Manager of Science Zymergen, Inc.
Emeryville, CA

Job Description

Development - Manager of Science

The Manager of Science (MoS) is accountable for the biology staff i.e. the scientists and research associates that work on the Zymergen Projects. A successful MoS combines a strong technical and scientific background (in biology or a related field) with strong leadership and management skills to successfully oversee the biology staff as they engage in research in molecular biology tools, genetic engineering, microbiology and metabolic engineering in a highly automated and data driven workplace. The MoS works collaboratively with the managers of projects (MPs) and project scientific/technical leaders (TLs) to ensure that projects are staffed with the needed resources and scientific/technical skills to deliver on a broad range of projects in strain optimization, enzymes, and discovery.

Primary responsibilities

* Provide leadership and scientific guidance to scientists and RAs who work on various projects in the areas of synthetic biology, molecular biology tools, genetic engineering, microbiology and metabolic engineering and related fields.
* Ensure the quality of technical work through appropriate oversight for each individual and level.
* Provide leadership and decision-making guidance throughout the planning, execution, and implementation of strategic and technically focused initiatives to improve Dev Project business and technical processes.
* Ensure clear communication with project technical leaders (TLs) regarding the status of execution against activities and goals.
* Drive growth of the team by working with recruiting to ensure we meet hiring targets of by sourcing talented candidates, reviewing CVs, conducting interviews, hiring and mentoring career growth of reports.
* Establish supporting practices, tools, and documentation, and identify dependencies needed for technical workflows across the portfolio.

This will involve

* Guiding scientists through the DBTAL cycle and using proprietary Zymergen LIMS software and statistical data analysis tools to ensure correct data capture and analysis.
* Advocating for the appropriate use of automation and data science to improve R&D workflows.
* Knowing the intricacies of the organizational structure and how different teams (Business Development, Development-Projects, Software, Automation, Legal, Finance, Engineering, Operations, EH&S and NPI) all work together.
* Providing detailed technical expertise for guidance for team in biology related areas such as synthetic biology, genetic engineering, microbiology and metabolic engineering and related fields.

Additional responsibilities

Resource Management

* Identify resourcing needs and contribute to decision making around portfolio level resource allocations with leadership and stakeholders.
* Escalate any work imbalances and or unmet project needs and work with leadership to determine solutions to fill both short term and long-term gaps.
* Contribute to defining standard project archetypes and resource requirements for standard project modules and work streams.

People Management:

* Support, grow, and nurture reports across a broad range of professional development categories.
* Mentor on communication skills including mentoring reports in line management, communicating with leadership, and working with stakeholders outside the department.
* Mentor on project management skills including how to plan/design, execute, and roll-off of technical assignments.
* Establish clear job profiles, expectations, metrics, and development plans. Work together on individual career development plans and discuss progress and feedback with reports on a regular basis.
* Foster cognitive diversity in the workplace by creating opportunities for informal coaching and mentoring across the team and training people to become more aware of their biases.
* Promote a safe work environment by ensuring adherence to safety regulations and best practices, encouraging the team to proactively identify and report issues, escalating issues to leadership, and working with EH&S and relevant stakeholders to resolve program specific issues.
* Maintain employee work schedules including assignments, job rotation, training, vacations and paid time off, telecommuting, and solve for absenteeism.

Communication:

* Communicate status and issue updates regularly with projects leadership.
* Work with leadership to develop and adjust communication channels to ensure key stakeholders receive the correct information in a timely manner.
* Update leadership on personal issues e.g. leave, career growth, or logistical issues.
* Work across functions with peers in other groups to ensure high levels of collaboration around shared work and goals.
* Review technical documents (presentations and reports) for external and internal communication.

Hiring & training

Work with leadership to ensure team has the appropriate resources and skill sets to complete projects and improve processes.

* Identify gaps in staffing or team expertise within portfolio. Work with leadership to fill in gaps including guiding talent identification and managing the hiring work streams with HR
* Participate in employee training program for new hires and existing staff.

Technical Skills include:

* PhD in biological sciences
* Coding/databases (applied to Biology)
* Statistics/quantitative methods (applied to Biology)
* Understanding of metabolic engineering
* Understanding of synthetic biology approaches
* Understanding of automation (applied to Biology)

Leadership & management Capabilities include:

* Proven experience in project management and running synthetic biology projects
* Excellent written and verbal communication skills
* Proven negotiation, collaboration and interpersonal leadership skills
* Conceptual, analytical and strategic thinking with proven decision making capability
* Ability to influence strategically across all levels of the organization
* Maturity around complex problem solving and dealing with ambiguity
* Can manage flexibly and understand when and how to change tacks or focus to meet goals
* Is goal orientated, works hard to get things done
* Has a personal organization system that allows her or him to attend to many tasks at once
* Able to tailor communication style to any audience from executives to research associates