Life Sciences Strategy & Client Services Director

IBM; Columbia, Northern (SC, KY); Hybrid; USD 151,000 - 281,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare benefits

401(k) and pension

Paid time off

Training and certifications

Diversity and inclusion groups

Job summary

IBM Consulting seeks a Director, Client Services – Life Sciences Practice Lead to shape strategy and offerings across pharma, biotech, and related segments. You will own the practice plan, manage strategic accounts, and translate client needs into data and AI programs, including Snowflake deployments, with executive credibility.

You will lead a hands-on delivery team, grow the Life Sciences bench, and escalate issues across accounts while maintaining partner alignment and pipeline health.

Qualifications

• 10+ years in consulting or professional services with a track record of leading and growing client accounts, including 5+ years serving Life Sciences clients.
• Demonstrated P&L or portfolio ownership: you have owned revenue, margin, and utilization targets and hit them.
• Executive presence and trusted relationships at the VP and C-level in Life Sciences organizations.
• Working knowledge of the modern data stack and cloud data platforms, ideally Snowflake, and the ability to shape data, analytics, and AI programs even if you are not hands-on in the code.
• Familiarity with regulated delivery in Life Sciences: GxP, 21 CFR Part 11, data integrity, and validation expectations.
• Experience building and leading teams of consultants, engagement managers, and architects, including hiring and developing leaders.
• Strong commercial skills: proposal and SOW development, pricing and margin management, negotiation, and escalation handling.
• Proven ability to define a practice or segment strategy, including target sub-segments, priority accounts, and an offering portfolio, and to execute against a revenue and margin plan.
• Track record of building and qualifying pipeline with sales leads and co-owning pursuit strategy, solutioning, and proposal quality on priority deals.
• Experience serving as the escalation point for client and delivery issues across multiple accounts and workstreams.
• Ability to assess team-to-client fit and distribute staffing and bandwidth across accounts and a shared bench.
• Bachelor's degree in Business, Life Sciences, Computer Science, or an equivalent field.

Responsibilities

• Define where Life Sciences plays and how it wins for the practice.
• Own the practice plan, priority accounts, offerings, and revenue/margin targets.
• Turn delivered work into repeatable IP and lead regulated delivery across accounts.
• Represent the Life Sciences bench to go-to-market channels, IBM client partners, and Snowflake teams.
• Build the Life Sciences team, mentor managers, and handle escalations to maintain retention.
• Travel to client sites as needed and engage with external conferences and events.

Skills

Consulting experience

Life Sciences domain

Executive presence

P&L ownership

Snowflake knowledge

Regulated delivery

Team leadership

Education

Bachelor's Degree

Master's Degree

Tools

Snowflake

Job description

IBM Consulting seeks a Director, Client Services – Life Sciences Practice Lead to shape strategy and offerings across pharma, biotech, and related segments. You will own the practice plan, manage strategic accounts, and translate client needs into data and AI programs, including Snowflake deployments, with executive credibility.

You will lead a hands-on delivery team, grow the Life Sciences bench, and escalate issues across accounts while maintaining partner alignment and pipeline health.