Project Manager/Sr. Project Manager, Translation
Berkeley, California /
Active Search /
Full time
/ On-site
A Bit About Us:
We are Arcadia Science. Arcadia is a science company founded and led by scientists. Our mission is to transform evolutionary innovations into real-world solutions by openly developing more efficient, replicable, and sustainable ways to leverage the biology of diverse organisms.
The Opportunity:
Arcadia is a combined platform company + start-up incubator, which we denote internally as Discovery and Translation. We are seeking an experienced Project Manager (PM) to enable early-stage Translation research at Arcadia. These research efforts are the beginning points from which we incubate potential start-ups.
Broadly, Arcadia’s translational portfolio is currently focused on problems in therapeutics. Our Translation teams leverage our Discovery platform, which develops computational and experimental tools that accelerate comparative analyses across taxonomic and biological scales. Evolutionary trends identified through this work will generate predictions for where innovation has occurred in biology, guiding our strategic selection of translational problems and research organisms. For our company creation process, we conduct all our research at Arcadia, starting about two to three years earlier than your typical pre-seed start-up. We will incubate promising opportunities until approximately the Series A stage — at that point, they’ll spin out into new companies that Arcadia has a stake in.
The lifecycle of translational efforts at Arcadia include several distinct phases, starting with rapid (<3 months), exploratory pilots. Pilots are designed to identify unique biological solutions that may be connected to critical scientific bottlenecks in therapeutics. We are seeking a PM who can help strategize and coordinate efficient execution of 4–5 concurrent pilots per quarter as part of coordinated research sprints aimed at solving a specific therapeutic problem.
The PM will report to the CEO and work closely with the Translation team lead to move research pilots forward within the translation priorities of Arcadia. They will be responsible for agile and iterative management of research pilots, resources, timelines, milestones, and internal collaborations with the Discovery team. We anticipate rapid cycles of exploration, and PMs will be responsible for ensuring clear, comprehensive documentation, including openly shared publications in some cases.
The PM is also responsible for communicating between translation, discovery, project science, and software to ensure efficient collaboration and alignment of Arcadia’s goal. The main success criteria for this role is in throughput of pilot projects per time period, cycle time, and increasing success of pilots through to the following stages.
Responsibilities:
- Work closely with the CEO and Translation team to ensure alignment between translational goals and research pilots
- Lead project scientists through a standardized and efficient pilot process
- Support pilot beginning by facilitating scientific ideation to think creatively and generatively across a wide range of science
- Support pilot conclusions by upholding standardized, clearly communicated criteria to ice or move projects forward
- Manage budgets, scheduling, and project operations
- Increase throughput and quality of pilot projects to next stage(s) with an eye towards spinning out companies; understand not just the forest and the trees but the root system down below
- Quarterback process documentation and pub creation in project science
- Facilitate communication between translation, discovery, project science, and software to reduce overhead and increase potential collaboration
Education/Experience:
- Has PhD or industry equivalent in the experimental or computational life sciences
- Has at least 3–5 years of project management experience working with cross-functional teams, preferably including experience with preclinical-stage therapeutics
- Has experience working in a fast-paced, dynamic industry setting, preferably in start-ups
- Can quickly come up to speed on projects spanning a broad range of biology
- Has collaborated meaningfully with software engineers, computational biologists, and/or data scientists. Comfortable with github and familiar fair data principles
- Is highly organized and process-oriented, effective at helping to map team milestones and ensure timelines are met
- Is an excellent verbal and written science communicator for both general and technical audiences
- Can provide constructive feedback and facilitate decisive go/no-go discussions
- Is adaptable and adept at change management for others
- Has experience working with cross-functional teams with different working styles and types of expertise
Interested applicants should apply using the link below and include a CV, cover letter and answers to the application questions.
The expected salary range is $150,000-$250,000 per year with generous equity and benefits, depending on experience level. The position will require the individual to be on-site at our Berkeley, California headquarters. We will review applications on a rolling basis, and the job will remain open until the position is filled.
Arcadia Science is an equal opportunity workplace; we welcome people from all backgrounds and communities. We provide competitive compensation and practical benefits to keep you happy and healthy so that you can do your best work. Please note that an offer of employment from Arcadia is contingent upon the successful clearance of a reference and background check.
