Technical Project Manager

About the role

We’re looking for a Technical Project Manager with experience leading innovative scientific projects to manage critical customer programs in Prolific’s pipeline. Projects can include R&D efforts to build new capabilities, enabling pharmaceutical partners to establish optogenetic capabilities at their sites, and full cell line development and preclinical scale-up of customer molecules integrated into our optogenetic cell lines.

As part of a broad technical organization tasked with commercializing Prolific’s unique optogenetic platform, the successful candidate will lead scoping, technical planning, coordination, and results reporting for client-facing projects. They will work with technical leads from R&D, Technical Operations, Hardware, and Business Development to support cross-team collaboration and communication, and coordinate with senior leadership for reporting project outcomes. This position reports into the Head of the Project Management Office and is based on-site in Emeryville, CA.

Responsibilities

• Technical project scoping, planning, and schedule oversight of internal and client-facing projects.
• Resource planning with senior leadership to forecast project needs, scope alignment, and schedule coordination.
• Close collaboration with technical leads to ensure clear communication and efficient coordination.
• Adapt and take on new responsibilities to help the company scale project management as it grows.
• Create and support new project standards, practices, and improvement initiatives with project management colleagues.
• Project reporting functions, including monthly project updates, dashboard reporting, and critical project milestone/data reports.

Collaborators

• Research & Development, cell line development, process development, analytics, hardware, business development, and product development teams for cross-functional coordination on tech transfers and technical support.
• Client/customer teams including technical leads, business development representatives, and senior leadership.
• Third-parties, suppliers, and partners for necessary capital equipment to support our teams.

Qualifications

• Master’s (5+ years of experience) or PhD (2+ years of experience) with project management in cell line development or process development in a biopharmaceutical or similar industry.
• Project Management Professional (PMP) certification is desired, but not required.
• Direct technical experience with cell engineering, cell line development, or process development/scale-up is desired.

Pay

$140,000 – $175,000 a year. This role is salaried, exempt, and paid semi-monthly. Starting salary will be dependent upon specific experience, knowledge, and skillset.

Benefits

• Generous equity package in an early-stage company.
• Retirement plan with company contribution.
• Flexible PTO with healthy time-off minimums.
• Company-covered medical, dental, and vision insurance.
• Life and disability insurance.
• Career coaching and mental health support.
• Free team lunches every day, great snacks, and companywide social events.