About The Role

CDP is seeking a Vice President, Business Development to drive growth by selling outsourced medical device engineering, development, and manufacturing services to MedTech companies within the Minneapolis/St. Paul area in Minnesota.

This role is built for a senior business development leader with direct experience selling engineering consulting or product development services, not finished medical devices, capital equipment, or software platforms. You will engage venture-backed start-ups through global medical device companies that require an external development partner to move from concept through commercialization.

As a consultative seller, you will lead complex, scope-based sales cycles, qualify ambiguous and technically nuanced opportunities, and partner closely with CDP engineering and program teams to shape well-defined development programs. You will translate customer needs into clear workstreams, align internal capabilities to client goals, and create compelling proposals that accelerate decisions and launch readiness.

Success in this position depends on the ability to sell custom, project-based development services in a consulting environment, where outcomes, scope, and timelines are co-developed with the client.

Job duties and responsibilities:
  • Own new client business development for CDP’s Medical Technology sector within an assigned North American territory and target account list.
  • Consistently generate qualified pipeline through a structured outbound motion (account-based prospecting, referral activation, partner channels, and event-driven follow-up).
  • Build and maintain disciplined pipeline coverage across early-stage prospecting, active pursuits, and late-stage proposals to support predictable bookings.
  • Identify and engage senior stakeholders at MedTech companies seeking an external partner for medical device engineering, development, human factors, regulatory support, verification and validation, and pilot or low-volume builds.
  • Prioritize pursuit activity across Medical Technology subsegments aligned to CDP strategy (for example: Structural Heart, Surgical Robotics and Navigation, Virtual Care and Remote Patient Monitoring, Primary Care and Telehealth; monitor Advanced Wound Care and Neuromodulation).
  • Lead consultative discovery conversations to qualify fit and urgency, including clinical use case, user needs, technical scope, regulatory pathway, timeline, budget, decision criteria, and buying process.
  • Convert ambiguous opportunities into clear pursuit plans, including stakeholder mapping, competitive positioning, qualification checkpoints, and a mutual action plan with the customer.
  • Orchestrate internal pursuit teams and collaborate with SMEs to shape scopes that are technically sound, commercially viable, and executable.
  • Maintain accurate CRM records and forecasting discipline, including opportunity staging, next steps, close plans, probability, and weekly forecast updates.
  • Represent CDP at conferences, industry events, and networking forums with measurable outcomes (meetings booked, opportunities created, and pipeline influenced).
  • Execute a clean handoff of won work to delivery leadership, ensuring continuity of scope intent and customer expectations, then return focus to new-logo prospecting.

Strategy (expected <10% time)

  • Assist with annual budgeting and strategic planning activities in-line with overall goals of CDP.
  • Use domain knowledge to identify opportunity spaces for the sector: where the industry is investing and associated challenge areas.
  • Identify target clients and prioritise based on CDP’s assessment criteria.
  • Maintain market intelligence, staying aware of trends, barriers and risks.
Marketing (expected <10% time)
  • Identify and communicate key market themes/topics based on market and client needs.
  • Work with marketing to organise specific conferences, generate sales materials, case studies, and website updates.
  • Engage marketing to help deliver collateral and thought leadership material.
  • Update and manage sales material and ensure CDP’s capabilities are presented in a compelling way appropriate to the opportunity.
  • Attend and present at conferences.

About You

Required

  • Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Industrial Design, or a related technical field, or equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
  • 10+ years of progressive business development experience, including demonstrated success selling engineering consulting and outsourced product development services (custom, project-based services).
  • Proven track record of new client acquisition (hunter role), including outbound pipeline generation and closing complex, solution-based sales.
  • Strong technical aptitude with the ability to explain complex development concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
  • Demonstrated ability to manage long, multi-stakeholder sales cycles, including executives, engineering, quality, regulatory, clinical, and procurement contacts.
  • Familiarity with medical device development and regulatory environments, including working knowledge of applicable requirements/standards (FDA, ISO 13485, IEC 60601).
  • Strong planning, organization, and communication skills, including CRM discipline and forecast reporting.
  • Ability to travel within the assigned territory for customer meetings and industry events. Up to 15% travel
Preferred
  • Prior experience selling services into Medical Technology subsegments (for example: Structural Heart, Surgical Robotics and Navigation, Virtual Care and Remote Patient Monitoring, Primary Care and Telehealth).
  • Experience developing scopes of work and proposals in partnership with engineering, program management, quality, and regulatory teams.
  • Experience working with both Small to medium size and large global MedTech organizations.
  • A collaborative, team working approach.

About Us

Cambridge Design Partnership (CDP) is an end-to-end innovation partner, propelling global brands and ambitious start-ups to success. We build breakthrough products and services – from insight to ideas, prototypes to production – bringing innovation to life. Our teams are multi-disciplinary, uniting scientific rigor, design ingenuity, and engineering excellence for consumer and healthcare clients. People-centred, deeply collaborative, and – above all – expert, we’re uniquely positioned to shape the future for consumers, patients, and industry. Even our ownership model is innovative: We’re 100% owned by our employees, ensuring an open culture and a total commitment to our projects’ success.