Scientific Collaboration Manager (Business Development

Scientific Collaboration Manager

Zymo Research is looking for a dynamic individual to join our Commercialization Team! At Zymo Research, we believe the most meaningful partnerships are built scientist-to-scientist. The Scientific Collaboration Manager role is a highly technical, customer-facing position designed to embody this philosophy across multiple career levels.

In this role, you will engage customers as a scientific peer—building trust, opening doors, and shaping collaborations across academic, government, biotech, and clinical markets. As an advanced-degree scientist (MS or PhD) with hands-on domain expertise (e.g., microbiome, genomics, clinical research, molecular biology), you will bring value first: deeply understanding customer workflows, uncovering unmet needs, and demonstrating how Zymo technologies deliver innovation, quality, and impact.

This is not a traditional sales role. You will function as both:

• A hunter, prospecting and developing new scientific and commercial opportunities, and
• A technical collaboration lead, complementing Zymo's non-technical Business Development and Territory Sales teams.

Beyond customer engagement, you will contribute to Zymo's long-term growth by identifying emerging technologies, building data-driven business cases, and surfacing potential partnership, licensing, or M&A opportunities aligned with corporate strategy.

This role requires up to 50% travel for customer visits, lab interactions, presentations, and conferences. Success is measured by business growth, quality of relationships built, opportunities created, and strategic insights delivered.

Join us in making a meaningful impact!

Key Responsibilities:

• Hunt and Build New Relationships Prospect and identify high-value opportunities across academic, government, biotech, and clinical markets; develop outreach strategies that establish credibility and open doors.
• Consultative Scientific Engagement Act as a trusted scientific advisor by understanding customer workflows, technical challenges, and strategic goals; position Zymo solutions to deliver measurable scientific and commercial value.
• Collaboration & Opportunity Development Advance collaborations by connecting Zymo technologies with unmet customer needs and positioning opportunities for long-term growth.
• Field Innovation & Strategy Testing Pilot new engagement models, messaging, and strategies in the field; provide structured feedback to inform broader company wide deployment.
• Business Case Development Build clear, data-driven business cases for new opportunities, technologies, and collaborations; deliver recommendations that guide investment and commercialization decisions.
• Technology & Market Scouting Identify emerging scientific trends, breakthrough technologies, and potential strategic partnerships, including licensing or M&A opportunities.
• Technical Thought Leadership Represent Zymo at conferences, symposia, and customer sites through presentations, talks, and scientific discussions.
• Cross-Functional Integration Work closely with Business Intelligence, Market Segment Managers, Commercial & Innovation Strategy, Product Marketing, Sales, and other stakeholders to ensure aligned execution.
• CRM & Pipeline Discipline Document all interactions, opportunities, and pipeline activity in Zymo's CRM with accuracy and consistency.
• Clean Ownership Handoffs Ensure smooth transitions of long-term account ownership to Territory Sales Managers or Partnership Managers for sustained growth.
• Customer Value Focus Ensure every customer interaction delivers insight, credibility, and practical scientific value consistent with Zymo's commitment to innovation and quality.

Leveling Expectations (How Scope Increases by Level)

• Associate:
  Executes defined outreach and engagements with guidance; builds foundational relationships; contributes to opportunity generation and field learning.
• Manager:
  Independently owns territories or segments; consistently generates new opportunities; leads customer engagements end-to-end.
• Senior:
  Drives complex, multi-stakeholder collaborations; influences strategy; mentors others; regularly identifies high-impact opportunities.
• Principal:
  Shapes company-level collaboration strategy; leads flagship partnerships; surfaces transformative technologies or deals; acts as a scientific ambassador for Zymo.

Qualifications:

• Advanced degree (MS or PhD) in biological sciences, biochemistry, molecular biology, or related field.
• Hands-on laboratory or industry experience in a relevant domain (e.g., microbiome, genomics, clinical research).
• Strong scientific communication and presentation skills across diverse audiences.
• Proven ability to build trust and influence through consultative, peer-to-peer engagement.
• Entrepreneurial, opportunity-driven mindset with demonstrated success creating new business.
• Willingness to travel up to 50%.
• CRM proficiency and disciplined documentation habits.

Measures of Success:

• Growth of the business and pipeline.
• Number and quality of new opportunities created and…