatives (employees and customers)
• Opportunity to Order Conversion across key subsectors (Cell Biology, Cancer, Developmental Biology, Neuroscience).

Primary Duties and Responsibilities:

Market Intelligence and Customer Insight

• Monitor and interpret market signals, including customer needs, emerging applications, technology trends, regulatory developments, investment patterns, and competitive activity.
• Engage potential and existing customers to understand their jobs to be done, workflows, pain points, decision criteria, purchasing processes, and unmet needs.
• Maintain an evidence-based understanding of priority markets, customer segments, competitors, substitute technologies, and ZEISS's relative position.
• Build relationships with key opinion leaders, industry organizations, channel partners, and group purchasing organizations.
• Identify unmet market needs and portfolio gaps and communicate prioritized recommendations to regional and global stakeholders.

Segment Strategy & Market Development

• Develop and maintain the North American go-to-market strategy for the Academic Customer Segment and related subsectors.
• Define and prioritize the subsectors, customer jobs to be done, applications, buyer personas, target customers, and assigned product lines with the greatest potential to drive growth within the segment.
• Translate market and customer insights into actionable market-development plans with clear objectives, initiatives, timelines, and measures of success.
• Develop opportunities across priority applications and assigned product lines, with the goal of increasing the number, quality, and value of opportunities within the segment.
• Collaborate with Global Customer Segment counterparts to align strategies while representing North American market requirements.

Product Positioning and Content Development

• Develop differentiated value propositions, positioning, messaging, and use-case narratives based on customer needs, competitive dynamics, and ZEISS portfolio strengths.
• Create or serve as the subject-matter lead for market, assigned product lines, and application-focused content, including case studies, application notes, articles, customer testimonials, presentations, sales tools, and thought-leadership materials.
• Collaborate with customers, KOLs, Sales, Applications, Segment Heads and Product Management to develop credible customer stories and market-relevant content.
• Review relevant materials for technical accuracy, consistent product positioning, and compliance with applicable regulatory requirements.
• Provide Marketing Communications with content priorities, target-audience insights, core messaging, and subject-matter expertise. Marketing Communications owns content production, website publishing, campaign execution, distribution, and reach.

Sales Enablement and Commercial Activation

• Equip Sales with customer insights, segment knowledge, competitive guidance, objection-handling tools, value propositions, and relevant content.
• Lead the market-readiness components of new product launches, including market assessment, target-customer definition, positioning, content requirements, and sales training.
• Provide the strategic inputs for targeted campaigns and collaborate with Marketing Communications on their activation.
• Represent ZEISS at selected customer meetings, conferences, trade shows, advisory discussions, and industry events to strengthen relationships, expand market knowledge, and generate opportunities.
• Facilitate the exchange of market intelligence, customer feedback, competitive insights, and commercial success stories across NA and global teams.

Performance Measurement and Continuous Improvement

• Monitor qualified opportunity development by segment, subsector, product line, source, and strategic initiative.
• Evaluate the contribution of customer engagement, content, sales enablement, product launches, partnerships, and other market-development activities to commercial outcomes.
• Partner with Marketing Communications to interpret campaign, content, website, audience, and channel-performance data.
• Use performance data, customer feedback, and sales insights to refine market priorities, positioning, content, and go-to-market plans.
• Provide regular business updates summarizing market developments, progress against objectives, commercial impact, lessons learned, and recommended actions.
• Manage assigned budgets and expenses in accordance with company guidelines.

Do you qualify?

• Master's degree in a relevant field (e.g., Life Sciences, or related). MBA or Ph.D. is a plus.
• 5+ years of experience in business development, marketing, or sales in industries related to microscopy or Academic Life Sciences.
• Proven experience in content development, digital marketing, or managing web platforms.
• Strong technical knowledge of microscopy techniques and their applications in Academic Life Sciences.
• Excellent communication, presentation, and negotiation skills.
• Self-motivated, with the ability to work independently and in a matrixed global organization.

Working Conditions and Special Demands:

• Up to 25% willingness and ability to travel regionally and globally.

We have amazing benefits to support you as an employee at ZEISS!

• Medical
• Vision
• Dental
• 401k Matching
• Employee Assistance Programs
• Vacation and sick pay