Director of Technical Product Management

Prolific Machines is ushering in a new era of biotechnology with light. Our first-of-its-kind photomolecular platform delivers unprecedented control, precisely guiding cellular behavior when and where it matters most. Unlike existing tools used to control biology, our technology unlocks dynamic control over virtually any cellular function in any cell type. We're enabling partners to unlock robust efficiency, quality, reproducibility, and sustainability advantages across pharmaceuticals  and therapeutic proteins. Prolific is supported by leading investors, including Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Mayfield and SOSV.

Help us create a brighter tomorrow with biology. We're looking for mission-driven, talented, and kind people to join our team.

About this Job

Prolific Machines is seeking a highly self-motivated and independent Director of Technical Product Management to drive the development and expansion of our biopharma product & service offering focused on therapeutic protein applications. In this pivotal role, you will report to and work closely with the Head of Product to shape our product & service strategy, define and manage the product roadmap, and manage the successful development and launch of our products in the biopharma vertical. Your primary responsibility will be to ensure that our services meet market needs and deliver exceptional value to our biopharma clients. This role creates significant value in shepherding and translating technical and business value through onboarding customers to our platform. Through your deep technical understanding, you are a key sparring partner of technical leadership in translating the customer requirements into technical specifications to services, systems and components. Additionally, you will collaborate with our scientific, communication and sales teams to develop strategic, customer-facing collateral that effectively communicates our value proposition and drive successful customer conversion by being a key customer interface. Join us and play a crucial role in transforming mammalian protein production. 

Must be Bay Area based and in-office (Emeryville) 3 days per week.

• Manage the development of a cell line development platform, focused on delivering customer value. 
• Identify and refine product requirements and value propositions by deep-diving into key technical and value drivers of adoption.
• Work closely with cross-functional product teams across Biology, Hardware, Data and Bioprocess to integrate customer insights and feedback into product development and technical requirements. 
• Be an integral part of onboarding the first customers onto the platform, delivering successful technical scoping definitions to commercial teams to convert and setting up a framework that can be handed off to technical sales/BD over time. 
• Provide input on prioritization and business models to best capture Prolific’s short term and long term value.
• Serve as a key application & product knowledge holder in the organization and to our customers.
• Participate as a subject matter expert in webinars, conferences, and other industry events.
• Evaluate product features for feasibility and risk, proposing solutions that meet customer needs and generate revenue.
• Contribute to product assets such as white papers, case studies, FAQs, and educational resources for internal and external audiences.
• Monitor product performance metrics and report findings to the Head of Product and other stakeholders.

• You have a deep technical understanding of the drug development pipeline, its value drivers and customer challenges and motivations
• PhD in a relevant field. e.g. bioengineering, biochemistry, molecular biology, genetics
• Minimum 5 years of customer facing roles in technical sales, project management, product management or support, calling on biopharma, CDMO, or biosimilars customers
• 10 years in pharma, CDMO, and/or biotechnology, including 5 years of hands on experience in molecule discovery, lead identification and/or early development of protein therapeutics and mammalian expression systems
• Demonstrated ability to develop and present customer facing and internal training technical content
• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills
• Deep applied knowledge of biologics, therapeutic classes, and biomanufacturing technologies
• Deep understanding of protein sciences, cell line development, up and downstream processing
• Desire to learn and understand optogenetics and machine learning
• Experience with early commercial - startup work environment 
• Ability to travel at least 20% for conferences, meetings, etc.

Diversity: We value diverse people, perspectives, and knowledge. To this end, we aim to foster a sense of belonging that enables everyone to bring their whole, authentic self to work everyday. We are committed to growing a diverse and inclusive team that encompasses all types of people. We believe this can only be achieved by acknowledging the ancestral, historic, and current systemic and communal inequities.

Location: The San Francisco Bay Area (Emeryville, CA)

Benefits: Outstanding Health, Vision & Dental Insurance (including full spouse coverage), at least one all-expense-paid team holiday per year, flexibility in schedule and unlimited vacation days. Free lunch every day!