Scientific Data & Technology Strategy Associate Consultant - Discovery

ZS is a place where passion changes lives. As a management consulting and technology firm focused on improving life and how we live it, we transform ideas into impact by bringing together data, science, technology and human ingenuity to deliver better outcomes for all. Here you'll work side-by-side with a powerful collective of thinkers and experts shaping life-changing solutions for patients, caregivers and consumers, worldwide.

ZSers drive impact by bringing a client-first mentality to each and every engagement. We partner collaboratively with our clients to develop custom solutions and technology products that create value and deliver company results across critical areas of their business. Bring your curiosity for learning, bold ideas, courage and passion to drive life-changing impact to ZS.

As a Scientific Data & Technology Strategy Associate Consultant in Discovery, you will apply your technical, data, and research technology expertise to help leading biotech and biopharma clients design and implement scalable solutions that improve and streamline drug discovery workflows.

ZS's Discovery Venture partners with clients to develop and deploy in silico approaches that accelerate the discovery of safer, more effective therapeutics. We work closely with other ZS practices, bringing hands-on scientific expertise to enhance both technology and strategy initiatives. As a Venture within ZS, we continuously develop, test, and refine new approaches to maximize impact for our clients and the patients they serve.

This unique position enables us to combine agility and innovation with the resources and knowledge of ZS's 13,000+ global team. ZS is expanding the Discovery Venture and seeking driven, curious, and creative experts to help shape the practice area, collaborate across ZS's R&D teams, and deliver excellent outcomes for clients.

What you'll do:

* Partner with scientists, business stakeholders, and IT teams to translate scientific workflows and research needs into technical designs and practical solutions.

* Define conceptual and logical data models, metadata standards, integration patterns, and system architecture components to support research data management and analytics.

* Lead defined implementation work streams from design through deployment, ensuring solutions are aligned with business needs, scientific workflows, and enterprise technology standards.

* Apply hands-on experience with pharma datasets, cloud platforms, and cross-system integrations to improve research technology ecosystems.

* Support research IT strategy, SDLC, and roadmap development by contributing technical recommendations, solution options, and implementation planning.

* Collaborate with interdisciplinary teams, including scientists, data engineers, architects, business partners, and project managers, to integrate research technology and analytics into broader project objectives.

* Translate scientific and business needs into structured technical requirements, solution designs, and roadmap inputs.

* Support the design and implementation of ETL/ELT pipelines, cloud-native data platforms, APIs, and cross-system integrations.

* Contribute to research data management initiatives, including data modeling, metadata strategy, FAIR data principles, and information architecture across biopharmaceutical research domains.

* Support client readouts with evidence-based presentations, clearly communicating technical findings, solution recommendations, and next steps.

* Mentor junior team members, share knowledge across teams, and contribute to a collaborative, high-quality delivery environment.

What you'll bring:

* Bachelor's degree required;
Master's degree strongly preferred, ideally in Computer Science, Data Science, Biomedical Engineering, Health Informatics, or a life science-related field;
Advanced degree, including MS or PhD, in a scientific discipline with data and/or technology exposure is a plus.

* At least 2.5 years of relevant professional experience in research technology, data platforms, pharma technology, consulting, biotech, pharma, or related environments.

* Hands-on experience with pharma datasets, cloud platforms, and cross-system integrations.

* Prior ownership of solution design components, including data models, integration patterns, technical requirements, or architecture documentation.

* Experience bridging scientific and IT stakeholders and translating scientific workflows into technical solutions.

* Experience with conceptual and logical data modeling, system architecture, metadata standards, and information architecture.

* Familiarity with cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, or GCP.

* Understanding of RESTful APIs, ETL/ELT pipelines, and cross-system integration design.

* Experience with lakehouse and cloud-native data platforms such as Databricks and Snowflake.

* Understanding of research data management and FAIR principles.

* Knowledge of how to interpret and enforce enterprise architecture and engineering standards.

* Knowledge of research…