Position Summary:
We are seeking an experienced Senior Product Owner to lead product ownership and delivery of a cloud native chemistry informatics platform for a top tier global pharmaceutical client. The platform accelerates small molecule drug discovery by connecting in silico molecule prediction, retrosynthesis, condition optimisation, electronic lab notebook (ELN), and automated synthesis laboratory workflows into a single end to end solution.
The Product Owner will be the single point of accountability for product vision, prioritisation, and value delivery across modules including ELN, Scientific Data Management, Inventory, Project and Library Management, Order Management, and API integrations with external in silico, retrosynthesis, and Bayesian optimisation systems.
This role must be based in Boston (US) or Germany to ensure required collaboration and working hour overlap with client scientific, IT, and programme leadership teams, alongside global delivery squads.
Key Responsibilities:
Own the product vision, roadmap, and prioritised backlog for the chemistry informatics platform, aligned to drug discovery outcomes and synthetic chemist needs.
Translate complex scientific and laboratory workflows, including retrosynthesis pathway generation, reaction scheme design, bioassay support, and automated synthesis execution, into clear epics, user stories, and acceptance criteria.
Partner with synthetic chemists, computational chemists, lab operations, automation engineers, scientific informatics SMEs, architects, and engineering squads to gather requirements, validate solutions, and drive adoption.
Drive integration design and prioritisation across external systems for in-silico molecule prediction, retrosynthesis APIs, and Bayesian condition optimisation, and internal modules for ELN, data management, and inventory.
Lead backlog refinement, sprint planning, PI planning, and review ceremonies in an Agile or SAFe delivery environment, ensuring predictable, high-quality releases on a cloud native (AWS) platform.
Define and track product KPIs and value metrics such as cycle time reduction, synthesis throughput, automation adoption, and data quality, and use them to inform trade off decisions.
Manage cross functional dependencies across squads, client teams, and third-party vendors of cheminformatics and laboratory automation tools, proactively surfacing risks and resolving blockers.
Champion role-based access, data quality, traceability, and compliance with pharma R&D and data governance expectations across all product increments.
Communicate progress, decisions, and trade-offs clearly to senior business and scientific stakeholders within the client organisation and the delivery organisation.
Required Skills & Experience Must Have:
Minimum 7 years of Product Owner or Product Management experience, including ownership of complex enterprise scientific or data platform products.
Demonstrated experience in pharma or life sciences, ideally in drug discovery, medicinal chemistry, synthetic chemistry, or laboratory informatics domains.
Strong background in data platforms or scientific data products, including data integration, scientific data models, ELN or LIMS systems, and API led architectures.
Active certification in CSPO, SAFe POPM, or an equivalent Agile or SAFe credential, with hands-on experience operating inside scaled Agile delivery models.
Proven ability to translate ambiguous scientific stakeholder needs into a prioritised backlog, balancing strategic vision with iterative delivery.
Strong experience in roadmap planning, including defining product goals, sequencing priorities, and aligning release plans with business outcomes, stakeholder expectations, and delivery capacity.
Hands-on experience translating business needs and process requirements into well-structured user stories, clear acceptance criteria, and actionable backlog items for engineering and QA teams.
Demonstrated ability to lead backlog grooming or refinement sessions and sprint planning ceremonies, ensuring stories are prioritised, estimated, dependency-aware, and ready for delivery.
Practical working experience with JIRA for backlog and sprint management, Confluence for documentation and collaboration, and Figma for reviewing workflows, wireframes, or product design concepts with business and technical teams.
Excellent stakeholder management, written and verbal communication skills, with experience working directly with senior business, IT, and scientific leaders at large pharma clients
Required Skills & Experience Nice to Have:
Prior experience delivering chemistry informatics, ELN, LIMS, scientific data management, or laboratory automation platforms for top tier pharma organisations.
Familiarity with cheminformatics concepts and tools such as RDKit, reaction templates, RDFile formats, retrosynthesis engines, in-silico drug discovery platforms, and Bayesian experimental design.
Exposure to cloud native architectures on AWS, including services such as Lambda, Aurora PostgreSQL, S3, CloudFront, and API Gateway based microservices.
Experience working with automation laboratories, robotic synthesis, or high throughput screening environments.
Experience as a Release Train Engineer, Product Manager, or in another scaled Agile leadership role.
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