• Conduct outbound prospect research and qualification • Identify and generate acquisition leads through cold calls, emails, warm introductions, and referrals • Build and maintain a strong pipeline of future acquisition opportunities • Manage and maintain prospect databases with accuracy and competitive insights • Collaborate with the business development team to move opportunities through the deal cycle • Support marketing campaigns • Assist with travel planning for business development meetings • Help with additional administrative tasks as needed • Be an active team player in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment

• Own your pipeline number. You are accountable for qualified opportunities created, not just dials made. • Manage a multi-channel outreach process across calls, email, LinkedIn, and video. Volume matters, but conversion matters more. • Use AI tools to research accounts, personalize outreach at scale, and find better angles faster. This is a real expectation, not a nice-to-have. • Qualify rigorously. A well-qualified opportunity is worth more than three that waste an AE's time. • Collaborate actively with Account Executives, Customer Success, and Marketing. Share what you are hearing in the market. Flag patterns. Contribute to what the team learns collectively. • Attend team meetings, training, and call reviews with genuine engagement. The best BDRs are students of the craft. • You’re self-disciplined, accountable, and reliable. • Bring your ideas. If you see a better approach, say so.

• Establish Architectural Mandates: Build deep-rooted partnerships with C-suite and Engineering leaders at high-growth AI startups to get Everpure™ written into their "Standard Reference Architecture," ensuring our technology is a non-negotiable requirement for their production environments. • Drive Ecosystem Orchestration: Collaborate with the Neocloud ecosystem (e.g., CoreWeave, Lambda) to integrate Everpure™ as a first-class citizen within their GPU-as-a-Service offerings, creating seamless "bring-your-own-storage" paths for customers. • Execute Competitive Displacements: Outmaneuver niche storage players by positioning the reliability, power efficiency, and "Evergreen" model of the Everpure™ Platform as the only sustainable choice for large-scale LLM and RAG deployments. • Influence Product Evolution: Serve as a strategic conduit between the AI startup ecosystem and Everpure’s internal AI/HPC product teams, ensuring our roadmap anticipates and solves for the extreme-scale requirements of emerging AI training loops.

The Role The Ascend Advanced Therapies Group is seeking a scientifically and commercially-driven Manager of Business Development to support expansion across the viral vaccine, oncolytic virus, and AAV gene therapy sectors. This role sits at the intersection of science, manufacturing, and strategic partnerships, focusing on development and GMP manufacturing opportunities spanning virus production, analytical testing, and drug product manufacturing including aseptic fill/finish. In this role, you’ll engage with biotech founders, CMC leaders, and scientific teams to understand their manufacturing challenges and guide them toward Ascend’s development and GMP production capabilities. Your day may include technical discussions with internal SMEs, managing a pipeline of emerging opportunities, developing proposals for viral vector manufacturing programs, and building relationships with biotech companies through conferences, partnering meetings, and targeted outreach. As an individual contributor, the Manager will work closely with the Business Development leadership team, manufacturing leadership, and technical SMEs to identify, qualify, and close new client partnerships across the Western US. The role requires a professional capable of translating complex virology and gene therapy manufacturing challenges into practical CDMO solutions. The Ascend Group’s decades of experience in viral vaccine manufacturing, oncolytic virus development, and AAV gene-to-patient production uniquely positions the organization to support emerging biotech innovators and established pharmaceutical companies alike. The ideal candidate is comfortable operating independently in a scientifically sophisticated commercial environment, capable of engaging with CMC, process development, and translational science teams while managing a structured sales pipeline. Geographic proximity to a major airport or biopharma hub strongly preferred. Regular travel for client meetings, scientific conferences, and site visits is expected. Key Responsibilities: - Identify and develop new business opportunities within viral vaccines, oncolytic viruses, and AAV gene therapy programs, spanning early development through commercial manufacturing. - Build and manage a pipeline of opportunities across viral vector manufacturing, process development, analytical testing, and aseptic fill-finish services. - Serve as a scientifically credible interface between prospective clients and Ascend’s internal manufacturing, process development, and quality teams. - Support the development of client proposals, technical scopes, and commercial strategies for complex viral therapy manufacturing programs. - Contribute to opportunity qualification by evaluating technical feasibility, manufacturing scale requirements, and regulatory considerations associated with viral therapy production. - Track and manage opportunities within the company CRM while maintaining a consistent reporting cadence on pipeline progress, forecasts, and risks. - Participate in scientific conferences, partnering meetings, and industry events to build relationships with emerging biotech companies developing viral therapies. - Collaborate with marketing and leadership teams to support targeted outreach initiatives and market intelligence activities within the viral therapy landscape. - Maintain awareness of industry trends in viral vector manufacturing, vaccine development, and gene therapy production technologies.