Position Summary
The International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH) is seeking an experienced, results-driven industry relations and business development professional to lead the Society’s commercial partnership portfolio, with the Annual Congress as its anchor asset.
The Manager, Industry Relations & Business Development, serves as ISTH’s primary commercial relationship owner for pharmaceutical, biotechnology, diagnostics, medical devices, and other healthcare industry partners. This position is responsible for generating sponsorship, exhibition, and broader non-dues revenue through strategic business development, senior-level relationship management, account growth, and new partner acquisition. While the Annual Congress represents the largest single revenue opportunity, the role is accountable for a year-round industry relationship portfolio that spans the Congress, ISTH educational and highlight courses, the ISTH Academy and digital education channels, research and quality initiatives, and multi-year strategic partnership agreements.
Working collaboratively with the Executive Director & CEO, the Director of Meetings, the Manager, Exhibition & Sponsorship Operations, Marketing & Communications, Finance, Education, Research, and external vendors, the Manager, Industry Relations & Business Development is responsible for achieving annual revenue goals while providing an exceptional partner experience from initial outreach through contract execution and transition to fulfillment.
The ISTH Annual Congress is one of the world’s leading scientific meetings in thrombosis and hemostasis, attracting more than 6,000 physicians, researchers, scientists, allied health professionals, and industry representatives from more than 100 countries each year.
Critically, this position operates at the interface between commercial partnership and scientific independence. ISTH’s credibility rests on the strict separation of industry support from scientific program content, faculty selection, and guideline development. The successful candidate will be expected to grow revenue while rigorously protecting that separation and upholding the Society’s obligations under applicable global industry codes and accredited education standards.
Responsibilities:
Revenue Generation & Business Development
- Manage, execute and collaborate with leadership to develop the annual industry revenue strategy across the Society’s full partnership portfolio, with the Annual Congress as the anchor property.
- Achieve or exceed annual revenue goals for sponsorship, exhibition, and other approved non-dues industry revenue streams, as set with the Executive Director & CEO and approved through the Society’s budget process.
- Prospect, cultivate, solicit, negotiate, and secure new corporate sponsors and exhibitors.
- Lead the complete sales cycle from prospecting through contract execution.
- Ensure a smooth transition of sponsor commitments to the Manager, Exhibition & Sponsorship Operations for fulfillment and onsite execution.
- Create and manage customized sponsorship and partnership proposals that align partner objectives with ISTH’s mission, scientific priorities, and organizational offerings, while collaborating with leadership on strategic opportunities.
- Negotiate sponsorship agreements, exhibit contracts, and commercial terms.
- Lead sponsor renewals and grow existing accounts by identifying opportunities to increase investment and long-term engagement.
- Maintain an active sales pipeline and accurate revenue forecasts.
- Identify innovative sponsorship products and revenue-generating opportunities based on market trends and customer feedback.
- Represent ISTH professionally during sponsor meetings, networking events, industry conferences, and site visits.
- Design and sell multi-year and enterprise-level partnership agreements that move the Society beyond transactional, single-Congress sponsorship toward durable strategic alliances.
- Oversee the administration of the Society’s tiered strategic partnership program, recommending enhancements to partnership benefits, recognition standards, and pricing models to improve partner engagement and value.
- Identify and cultivate industry revenue opportunities outside the Congress, including educational courses, ISTH Academy and digital learning, research and registry initiatives, awards and fellowships, and journal-adjacent opportunities, in coordination with the responsible department leads.
Industry Relationship Management
- Serve as the primary relationship manager and single point of accountability for pharmaceutical, biotechnology, diagnostics, medical device, and healthcare industry partners across all Society touchpoints.
- Develop and maintain trusted relationships with key decision-makers across commercial, marketing, medical affairs, scientific affairs, and corporate partnership teams.
- Conduct regular meetings with sponsors and exhibitors throughout the sales cycle.
- Provide consultative solutions that maximize value for both industry partners and ISTH.
- Deliver exceptional customer service while fostering long-term partnerships and sponsor retention.
- Maintain a documented account plan for each major industry partner, including relationship map, historical investment, renewal risk, and growth strategy; brief the Executive Director/CEO and Society leadership in advance of senior-level partner engagements.
- Support the establishment and ongoing management of an ISTH Industry Advisory Forum or equivalent structured mechanism for two-way dialogue with industry partners, in coordination with the Executive Director/CEO and Council.
- Coordinate industry-facing communication so that partners receive consistent, coherent outreach from ISTH rather than duplicative requests from multiple departments.
Strategic Business Development
- Identify emerging market opportunities and recommend new sponsorship offerings.
- Monitor trends within the scientific meeting, association, and healthcare industries.
- Analyze competitor sponsorship programs and recommend strategies to strengthen ISTH’s competitive position.
- Collaborate with internal stakeholders to develop creative sponsorship packages and new revenue opportunities.
- Support long-term sponsorship planning for future Congresses.
- Conduct annual benchmarking of comparable international scientific societies to inform pricing, inventory design, and partnership structure.
- Contribute to the Society’s non-dues revenue diversification strategy and prepare business cases for new revenue initiatives for review by the Executive Director/ CEO.
Compliance & Scientific Independence
- Maintain current working knowledge of the global codes governing industry support of scientific meetings, including IFPMA, EFPIA, PhRMA, AdvaMed, and MedTech Europe, and ensure ISTH activities and venues satisfy the MedTech Europe Conference Vetting System requirements.
