How I Moved from the NHS to Business Development (And Why It Works)

Author: Olivia Stanford, Co-founder of Roam Health

Published: October 2025

Read time: 9 minutes

I get asked all the time: "How did you get into business development?", and I get headhunted constantly by employers looking for doctors at the clinical X business intersect (healthcare startups, healthtech companies, big corporates).

In summary: no clear route in for doctors, but lots of demand for doctors.

I didn't plan it. I didn't do an MBA or any formal business training. It just sort of happened. But once I landed here, it made sense. The skills we use as doctors (the trust, listening, problem-solving, understanding of healthcare systems and people) are often exactly the skills needed for healthcare-related businesses to grow.

My Story: How I Started Out in Business Development

I left the NHS after 'F3'. I was offered a GP training post but knew a long-term career in the NHS wasn't for me (my reasons for leaving the NHS are a long story for a different day). But being honest, my husband at the time was doing GP training and his insane A&E shift pattern was a real influencing factor and push to explore different avenues.

I started working as a functional assessor, and within my first 6 months or so, a secondment came up for a Clinical Lead in business development (helping shape the company's health growth strategy). I applied and reached out directly to the business development team and senior leaders to express my interest in the role. That direct approach helped - I got the secondment and started splitting my time between that and my clinical work.

After that, I applied for a Business Development Manager (BDM) role and got it. No prior business experience, no sales background.

What helped was how I framed what I brought:

• Real-world understanding of UK health services and clinical pain points
• Innovative ideas for improvement that made sense from a 'could this actually work' perspective
• Curiosity and the willingness to learn
• On the spot problem solving during interviews/conversations with the team/leaders – asking and understanding what the company's pain points currently were and suggesting a few 'how about…' with some application of clinical/health system context to back the suggestion

I made an effort to interact with the right people (business team & senior leaders), share thoughts, ask questions, and gradually became part of that world.

What My Work Looks Like Now

My first BDM role was in the health space but mostly focused on public health (weight management services, integrated lifestyle services, stop smoking).

Now I'm Head of Business Development in secondary care, working across hospital specialties, urgent treatment centres, and community MSK services. It's varied, strategic, and genuinely interesting work.

Day to day, I:

• Line manage a small team
• Oversee our pipeline (what's coming up, who's won what, where we can grow/improve)
• Shape win strategies and develop solutions (my favourite part)
• Build relationships with partners and stakeholders (health and non-health related) to help us provide services that actually work and support the communities/patients we're delivering to
• Work with ops and clinical teams to make sure what we bid for is actually deliverable
• Do competitor analysis and market research
• Review written responses and guide our bid approach

I mostly work from home, with the occasional site visit or team meet-up. I work three days a week, which works perfectly with having a toddler… flexible, well-paid, interesting.

I'll add that it's meaningful too. I make sure that we deliver an accessible, intuitive and safe service and provide the best support for our communities/patients that we possibly can. It's honestly a really nice balance.

Why Doctors Fit So Well in Business and Strategy Roles

So much of business development is about building relationships and trust.

In healthcare, the people you're talking to (commissioners, service leads, GP partners) are often clinicians themselves. They don't want to be sold to. They want someone who actually gets it: someone who speaks the same language, understands the pressures and risks, and can find a middle ground that works for everyone.

That comes naturally to most clinicians - listening, interpreting, and coming up with a plan that works. Those communication and tailoring skills transfer directly into how you build partnerships and shape services in business.

And then there's understanding the system.

Clinical processes (referrals, NICE guidance, red flags, two-week waits), clinical systems (tech platforms, workflows), NHS funding (payment incentives like QOF, GP contracts, how hospitals get paid, who holds the money e.g. ICBs)… it's a whole ecosystem.

That knowledge makes a massive difference when you're designing or selling something into the NHS. You can't just say "we've built something great", you have to know how it fits, who it affects, and how it's funded.

That system fluency, plus knowing how things actually work on the ground (the workflows, MDT roles, and the day-to-day reality of services), is what makes doctors such an asset. It helps shape how a product or service should really look, not just how someone imagines it might.

Doctors Also Bring the Risk and Governance Puzzle Piece

Doctors live and breathe risk management. Every clinical decision made is about balancing risk and safety, and that mindset translates really well to business and developing healthcare services/products.

So many startups pitch their product as "saving doctors time" or "making things more efficient." That's fine, but the pitch that often actually lands is: "here's how this reduces your clinical risk while improving efficiency."

Because in healthcare, one incident can kill a product. Think of the self-driving cars analogy… one fatal crash and the whole sector slows down. It's the same in health tech & business. If it's seen as risky, it's done.

