Overview
BD Manager, Triera Biosciences Jobs in Greater Toronto Area, Canada at Zentek Ltd.
Title: BD Manager, Triera Biosciences
Company: Zentek Ltd.
Location: Greater Toronto Area, Canada
Hunter role for CRO bookings and aptamer licensing deals. Scientific literacy required.
Reports to: Director, Commercialization
Location: Onsite for the first 12 months — GTA office Hwy 404 / 407 corridor. Hybrid after 12 months.
ROLE PURPOSE
The BD Manager, Triera owns commercial pipeline and deal execution for Triera Biosciences — Zentek's aptamer-based diagnostic and therapeutic IP platform. The role hunts diagnostics companies, infectious-disease researchers, pharma BD organizations, and biotech CSOs across two revenue paths: CRO (Development-on-Demand) contracts that generate near-term cash while Triera retains IP, and aptamer licensing deals.
The R&D Director serves as scientific backbone on every substantive customer call. The BD Manager runs commercial process; R&D runs scientific feasibility and credibility.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Pipeline generation
- Identify and qualify target customers across four segments: diagnostics companies (point-of-care, central lab, near-patient), infectious-disease research labs, pharma BD organizations, and biotech CSOs.
- Develop the CRO pipeline — customers who need aptamer development against specific targets and will pay for the work while Triera retains IP.
- Develop the aptamer licensing pipeline — customers seeking exclusive or non-exclusive rights to one of the owned aptamers.
Deal development & conversion
- Run the CRO and licensing pipeline through stage gates, coordinating technical evaluation with the R&D Director on each opportunity.
- Negotiate CRO contracts (typical range C$100K–C$1M per engagement) and licensing terms (range C$200K–C$2M).
- Coordinate with external legal counsel on licensing structure and with the CFO on contract terms.
Working group participation
- Member of the Triera launch working group.
- Co-accountable for the Triera CRO bookings threshold
QUALIFICATIONS
Required
- 7–12 years progressive BD experience in life sciences CRO commercial development, biotech IP licensing, pharma BD, or diagnostic platform sales.
- Personally closed multiple deals in the C$200K–C$2M range with 6–18 month cycles.
- Scientific literacy strong enough to credibly run early customer conversations solo. Bachelor's degree in molecular biology, biochemistry, biotech, or a related life science.
- Active network in diagnostics, infectious disease, pharma BD, or the biotech CSO community.
- Master's or PhD in life sciences strongly preferred.
Strongly preferred
- Direct experience with aptamer technology, oligonucleotide therapeutics, or comparable nucleic-acid platforms.
- Familiarity with diagnostic point-of-care market dynamics.
- Experience with HERC (Health Emergency Readiness Canada) or comparable government funding pathways.
- Track record with IP licensing structures that retain seller IP rights.
Cultural fit
- Operator track record you've owned a P&L, a project, or a commercial book, and delivered against it.
- Peer accountability comfortable holding peers accountable without formal authority, and held to the same.
- High clock speed — you move on commitment, close loops, and don't need scaffolding to decide.
- Direct communicator — you say what you think, what you don't know, and what you need, without theatre.
- Outcome orientation — by day 30 you can name the outcome you own and the working group you contribute to. Then you deliver.
ONSITE EXPECTATIONS
For the first 12 months this role is onsite, daily, at the GTA office (Markham / Richmond Hill, Hwy 404 / 407 corridor). This is build-phase work that does not happen well remotely — real-time coordination with the Director, Commercialization and the broader leadership team is the operating advantage. The role moves to hybrid after 12 months. Candidates who cannot commit to daily onsite presence for the first year should not apply.
SUCCESS METRICS
- Pipeline velocity qualified opportunities per quarter across CRO + licensing.
- Bookings signed contracts against the C$500K target.
- Triera CRO bookings threshold co-accountable.
- Customer quality strategic customer mix, repeat engagement rate.
WHAT DISQUALIFIES
- Hierarchical comfort-seekers who need a clear chain of command to function.
- Career strategists without delivery scars advised, but never owned a number, a deadline, or a customer.
- Empire builders who measure success by headcount or org-chart real estate.
- Passive escalators who route routine decisions upward instead of owning them.
- Politically motivated communicators who calibrate for internal positioning over clarity.
- Candidates who cannot commit to daily onsite presence in the GTA office for the first 12 months.
ABOUT ZENTEK
Zentek Ltd. (TSX-V: ZEN / Nasdaq: ZTEK) is a Canadian advanced materials and life sciences company operating three platforms on one foundational science base: Albany Graphite (a hydrothermal graphite deposit positioned for nuclear, defence, semiconductor, and battery markets), ZenGUARD Coatings (a graphene-based antimicrobial coating technology for filtration media), and Triera Biosciences (an aptamer-based diagnostic and therapeutic IP platform). The company is entering Phase 2 — operational discipline and commercial scale-up.
Zentek runs on a flat, networked leadership model. Accountability runs horizontally between peers against seven named annual outcomes. Work happens in time-bound cross-functional working groups with published decision rights (RAPID framework). We're building a company that scales delivery without scaling bureaucracy.
