Director, Technical Business Development

Prolific Machines is ushering in a new era of biotechnology with light. We harness light to produce everyday essentials more efficiently, from food and lifesaving drugs to novel biosolutions. Our first-of-its-kind photomolecular biology platform delivers unprecedented control, precisely guiding cellular behavior when and where it matters most. Unlike existing tools used to control biology, our technology unlocks dynamic control over virtually any cellular function in any cell type. We're enabling partners to unlock robust efficiency, quality, reproducibility, and sustainability advantages across pharmaceuticals, nutritional and therapeutic proteins, cellular agriculture, and more. Prolific is supported by leading investors, including Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Mayfield and SOSV.

Help us create a brighter tomorrow with biology. We're looking for mission-driven, talented, and kind people to join our team.

About this Job

Prolific Machines is seeking a highly self-motivated and independent Technical Business Development Lead to drive the expansion of our biopharma vertical towards therapeutic protein applications. In this pivotal role, you will shape our commercial strategy, originate and manage key partnerships, and oversee their successful launch and onboarding. Your primary responsibility will be to ensure the highest levels of customer success and satisfaction among our biopharma clients. Additionally, you will collaborate with our scientific and marketing teams to develop strategic, customer-facing collateral that effectively communicates our value proposition. Join us and play a crucial role in the growth and success of Prolific Machines. Must be Bay Area based and in-office (Emeryville) 2-3 days per week.

• Develop and implement a comprehensive technical business development strategy, metrics, tools and reporting.
• Collaborate with R&D, Bioprocessing, and cross-functional teams to integrate support processes and incorporate customer feedback into service development.
• Communicate technical information effectively to both technical and non-technical stakeholders, and contribute to technical assets such as white papers, case studies, FAQs, and educational resources.
• Identify and refine value propositions, evaluate collaboration structures, and design services to generate reproducible revenue.
• Deliver pre-sales presentations, provide technical insights to support sales, and participate as a subject matter expert in webinars, conferences, and other events.
• Contribute to internal R&D training in alignment with product management.
• Design and build the support organization to ensure stakeholder satisfaction, focusing on partner retention and revenue growth.
• Memorialize pipeline progress, technical interactions, and customer issues within CRM systems.

• PhD in a relevant field, e.g., bioengineering, biochemistry, molecular biology, genetics.
• Minimum 3 years of customer-facing roles in technical sales or support, calling on biopharma customers.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and present customer-facing and internal training technical content.
• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills.
• 10+ years in pharma, CDMO, and/or biotechnology, ideally in early development of protein therapeutics and mammalian expression systems.
• Applied knowledge of biologics, therapeutic classes, and biomanufacturing technologies.
• Understanding of protein sciences and cell line development (preferred).
• Desire to learn and understand optogenetics and machine learning.
• Experience with early commercial - startup work environment.
• Ability to travel at least 20% for conferences, meetings, etc.

Diversity: We value diverse people, perspectives, and knowledge. To this end, we aim to foster a sense of belonging that enables everyone to bring their whole, authentic self to work every day. We are committed to growing a diverse and inclusive team that encompasses all types of people. We believe this can only be achieved by acknowledging the ancestral, historic, and current systemic and communal inequities.

Location: The San Francisco Bay Area (Emeryville, CA)

Benefits: Outstanding Health, Vision & Dental Insurance (including full spouse coverage), at least one all-expense-paid team holiday per year, flexibility in schedule and unlimited vacation days. Free lunch every day!