Senior Manager, Projects and Programs

About the role

The position bridges ML, engineering, and scientific teams in a rapidly evolving discovery environment.

Every role in this field shares a few habits: clear communication, structured thinking, and steady follow through. Teams hold regular meetings, review progress, and adjust plans. Success usually depends on how well you work with others, not just how hard you try. Successful professionals in any field share a few habits: they take notes, keep commitments, and communicate in writing. Teams value people who make their work easy to review and build on.

Key facts

What you'll do

Project plans are built and maintained to capture critical milestones, dependencies, and deliverables for platform research programs. Project plans are coordinated with clear communication of deadlines and needs to stakeholders.

Milestones are defined with scientific teams and translated into actionable, resource-informed timelines to support decision-making. Project data, timelines, risks, and trade-offs are compiled to enable informed decisions by leadership.

Resource needs are understood in collaboration with functional leads to assess impacts on timelines and capacity.

Operational challenges are identified, and improvements are recommended to enhance efficiency and coordination of program execution.

Requirements

An advanced degree (MS, PhD, or equivalent) in life sciences, bioinformatics, computational biology or a related field is required. A minimum of 6+ years of industry experience, including hands-on biologics research, is required.

Hands-on experience with ML model training and evaluation, agentic AI systems, software development, and biologics R&D is required. Proven track record of managing research and/or technical programs is required.

Working fluency in biologics research and ML research is required. Strong analytical, planning, and organizational skills are required to translate complex scientific ideas into clear plans.

Excellent communication, time management, collaboration, and stakeholder management skills are required. Experience with basic project tracking tools such as Excel, Smartsheet, MS Project, Asana, or Google Suite is required.

Working familiarity with project and program management principles, such as those defined by the Program Management Institute (PMI), is required. On-site presence in the SSF office is required.

Nice to have

Experience managing projects in a fast-paced, cross-functional environment is preferred. Hands-on experience with both wet-lab and computational research is preferred. Experience with data generation for training large machine learning models in biology is preferred.

Demonstrated ability to lead and influence diverse teams at different levels of seniority is preferred. Passion for science and dedication to improving patient outcomes through innovative biologics development is preferred.

Skills & tools

Project and program management methodologies, Excel, Smartsheet, MS Project, Asana, and Google Suite support core tracking and coordination needs.

Practical notes

This position requires on-site presence in the SSF office. The role operates at the intersection of ML, software, and biological research. The team manages fast-moving programs with evolving playbooks.

Typical interview steps

Hiring processes usually combine a screening conversation with one or more interview rounds. Candidates can expect questions about their experience, a scenario or case, and a chance to ask their own questions. Preparation and specific examples from past work carry the most weight. Whatever the role, preparation is visible. Reviewing the company's product, the job description, and your own past work before the conversation is the strongest step.

Good to know

Career growth

Careers in this field grow through a mix of experience, responsibility, and demonstrated results. Early years build skills; later years build ownership. Many professionals switch focus areas or companies to keep growing. Growth in any career comes from scope, results, and reputation. Take on work that is slightly uncomfortable, and make sure others can see the outcomes.