Doctors naturally ask, "but what happens if…?". That instinct is what helps build safer, more credible solutions. It's not just a governance tick box, it's the thing that earns trust and adoption.

And beyond risk, there's the evidence. We're trained as doctors to read and interpret research properly (study design, size, endpoints, statistical significance, conflicts of interest, whether results actually mean anything in practice).

Which is incredibly valuable when it comes to shaping a company's own evidence base. It helps make sure what we're collecting, measuring, and presenting actually stands up clinically and stands out from competitors - not just from a marketing point of view, but in terms of how it would be viewed by commissioners, clinicians etc.

It's about asking questions like: Would our evidence hold up under clinical or regulatory scrutiny e.g. CQC or NICE standards?

That kind of critical thinking shapes how a product/service is positioned, how it's adopted, and how it earns credibility with clinicians and decision-makers - what helps a product move from "interesting idea" to something the NHS can actually buy into.

How to Break Into It Yourself

You don't need an MBA or business training to move into BD, strategy, or innovation roles. What you do need is focus. And genuine interest.

Be Honest About Your Interest

Before you apply anywhere, ask yourself: am I actually interested in this work?

Do a little soul searching. Are you just applying because you don't know where else to go or what else to do? Or because your last on call was an absolute nightmare and you're panic-applying? If so, it might be better to take a step back and get some career counselling/support or do some serious thinking about what you actually want (what suits your interests, ambitions, life goals).

It sounds obvious but it matters. You'll be asked about your reasons for applying in interviews, and if you can't articulate why you're drawn to business development or strategy beyond "I want to leave clinical medicine," it shows. Show you're running towards something, not just away from it.

You can mention that your clinical experience has driven you to want to improve things, but avoid framing your whole application around escaping clinical medicine.

What interested me was the problem-solving and the ability to make changes at a systems level - coming in with an understanding of how healthcare services are delivered on the ground and being able to shape and improve that, and always putting patients and service users first. I was curious about the business side of health services and initiatives, not just clinical delivery.

Throughout my career as an NHS doctor, I was constantly looking at inefficiencies and workflows that didn't work, asking "why don't we do this?" or "how can we change that?". Obviously never getting anywhere as a newbie doctor, but it felt instinctual. I used those frustrations and pain points as the basis for my questions, suggestions and innovations when I applied to and got into business development. And because I had the clinical context, I could bring insights and angles the current team hadn't necessarily considered.

So think about what genuinely appeals to you: Is it influencing healthcare at scale? Working cross-functionally with different teams? The intellectual challenge of commercial strategy? The variety of projects? Be able to name it. And before you do that, check in with yourself and ask why you're actually applying.

Apply for Specific Roles

Cold outreach ("Hi, can we chat about career options?") rarely goes anywhere, partly because most people aren't actively hiring when you reach out, partly because you're not being specific enough about your niche.

But if you've seen a specific role in an area you're interested in (say health-related business development, bid writing, or clinical lead/advisor for a healthtech product) you've already overcome two hurdles:

1. The employer is actively looking.
2. You've identified where your skills fit and your 'niche'.

This helps you make an informed, tailored pitch of yourself to an engaged audience. Even if you're not a "typical" candidate, you bring something different and rare as a doctor.

If you combine that with energy, ideas, initiative and a willingness to learn, people will take notice.

Business development teams are full of people from completely different backgrounds - teachers, history grads, managers from other sectors, people with degrees, and without degrees. Most learn the business side of things on the job.

Tailor Your CV and Application

I'd advise against sending a generic clinical CV. Ideally reframe your experience to show how it's relevant to the specific role.

For example, if you're applying for a Business Development Manager role in healthtech:

• Instead of: "managed acute medical admissions"
• Try: "managed high-pressure workflows with multiple stakeholders, triaging competing priorities and coordinating care across departments"

Or for a clinical advisor role:

• Instead of: "completed foundation training in various hospitals, GPs and specialties"
• Try: "developed broad understanding of care pathways across primary care, secondary care, and community settings, with hands-on experience in referral processes/pathways and service workflows/pain points"

Consider adding a brief personal statement at the top that positions you for the role: "Doctor with [X years] NHS experience seeking to apply clinical insight and problem-solving skills to [specific business area]. Passionate about improving healthcare delivery through [innovation/partnerships/strategy/specific service solutions]. Quick learner with growth mindset and proven ability to adapt and deliver in fast-paced environments."

The key is showing you understand what the role actually needs and that you've thought about how your skills translate.

Networking (Actually Useful Advice)

A lot of alternative career advice for medics says "you need to network" but that's so broad and non-specific that I never found it helpful. Here's my actual, practical, and tangible advice for networking.

