Engagement Manager, Professional Services - Zurich

Over the next 10 years, biotech will fundamentally rewrite the way we live. Gene editing and cell therapy will dramatically change how we treat cancer and other major illnesses. Biofuels and biomaterials will transform the cars we drive, the clothes we wear, and the makeup of everyday objects. Crop science and synthetic biology will produce sustainable and ethical food. Benchling’s mission is to accelerate the research that propels us towards this future, and magnify its impact, through modern software.

Every day, scientists around the world use Benchling in their efforts to solve humanity's most pressing problems. For these scientists, Benchling is the central technology they use to conduct their research.

Benchling was founded by a team of MIT graduates and has raised funding from Benchmark, Andreessen Horowitz, Thrive Capital, and Y Combinator. Our customers include pharmaceutical giants, leading biotechs, and the world's most renowned research institutes.

POSITION OVERVIEW

Benchling is seeking an experienced Professional Services Engagement Manager to oversee implementations for our largest and most strategic enterprise customers. These implementations are generally multi-phased, 6-12 month, cross-departmental programs which require deploying Benchling into complex enterprise IT environments, interfacing with other vendor solutions, and legacy applications. This is a highly visible role, requiring you to partner with both external and internal teams to drive projects to successful completion.

The Engagement Manager leads the services team from project kick off to successful go live, and plays a key role in creating solutions that achieve our customer’s scientific and business outcomes. You will interface with both project team members and senior Scientific and IT leaders, establish credibility and confidence from the first meeting, and manage customer expectations throughout the project journey.

The Engagement Manager must be comfortable with Life Sciences R&D processes and scientific concepts, have experience with enterprise SaaS software implementations, and be adept at working with internal and external project teams. You must be able to translate customer objectives into detailed project plans, oversee projects, and drive execution.

You will be the project leader, and will be seen as a trusted advisor who has the customer’s best interests in mind, even when it means having a hard conversation, or convincing them that what they think they want may not be what they actually need, nor what Benchling best practices recommend.

WHAT YOU WILL WORK ON

• Manage Professional Services engagements and provide oversight for our largest enterprise customers, covering multiple projects, with a focus on delivery of scope on time, within budget, and with high quality outcomes.
• Establish and maintain relationships at all levels of the customer organization including project team members, executive sponsors & key stakeholders.
• Partner with internal Benchling teams to translate client requirements, objectives, and goals into actionable designs and build plans that can be delivered against.
• Manage the activities of the Benchling project team and drive execution of the project plan.
• Set clear expectations with internal and external team members, and hold them accountable for deadlines and project deliverables.
• Manage customer escalations, diagnose project issues and risks, develop contingency plans, and implement changes to drive risk mitigation.
• Actively manage project financials, including team utilization, budget vs actual hours, project margin, travel and other expenses.
• Run governance meetings and report regularly both internally and externally on project status, milestones, KPIs, accomplishments, and deliverables.
• Identify, communicate, and work with sales to develop opportunities identified during project execution, collaborate on the creation of proposals, estimates, change orders, and new statements of work.
• Work with Product Management and Engineering to scope and price proof of concepts or new and unique solutions that encompass various aspects of the product including extensions and customizations.
• Document lessons learned and recommend process and methodology improvements to improve execution on future projects.

ABOUT YOU

• At least 5 years client facing implementation and/or consulting experience, with demonstrated record of successfully managing enterprise scale projects.
• BA/BS or M.Sc. in Microbiology, Genetics, Bioengineering, Biochemistry or similar Life Science field. Prior experience in a lab or research setting highly preferred.
• Experience working with Life Sciences companies with an understanding of R&D processes and scientific concepts. Must be able to confidently interface and build trust with scientists, IT, and Director/VP level audiences in top-20 Biotech and Pharma companies.
• Proven experience leading 5-10+ person implementation teams to deliver multi-workstream projects.
• Experienced in project management for enterprise software deployments including scope management, budget control, project and executive reporting, and project financials.
• Understanding of project commercials including SOWs, budgeting, and resourcing.
• Superior project management, organizational, and time management skills.
• Independent, adaptable and can thrive in a fast-paced startup environment.
• Excellent communication skills in verbal, written and presentation formats.
• Ability to travel up to 50% based on customer and project needs.

Benchling welcomes everyone. We believe every member of our team enriches our diversity and inclusion by broadening our ways of problem-solving. Even if you don’t meet 100% of the qualifications for this job, we strongly encourage you to apply.

LEADERSHIP PRINCIPLES

• Admit mistakes and shortcomings
• Deliver results
• Disagree and commit
• Obsess over customers
• Rely on work ethic
• Show empathy
• Recruit and develop the best
• Sweat the details
• Think and communicate clearly
• Unite around the mission

PERKS AND BENEFITS

• Work with a talented yet humble team
• Competitive compensation & equity package
• Weekly virtual social events, and annual company retreats
• *$1,000 work-from-home stipend

In following best practices and safety protocols, all Benchling employees are expected to work remotely until we are further advised that it is safe for employees to resume work in their respective office locations.

*To support remote work conditions, Benchling provides each employee a one-time stipend of $1,000 USD upon commencing employment, and additional discounted employee purchase plans for home-office equipment.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.