Head of Solution Consulting R&D / Field CSO

The role

You will lead the EMEA R&D Solution Consulting organisation of 12 people. You will act as the scientific counterpart to the General Manager and lead conversations with R&D leaders about accelerating science through Benchling's platform.

What you will do

• Act as the scientific voice in the room and join account teams as a peer to CSOs and Heads of R&D
• Act as senior sponsor on large EMEA opportunities
• Use account-team introductions to open new R&D relationships
• Turn Benchling's vision into a credible plan for R&D leaders
• Lead and develop two first-line leaders and their team of 10
• Provide in-region leadership continuity and set the scientific bar for customer engagement
• Build a succession plan as the team grows
• Decide with sales leadership where to focus the team's expertise
• Bring patterns from the field back to Product, Marketing and global Solution Consulting

Required qualifications

• Substantial hands-on R&D experience in biotech or pharma
• PhD or equivalent scientific depth
• Experience running experiments and leading programmes
• Knowledge of how large R&D organisations make decisions and adopt change
• Record of driving change from adopting new technologies to rethinking how teams work
• Clear views on how AI will change R&D
• Experience leading through other managers
• Executive presence with VPs, Heads of R&D and C-level leaders
• Commercial ambition and a growth mindset
• Readiness for a field role with frequent on-site time with pharma and biotech companies across EMEA
• US travel three to four times a year
• Fluency in English

Nice to have

• German or French
• Experience with Benchling or a comparable R&D platform (ELN, LIMS or R&D data platform), including leading its evaluation or rollout
• Customer-facing scientific, internal consulting, or CRO/CDMO programme leadership roles
• Presales or solution consulting experience

About the company

Benchling is the AI platform for biotech R&D. Over 200,000 scientists around the world trust Benchling to power their most important work.