About the Role
We are seeking an experienced and highly skilled Technical Engagement (Alliance) Manager to join our team. The Technical Engagement Manager is responsible for ensuring the overall success and quality of strategic client engagements. In addition, they support sales of new solution engagements to ensure client retention and continued revenue growth.
The Technical Engagement Manager, Drug Discovery, will facilitate a collaborative and productive working environment for both SandboxAQ and our partners while ensuring that the teams operate in accordance with the contract terms. This position will work closely with colleagues to lead engagements with senior members of the drug discovery ecosystem, including pharmaceutical companies, biotechs, academic institutions, independent software vendors, contract research organizations (CROs), and startups. This role requires understanding of deploying emerging technologies in drug discovery and development. The Technical Engagement Manager will use domain knowledge to set milestones, and delivery processes, and drive key strategic engagements with customers to drive adoption of next-generation AI/ML and quantum simulation technologies. The Technical Engagement Manager will be crucial in facilitating communication and collaboration with our client and across different teams within SandboxAQ, helping to align our internal strategies with our client’s objectives. Crucially, this role is also responsible for broader customer success, in ensuring alignment of the value of a project with the client’s decision-makers, above and beyond the scoped contract deliverables.
Core Responsibilities:
- Deliver against client business requirements, with a focus on drug discovery simulation and optimization projects.
- Manage executive-level client relationships and provide team oversight with internal and external team members.
- Direct and oversee multiple active client engagements, demonstrating versatility in managing projects in drug discovery and development.
- Manage all aspects of the client engagement, including requirements alignment, scope definition, status reports, project plans, training, and resource management.
- Share with team members your expertise in drug discovery, biotech, and biopharma partnered projects, and enforce implementation best practices.
- Participate in operational issues related to specific engagements, including billings, expenses, staffing, utilization management, risk management, issue resolution management, etc.
- Liaise with external partners such as CROs and critical suppliers for discovery programs through IND filing.
- Drive incremental revenue through client relationship building and identifying additional opportunities for SandboxAQ.
Experience/Skills Required:
- PhD in biomedical science, pharmacology or closely related life-sciences domain expertise with a track record of managing CROs for assay screening cascades, including primary assays and PD animal models.
- 3 years experience in a research/engagement management-focused role.
- Experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries is preferred.
- Track record of advancing R&D programs through discovery to candidate nomination.
- Experience in the drug discovery and development process is necessary, with experience in program management, technology implementation, or legal support for research programs preferred.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, executive-level presence, and experience facilitating research projects with academic, biotech, or pharmaceutical sectors.
- Experience leading deeply technical customer-facing projects in drug discovery or emerging tech, such as applications leveraging AI/ML models and/or computational methods in chem/bioinformatics and quantum chemistry simulation.
- Enterprise-level project management experience (SOWs, contract management, risk management, staffing) preferred, demonstrating the ability to adapt to different industry requirements, including but not limited to academic, biotech, or pharmaceutical sectors.
- Experience managing CRO partnerships for preclinical testing and development.
- Ability to perform in a fast-growing environment typical of a start-up.
- Passion to work cross-functionally with our partners to build credibility, trust, and respect to enable strong partnerships and deliver the most value.