My advice: reach out about specific advertised roles

When you see a role advertised on job boards or LinkedIn that interests you, reach out directly to someone on the team. Not the recruitment team (if it's a bigger company) - ideally someone currently working within the team you'd be joining, and ideally a more senior member like the Head of BD, Commercial Director, or another business development manager.

Frame your message around the specific position. This approach works because the employer is engaged and actively looking, and you can be specific about what you bring. You also have a job description to guide how you pitch yourself.

If you're applying and not hearing back, this direct approach is especially valuable. Recruitment processes can have rigid initial selection yes/no criteria that could get you excluded prematurely (without taking into account all of the other assets you bring from your clinical background). A short, personal message on LinkedIn (read: don't use AI!!) explaining your interest and background can get you considered beyond the usual filters.

Keep it brief, genuine, and specific to the role. Mention what caught your eye about the position and one or two relevant things you bring.

Alternative approach: cold outreach or proposing yourself

You can also try reaching out to companies or teams you want to work for without a specific advertised role - either to chat about opportunities generally, or to propose yourself as a clinical lead or similar position.

This IS a valid option, but it's harder. You need to:

• Be clear on your understanding of the company
• Be open to an exploratory conversation where you ask curious questions about their pain points
• Importantly, be clear on how you're pitching yourself and what your 'niche' is, without having a job description to guide you

You're essentially creating your own job description and pitching yourself to that role. Without business experience, this can be challenging. There can also be a mismatch: the person you're reaching out to might not be the right contact, they're not currently recruiting, you're not clear on what you want, or you're not clear on what you bring. Conversations can go nowhere and you feel deflated because it's generally rarely successful unless you manage to tick all of the above boxes, which also involves an element of luck.

It's still a valid route, but my personal advice - especially if you have little or no business experience - is to focus on roles that are being advertised and do direct reach-outs for those. It gives you a framework to base yourself off and makes sure you're reaching out to engaged people who are actively looking for talent.

The Jump (and the Reality Check)

It's a big shift from clinical work. You go from seeing patients and clinical decision making to project timelines and strategy decks. It's less intense in many ways (no one's life is on the line) but there's still pressure, especially when you're new and everything feels unfamiliar.

In medicine, even as an FY1, you know the landscape. In business (if you have no business training/qualifications), you start from zero. You don't know the terms, the systems, or even really what a bid is. But it's all stuff you can learn by doing the work - problem-solve, ask questions, and it comes together fast.

You have a lot of transferrable skills (conscientiousness, problem solving, curiosity, innovative energy, teamwork, communication), they're just used in a completely different way.

Final Thoughts

Now that I've been in this world a while, I can say it's an amazing space for doctors who want something new but still meaningful. It uses all the core parts of being a doctor (listening, analysing, communicating, improving systems, putting patients first) but applies them to a different kind of problem.

There's growing demand for clinicians who can bridge clinical and commercial worlds, and I think we'll only see more of that. E.g. doctor's input/oversight of healthtech products is increasingly expected by investors, whether it's advisory input or a full-time team member, so healthtech clinical roles are becoming more common.

If you're curious about where to start, keep an eye out for roles like business development manager, bid writing, clinical lead, or strategy positions.

TL;DR

I didn't do an MBA or plan to work in business. I applied to a clinical lead opportunity and built relationships with the team/business leaders. Once I got into business development, I found the same skills we use as doctors (trust, communication, problem-solving, understanding systems, managing risk, interpreting evidence) are exactly what healthcare businesses need to grow.

How to get into it:

• You don't need extra qualifications, most people learn on the job.
• Be honest about your interest - articulate what genuinely appeals to you about the work beyond wanting to leave the NHS. You'll be asked in interviews.
• Apply for real roles (BDM, bid writing, clinical lead/advisor).
• Tailor your CV: reframe clinical experience to show relevant business skills (e.g. "understanding of primary, secondary and community service care pathways and referral processes" not just "experience in different hospitals & specialties"). Add a personal statement that shows you understand the role, how your skills apply and bring energy to learn.
• Network strategically - reach out directly to teams you'll be working with for a job you're looking at. Send a brief, specific message on Linkedin about the role (don't use AI!) – this can get you past basic recruitment filters, especially if you're not the typical applicant (which generally as a doctor, you're not). Cold outreach without a specific job is harder and less likely to succeed, especially without business experience.
• Frame your clinical background as assets tailored to the specific job you're applying for. Understanding of the clinical ecosystem and your trusted status as a doctor are essential here. Along with being curious, proactive, willing to learn, problem solve and think outside the box.

There's no set route in, but there's huge and growing demand for doctors who can bridge clinical and commercial worlds.