- Ensure all sponsorship and exhibition activity preserves the independence of ISTH’s scientific program, faculty selection, guideline development, and accredited education, consistent with CME/CPD standards for integrity and independence.
- Partner with Finance and legal counsel to support transparency and spend-reporting obligations (including U.S. Open Payments and equivalent international disclosure regimes) applicable to industry transfers of value.
- Ensure industry contact data is collected, stored, and used in compliance with GDPR and other applicable data protection requirements.
- Escalate promptly any partner request that could compromise, or create the appearance of compromising, ISTH’s scientific integrity or non-profit status.
Sales Planning & Revenue Management
- Maintain sponsorship and exhibition inventory, pricing strategy, sales forecasts, and pipeline reports, with full and disciplined use of the Society’s CRM as the system of record for all industry accounts, contacts, and opportunities.
- Prepare regular reports on sales performance, renewals, projections, and revenue opportunities.
- Collaborate with Finance to ensure timely contract execution, invoicing, and payment collection.
- Monitor sponsorship performance metrics and recommend continuous improvements.
- Provide the Executive Director & CEO and Council with regular, decision-ready reporting on industry revenue performance, concentration risk, and partner retention.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Partner closely with the Manager, Exhibition & Sponsorship Operations to ensure a seamless transition from sales to sponsor fulfillment.
- Collaborate with the Meetings team to ensure sponsor commitments are successfully executed.
- Work with Marketing & Communications to coordinate sponsorship recognition and promotional deliverables.
- Coordinate with external exhibition management companies, venues, and vendors as appropriate.
- Participate in planning meetings for future Congresses and Society meetings.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education and professional experience.
- Minimum of five to seven years of progressively responsible experience in sponsorship sales, exhibition sales, business development, strategic partnerships, or healthcare event sales.
- Demonstrated success achieving or exceeding sales and revenue goals.
- Experience selling sponsorships and exhibition opportunities for scientific, medical, healthcare, or association meetings.
- Proven success managing complex sales cycles and negotiating high-value sponsorship agreements.
- Experience developing and managing relationships with pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, and healthcare organizations.
- Strong understanding of the global healthcare industry and the commercial environment surrounding international scientific meetings.
- Working knowledge of healthcare industry compliance requirements, including the IFPMA, EFPIA, PhRMA, AdvaMed, and MedTech Europe codes of conduct, the MedTech Europe Conference Vetting System, continuing medical education (CME/CPD) standards for independence, and transparency and spend-reporting regulations governing industry participation in scientific meetings.
- Experience working with international clients and stakeholders across multiple countries and cultures.
- Experience using CRM platforms (e.g., Salesforce or similar) and sales forecasting tools.
- Excellent communication, presentation, negotiation, and relationship management skills.
- Strong organizational, analytical, and project management abilities.
- Ability to travel domestically and internationally, including extended travel for the Annual Congress and other Society meetings.
- Demonstrated experience structuring and closing multi-year or enterprise-level corporate partnership agreements.
- Demonstrated judgment in navigating the boundary between commercial partnership and scientific independence within a mission-driven organization.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience working within an international scientific, medical, or healthcare association.
- Experience selling sponsorships and exhibitions for international congresses with 5,000 or more participants.
- Existing relationships with pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device companies that participate in international scientific meetings.
- Experience managing multi-million-dollar sponsorship and exhibition portfolios.
- Certified Meeting Professional (CMP), Certified in Exhibition Management (CEM), or similar professional certification.
- Experience working in a multicultural, global environment.
- Proficiency in one or more additional languages.
- Familiarity with the thrombosis, hemostasis, hematology, or rare disease therapeutic landscape and its commercial stakeholders.
- Experience supporting or staffing an industry advisory council or corporate roundtable within a professional society.
Knowledge, Skills & Competencies
The successful candidate will demonstrate:
- Proven sponsorship sales and business development expertise.
- Strong commercial acumen and strategic thinking.
- Exceptional relationship-building skills with senior industry decision-makers.
- Knowledge of the global pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical device industries.
- Understanding of international healthcare compliance requirements and ethical standards governing industry participation in scientific meetings.
- Strong negotiation, influencing, and presentation skills.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Outstanding organizational and project management abilities.
- Ability to work independently while collaborating across multiple departments.
- Professionalism, integrity, sound judgment, and a customer-focused approach.
- Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced, international, mission-driven environment.
- Commitment to providing exceptional service to industry partners while supporting ISTH’s mission and long-term strategic objectives.
Performance Measures
- Total industry revenue against approved annual budget target.
- Year-over-year growth in non-Congress industry revenue.
- Partner retention and renewal rate, and growth within existing accounts.
- New partner acquisition, and reduction in revenue concentration among the largest supporters.
- Value and number of multi-year agreements executed.
- Pipeline accuracy and forecast reliability, and CRM data completeness.
- Industry partner satisfaction as measured through post-Congress survey and structured feedback.
- Zero compliance findings related to industry codes, accredited education independence, or data protection.
Work Environment
- Primarily remote work environment.
- Domestic and international travel required, estimated at 10-20% annually
- Attendance at the ISTH Annual Congress and other Society meetings is required.
- Evening and weekend work may be required during peak sales periods and Society meetings.
- Ability to lift and transport up to 30 pounds during event operations.