Engagement Manager

We're supporting a fast-growing company developing advanced AI-driven laboratory automation systems who are looking for an Engagement Manager to bridge deep scientific expertise with strategic, executive-level engagement. This organisation is building intelligent robotics platforms that dramatically increase experimental throughput for life-science R&D teams, and they’re looking for someone who thrives in high-ownership environments and wants to contribute to an ambitious mission in biotech and automation.

This would be a full time, onsite position in SF with relocation packages available . Travel is required, up to 25% - 50% to major biopharma hubs such as Boston, San Diego, Seattle, and around SF.

Key Responsibilities

• Own the full customer lifecycle from pre-sales engagement through deployment and post-deployment expansion, serving as the primary liaison to senior scientific and pharmaceutical stakeholders.
• Embed with customer teams to map workflow bottlenecks, define requirements, and develop deployment plans with clear technical deliverables and success metrics.
• Manage multiple customer programs simultaneously, coordinating across internal engineering, product, and operations teams to ensure timely, high-quality delivery.
• Develop and measure customer success KPIs, using insights to shape scalable playbooks and influence product direction.
• Navigate comfortably between high-level strategic discussions with VP/C-suite leadership and hands-on workflow details with lab scientists, articulating technical concepts in terms of business value.

Key Qualifications

• Strong technical foundation in biological or life sciences, including 2+ years of wet-lab research experience and an understanding of end-to-end pharma R&D workflows.
• 3+ years of customer-facing experience in management consulting (MBB/LEK preferred), biotech/pharma business development, or technical deployment roles requiring executive-level communication.
• Demonstrated success leading complex customer engagements with rapid decision cycles, multi-layer stakeholder management, and cross-functional coordination.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to interface credibly with both scientific and business audiences.
• Startup mindset with strong ownership, comfort operating in ambiguity, and willingness to work onsite 5 days per week in San Francisco with 25–50% travel to major biopharma hubs.
• Bonus: experience in early-stage startups; exposure to robotics, hardware, or software engineering teams.