Director, Digital Reference Standards Products & Partnerships (REMOTE)

USP•Rockville, MD

13d•Remote

About The Position

USP is seeking an experienced scientific software product leader to own the strategy, development, delivery, and adoption of Digital Reference Standards (dRS) Products. Currently, USP has one dRS product, USP-ID, USP's quantum mechanics-based qNMR software and associated digital reference capabilities. The Director will serve as the accountable product owner, translating customer, scientific, quality, regulatory, and business needs into a clear strategy and executable roadmap. This position will work closely across teams in Science, Quality, IT, Legal, Marketing, Business Development, and external technology and distribution partners. The role requires structured thinking, scientific fluency, disciplined product management, strong partner leadership, and sound judgment in a regulated life sciences environment. Remote employees must reside in one of the following states: MD, VA, DC, PA, WV, CA, MI, IL, KS, FL, NC, or MN.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in analytical chemistry, chemistry, chemical engineering, pharmaceutical sciences, cheminformatics, scientific computing, or a related discipline.
Ten or more years of relevant professional experience, including substantial responsibility for scientific software, digital laboratory products, analytical technologies, or regulated life science product development or customer acquisition.
Experience with identifying and articulating customer needs and product market fit in a scientific software context.
Experience translating customer needs into clear software requirements, acceptance criteria, and roadmap decisions.
Experience managing external software development, technology, distribution, or commercialization partners.
Experience coordinating across scientific, quality, legal, commercial, and executive stakeholders in a matrixed organization.
Working knowledge of analytical laboratory workflows and performance concepts such as accuracy, precision, reproducibility, robustness, traceability, and fitness for purpose.
Structured thinking and communication, including the ability to explain technical risks, evidence gaps, and strategic choices to non-specialists.
Demonstrated judgment in identifying, documenting, and escalating product, supplier, quality, architectural, and commercial risks.

Nice To Haves

Master's degree, PhD, PharmD, or MBA.
Hands on NMR or qNMR experience, or knowledge of quantum mechanical spectral analysis, chemometrics, spectral informatics, or scientific model libraries.
At least four years of product management or product owner experience managing a complex product through discovery, prioritization, development, testing, launch, and post-launch improvement.
Experience developing or commercializing software for pharmaceutical R&D, analytical development, process chemistry, manufacturing, or quality control.
Experience with software used in GxP or other regulated environments, including electronic records, audit trails, user permissions, validation documentation, change control, or 21 CFR Part 11.
Experience operationalizing licensing, distribution, co-development, intellectual property, or strategic partnership agreements.
Experience in a standard setting organization, regulatory agency, pharmaceutical company, scientific software company, analytical instrument company, or laboratory informatics business.

Responsibilities

Structure USP-ID product vision, strategy, roadmap, target use cases, value proposition, product success measures, and investment recommendations; clarify the customer value proposition and the product's role in digital reference materials and digital reference standards. Articulate the strategy in a structured and clear manner.
Lead scientific product management by converting customer observations, validation findings, scientific limitations, and regulatory expectations into testable requirements, acceptance criteria, development priorities, and evidence plans.
Manage the software development and integration roadmap, including backlog prioritization, release planning, user acceptance testing, defect resolution, documentation, knowledge transfer, and business continuity planning.
Serve as USP's primary product management counterpart for external developers, integration partners, distributors, and technical collaborators; establish operating cadences, shared deliverables, decision rights, and escalation pathways.
Partner with Science and Quality to support validation readiness, controlled product documentation, model and method traceability, risk assessment, remediation planning, and appropriate product claims.
Lead structured customer discovery, lighthouse collaborations, demonstrations, trials, onboarding, support escalation, and post-trial learning; translate recurring customer needs into roadmap decisions and credible application evidence.
Lead on pricing, packaging, channel strategy, forecasts, budgets, contracts, licensing arrangements, and partner economics.
Support governance through executive updates, KPI and risk reviews, decision documentation, repositories of product and partner knowledge, and clear cross-functional ownership.
Contribute product perspectives in developing the Digital Standards strategy and scientific framework, work that will be led by the Science Division.