Associate Technical Project Manager

Prolific Machines; Emeryville (CA); On-site; USD 120,000 - 160,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Generous equity package

Retirement plan with company contrib.

Flexible PTO

Company-covered medical, dental, and V

Life and disability insurance

Career coaching

Mental health support

Free team lunches

Great snacks

Companywide social events

Job summary

Prolific Machines, based in Emeryville, CA, is seeking a Technical Project Manager to lead critical customer and internal programs across R&D, hardware, product, and business development. The role centers on cross-functional coordination, reporting, and successful delivery within a fast-paced biotech startup.

You will partner with technical leads, coordinate with senior PMO members, and report to the Head of the PMO.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in a life science or engineering field with related project management experience.
• Experience coordinating projects, timelines, or cross-functional work.
• Hands-on or adjacent experience with cell engineering, cell line development, or process development/scale-up is desirable.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain project schedules, trackers, and risk/decision logs.
• Coordinate day-to-day for projects or workstreams; run meetings; capture decisions.
• Gather inputs for resource planning, scope alignment, and scheduling.
• Prepare monthly project updates, dashboards, and milestone summaries.
• Flag risks and dependencies early and drive resolution.

Skills

Project coordination

Verbal & written communication

Scientific background

Startup adaptability

Education

Bachelor’s degree in life science or engineering

Master’s degree in biotech/related field

Tools

Smartsheet

MS Project

Asana

Spreadsheets

Job description

Prolific Machines is ushering in a new era of biotechnology with light. Our first-of-its-kind optogenetic platform delivers unprecedented control, precisely guiding cellular behavior when and where it matters most. Unlike existing tools used to control biology, our technology enables dynamic, tunable control over virtually any cellular function in any cell type. We're enabling partners to unlock robust efficiency, quality, and reproducibility advantages across the most complex pharmaceuticals and therapeutic proteins. Prolific is supported by leading investors, including Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Mayfield and SOSV.

We’re looking for a Technical Project Manager with experience managing innovative scientific projects to manage critical customer & internal programs in Prolific’s pipeline. These projects can include, but are not limited to:

1. R&D efforts focused on building new capabilities and platforms.
2. Full cell line development and scale up of customer molecules integrated into our optogenetic cell lines.
3. Enabling pharmaceutical partners to build optogenetic capabilities at their sites.

As part of a broad technical organization tasked with commercializing Prolific Machine’s unique technology, the successful candidate will lead technical planning, coordination, and results reporting for these projects. They will work with technical leads from R&D, Technical Operations, Hardware, Product, and Business Development to support cross-team collaboration and communication, as well as coordinate with senior leadership for reporting project outcomes. This position will report into the Head of the Project Management Office. This role will be based on-site in Emeryville, CA.

Accountabilities

• Support internal and client-facing projects by building and maintaining project schedules, trackers, and risk/decision logs
• Own day-to-day coordination for assigned projects or workstreams: scheduling and running meetings, capturing decisions and action items, and following up to closure.
• Gather inputs from technical leads to help senior PMs and leadership with resource planning, scope alignment, and schedule coordination.
• Prepare project reporting, such as monthly project updates, dashboards, and milestone/data summaries.
• Flag risks, delays, and dependencies early and help the team work through them.
• Contribute to new project standards, templates, and improvement initiatives alongside project management colleagues.
• Collaborate and communicate with:
  • Research & Development, cell line development, process development, analytics, hardware, business development and product development teams for cross-functional coordination on tech transfers and technical support.
  • Client/ customer teams including technical leads and business development representatives, with support from senior PMO members.
  • Third-parties, suppliers and partners to coordinate capital equipment and materials that support our teams.

About You

• You are highly organized and detail-oriented.
• You have good verbal and written communication skills with a focus on clarity and conciseness.
• You have a scientific background and are comfortable learning new technical areas.
• You follow through, and you are comfortable asking questions and raising issues early.
• You thrive in a dynamic environment and can adapt to the changing priorities that are inherent to startups.
• You are eager to learn, actively seek feedback from your colleagues, and want to grow your career in project management.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in a life science or engineering field with 3+ years of relevant experience, or a Master’s degree with 2+ year, in a biotech, biopharmaceutical or similar industry.
• Experience coordinating projects, timelines, or cross-functional work, whether in a formal project management role or as part of a lab, technical, or operations team.
• Hands-on or adjacent experience with cell engineering, cell line development, or process development/scale-up is desired.
• Familiarity with project management tools (e.g., Smartsheet, MS Project, Asana, or similar) and strong spreadsheet skills.

$120,000 - $160,000 a year

This role is salaried, exempt, and paid semi-monthly. Starting salary will be dependent upon specific experience, knowledge, and skillset. The range for the Associate Manager level will typically fall between $120k-$145k and for the Manager level will typically fall between $145k-$160k.

Benefits

• Generous equity package in an early stage company
• Retirement plan with company contribution
• Flexible PTO with healthy time off minimums
• Company-covered medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Life and disability insurance
• Career coaching
• Mental health support
• Free team lunches everyday
• Great snacks
• Companywide social events!

Diversity

Prolific Machines values diverse perspectives, backgrounds, experiences, and ideas. We are committed to building an inclusive workplace where all employees can bring their authentic selves to work and have equal opportunities to succeed. Prolific Machines is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

Location

The San Francisco Bay Area (Emeryville, CA)