Director, Government Partnership Development

Ginkgo Bioworks Inc.

5d•$170,100 - $273,500•Hybrid

About The Position

Ginkgo Bioworks is a publicly-traded biotech company focused on engineering biology to address global challenges in health, materials, energy, sustainability, and food. The company utilizes automated foundries for designing and building new organisms. This role is within the Government team, aiming to accelerate American innovation by collaborating with the U.S. Government and its labs. The focus areas include therapeutics, diagnostics, medical countermeasures, AI/ML-training datasets, AI-enabled research workflows, and pharmaceutical supply chain reshoring. Ginkgo Automation provides scientific automation solutions by integrating hardware and software for laboratories. The Director, Government Partnership Development will drive sales and adoption of Ginkgo’s lab automation products (Reconfigurable Automation Carts - RACs and RAC software) and cell engineering Solutions and Datapoints services. The role involves building and supporting strategic accounts within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Department of War (DOW), emphasizing how Ginkgo's offerings promote pharmaceutical supply chain resilience and protect against public health emergencies. The position requires leveraging the full Ginkgo platform by coordinating with business development, government affairs, alliance management, finance, legal, and technical teams throughout the capture, proposal, contract negotiation, and project execution phases. The role also involves scoping, drafting, and generating proposals for public-private partnership funding opportunities, scouting new areas in Pharma and therapeutics, and developing a sales strategy for embedding automation products like RACs into Government R&D wet labs. The ideal candidate has industry/federal experience, a strong network, understands the biotechnology field and emerging trends, and enjoys building relationships and teams.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree with minimum of 8-10 years of relevant work experience in U.S. Government business development and acquisition
Understanding of the biotechnology industry and its applications and understanding of HHS and DOW contracting and decision making
Understanding of USG acquisition regulations and processes and budgeting processes
Demonstrated technical aptitude for complex, new, and disruptive products and services
Experience with complex deal structures
Enthusiasm about advancing Ginkgo’s mission to make biology easier to engineer
Ability to work effectively with cross-functional teams and mobilize people across the organization, and to learn quickly and thrive in a fast-paced environment
Strong aptitude for cultivating working relationships at all levels of management, both internally and externally
Organized and robust project management skills

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree or PhD in science or technical field
10+ years experience working with medical USG advanced developers
Previous experience with federal sales of lab automation equipment, specifically fully automated platforms, robotics, or liquid handling systems, to Government and/or commercial wet labs.
Transitioned one MCM product to market as either the prime contractor, subcontractor, or project manager
Strong existing relationships with leadership personnel at BARDA, ASPR, NIH, DHA, ARPA-H, USDA, DARPA, DTRA and other federal agencies focusing on OneHealth
Experience in technology development with government partners, in areas such medical countermeasures, cell lines and/or CBRNE defense
Ability and willingness to obtain a US security clearance at the Secret designation or above

Responsibilities

Plans and implements business development strategy for HHS, DOW, and related government agencies to drive bookings growth within the federal market and expand Ginkgo’s brand awareness and influence among Government customers
Lead the sales cycle for Ginkgo's automation products and services (RACs and RAC software) to wet labs within USG agencies, specifically targeting HHS and DoW.
Craft innovative white papers, proposals, and pitches aimed at Government leadership with a focus on the value proposition of Ginkgo’s end-to-end lab automation service products and Solutions and Datapoints services.
Create and shape business opportunities with the HHS, DOW, and other OneHealth-focused Government agencies, as well as with leading private sector government-focused entities, via both teaming efforts and direct sales, with a focus on top of the funnel activities
Lead Gov-funded pharma pipeline development and management activities
Map complex decision making processes, identify funding and award trends
Build a core set of strategic partnerships with industry, academic, and nonprofit organizations
Provide feedback/inputs to technical teams to support the development of new services/offerings and automation product features based on customer feedback.
Work jointly with Ginkgo’s U.S. Government partners to identify and scope out new project opportunities where Ginkgo is uniquely positioned to act as a valuable partner
Collaborate with partners to understand their program objectives and desired capabilities, including automation needs, and ensure that this context is incorporated into Ginkgo’s project scoping and delivery
Connect BD activities to U.S. Government solicitations such as RFPs, BAAs, FOAs, etc.
Be the voice of the customer during proposal development and reviews
Support the development of technical proposal materials and ensure the customer’s needs are incorporated
Support proposal development activities including writing content and participating in reviews
Scout for complementary partners, collaborators, and technologies and establish teaming relationships with them
Work across Ginkgo to ensure all parts of the organization are aligned during the business development process, and oversee and track the progress of projects and their execution to ensure high quality and timely deliverables
Collaborate with Ginkgo’s executive leadership and senior management team to define the company’s strategic goals for its U.S. Government HHS and DOW initiatives