Project Director
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Job Location:
Emeryville, CA - USA
Monthly Salary:
Not Disclosed
Posted on:
30+ days ago
Vacancies:
1 Vacancy
Job Summary
A Bit About Us
We are Arcadia Science an evolutionary biology company founded and led by scientists. Our mission is to turn natural innovations into real-world solutions by developing systematic and quantitative approaches to leveraging biology for therapeutics R&D. We share our research as openly as possible to accelerate discovery and engage with the broader scientific community.
The Opportunity
Were seeking a Project Director to operationalize scientific programs that develop and scale Arcadias experimental and computational biology platforms including areas such as high dimensional phenotyping molecular genetics and protein design. This role is ideal for a PhD scientist who thrives at the interface of science and managementan operator who amplifies scientific leadership by bringing structure focus and coordination to their efforts. Strong candidates can quickly translate high-level scientific goals into actionable research plans guide experimental progress and ensure effective collaboration and communication across teams.
As Project Director youll manage a small group of scientists who are responsible for executing the scientific agenda set by a scientific leadership. Youll turn research goals into concrete roadmaps manage cross-functional dependencies and ensure efficient execution across projects. Youll help prioritize work set milestones identify bottlenecks and ensure your team is resourced aligned and focused. Youll also drive communication about research progress across teams scientific program leads and leadership to ensure alignment and allow effective rapid iteration.
Who You Are
This is a role for someone who understands that ambitious science needs excellent execution. We are looking for someone who takes pride in keeping complex efforts on track surfacing insights early and creating clarity amid scientific complexity.
Youre a scientifically literate operationally minded leader who sees yourself as a key enabling partner to the scientists you manage. Youre motivated by helping others realize technical goals and you approach your work with curiosity humility and precision.
Were especially excited about candidates who bring depth in two or more of the following:
- Molecular tool development
- Cross-species molecular genetics
- Optical tool development or imaging-based phenotyping
- Protein design or protein engineering
- In vitro and in vivo functional assay development
Youre skilled at translating abstract vision into concrete plans and ensuring that progress stays visible and coordinated often across both experimental and computational teams. You balance urgency with respect for scientific uncertainty and you bring just enough structure to make bold ideas executable without dampening creativity. You understand that your success is measured not by control or local metrics but by how effectively you enable outcomes.
Within 1 Month You Will
- Develop a clear understanding of the relevant scientific vision goals and decision-making structure.
- Build strong working relationships with your team scientific leadership and cross-functional collaborators.
- Design a 90-day execution plan aligned with the scientific roadmap and team priorities.
- Establish operational systems for tracking progress such as check-ins dashboards andmilestone reviews.
- Begin coordinating timelines dependencies and communication across teams.
Within 23 Months You Will
- Take full ownership of project execution ensuring that scientific goals translate into actionable trackable work plans.
- Facilitate communication between scientific leads and contributing teams ensuring clarity around priorities and deliverables.
- Identify risks bottlenecks and resource needs early surfacing them for scientific or organizational decision-making.
- Refine operational rhythms and mechanisms to improve transparency and accountability without adding friction or bureaucracy.
By 6 Months You Will:
- Establish consistent execution across projects within your program area.
- Proactively synthesize learnings dependencies and progress updates for scientific and organizational stakeholders.
- Strengthen collaboration between teams by clarifying interfaces expectations and shared milestones.
- Create systems that make it easier for scientific leads to focus on strategy and discovery while keeping execution smooth and visible.
Must Have Qualifications
- PhD in the life sciences or a related field and at least three years of post-PhD work
- 3 years leading complex multi-stakeholder research and development projects or programs in a fast-paced goal-oriented environment
- Familiarity with research operations or project management tools
- Experience developing complex experimental and/or computational workflows (for example high-throughput assays molecular or optical methods or modeling/design pipelines)
- Demonstrated ability to design and deliver structured execution in dynamic research-driven environments
- Exceptional communication organization and facilitation skills
- Experience supervising or mentoring scientists
- Comfort navigating ambiguity and helping others make progress through it
Nice to Have Qualifications
- Experience in high throughput molecular assays genetic perturbation screens or imaging-based multi-dimensional phenotyping
- Experience in protein design or protein engineering protein biochemistry or structural biology or integrating machine learning/protein language models into design or analysis workflows
- A track record of open collaborative work (e.g. preprints open data code sharing)
- Experience in fast-paced iterative start-up environments
$150000 - $180000 a year
Arcadia Science is an equal opportunity workplace; we welcome people from all backgrounds and communities.
Please note that an offer of employment from Arcadia is contingent upon the successful clearance of a reference and background check.
Required Experience:
Director
Key Skills
- Project / Program Management
- Cold Calling
- Construction Estimating
- Construction Experience
- Restoration
- Restoration Industry Experience
- Project Management
- Microsoft Project
- Team Management
- Auto Estimating
- Financial Management
- Contracts
About Company
Arcadia Science is pushing the boundaries of open science and innovating at every step in the research, development, and commercialization process.
