Our mission is to make biology easier to engineer. Ginkgo is constructing, editing, and redesigning the living world in order to answer the globe’s growing challenges in health, energy, food, materials, and more. Our bioengineers make use of an in-house automated foundry for designing and building new organisms. 

The Ginkgo Government team builds and manages Ginkgo’s strategically important relationships with government partners. Our team collaborates closely with numerous Federal agencies to leverage Ginkgo’s advanced synthetic biology platform for developing innovative solutions for health, climate, bioindustrials, and agriculture. In health, we focus on areas like medical countermeasures, advanced therapeutics, regenerative medicine, cell and gene therapies, biologics manufacturing, natural products, APIs and KSMs, enzymes, biocatalysis, and microbiome therapy to support national health security and public health initiatives. By fostering these partnerships, we ensure that Ginkgo remains at the forefront of technological advancements that address critical health needs and challenges faced by government agencies.

As an Alliance Manager you will be the primary contact and overall relationship manager, responsible for the execution of government funded projects. Your portfolio of projects will be strategically important, and successful execution of these responsibilities will require a focus on strategic communication of technical, financial and programmatic deliverables.  You will manage and advocate for our partner’s needs while ensuring that Ginkgo’s technical team delivers and communicates successful project outcomes. Under your leadership, our partners’ confidence in Ginkgo will increase, leading to sustained partnership development. As a member of Ginkgo’s Government Business Generation team, you will collaborate in outlining the broader account strategy, including stakeholders, goals, and priorities, empowering the team to expand and deepen government partnerships. This role places you at the nexus of Ginkgo’s mission and strategy, enabling you to create a significant impact for both our government partners and Ginkgo.

Responsibilities:

• Managing Strategic Partnerships: Oversee a diverse and complex portfolio of government and commercial partnerships focused on regenerative medicine, cell and gene therapies, biologics manufacturing, defense health and similar areas of focus.
• Project Management: Responsible for successful cost, schedule, and technical performance of Government projects through collaboration with Ginkgo technical teams, ensuring the delivery of high-quality results that align with partner objectives and desired capabilities. Identify, prioritize, and resolve key project and partner issues, through engagement with both internal teams and customers, ensuring smooth collaboration.
• Driving Partnership Strategies: Offer guidance and counsel based on a deep understanding of projects and partners.  You already have and/or will build deep expertise regarding our government partners, including their strategy, value drivers, financials, competitors, and organizational structure.
• Maintaining Relationships: You already have and/or will build and sustain strong relationships with key personnel both within Ginkgo and with government partners.
• Business Development: Partner closely with other members of the business generation team on overall partnership priorities, including ideating, developing, and championing new alliances in alignment with the R&D strategy.
• Partnership Liaison: You will be the primary partnership liaison internally, providing proactive, succinct, and targeted updates about the program, including to Ginkgo executive leadership.
• Improving systems: Work with internal teams to build and improve processes and systems for customer success.
• Understanding Contractual Elements: Partner closely with the Ginkgo government contracting and legal teams to navigate the contractual aspects of partnerships, including renegotiations and amendments.

Required Experience and Capabilities:

• Bachelor’s Degree Required: Bachelor’s degree in a business, science, or technical field.
• Extensive Experience: At least 5 years experience in technology development with government partners, in areas such as regenerative medicine, cell and gene therapies, nucleic acid and protein biologics development and manufacturing, and similar areas of research.
• Knowledge of Government: Experience working with U.S. government agencies, particularly the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) and Department of Defense (DoD), to develop and manage complex projects and partnerships, ensuring alignment with government regulations and objectives.
• Project Management: Demonstrated ability to combine attention to detail with big picture perspective, operationalizing via excellence in project management (both technical and financial) and effectively managing multiple projects/priorities. Leadership and Communication: Demonstrated leadership skills with the ability to manage and motivate cross-functional teams. Excellent communication and interpersonal skills to interact effectively at all levels of the organization and with government officials.
• Relationship Building and Interpersonal Skills: Strong skills in building and managing relationships with senior-level stakeholders.  Excellent interpersonal skills, poise and emotional intelligence, with ability to lead,  influence, engage, focus, negotiate, and resolve conflict internally and externally; demonstrated conflict management skills including de-escalation, mediation, and bargaining.  
• Problem-solving Skills: Demonstrated ability to work independently, proactively and with agility in a complex, matrixed environment, dealing well with ambiguity, building internal alignment, influencing others, and managing differences effectively.
• Mission-driven: Enthusiasm for advancing Ginkgo’s mission to make biology easier to engineer.

Desired Experience and Capabilities:

• Education: Ph.D. or Master’s degree in science, policy, or technical field. 
• Security Clearance: Ability to obtain and maintain a U.S. government security clearance, if required for the role.
• Project Management: Experience leading a Project Management Office (PMO) and familiarity with Project Management Institute (PMI) best practices.
• Pharmaceutical Experience: Experience and keen understanding of drug development and the life sciences industry. 
• Experience as US government contractor: Experience with program management for agencies such as HHS and DHA. 

Total compensation for this role is market driven, with a starting salary of $113,000 +, as well as company stock awards.  Base pay is ultimately determined based on a candidate’s skills, expertise, and experience.  We also offer a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental & vision coverage, health spending accounts, voluntary benefits, leave of absence policies, Employee Assistance Program, 401(k) program with employer contribution, 8 paid holidays in addition to a full-week winter shutdown and unlimited Paid Time Off policy.