Product Owner, SYNTAX Software

DNA Script

DNA Script is a leading company in manufacturing de novo synthetic nucleic acids using enzymatic DNA synthesis (EDS) technology. The company aims at accelerating innovation in life science and technology through the decentralization of rapid, on demand and high-quality DNA synthesis. DNA Script's approach leverages nature's billions of years of evolution in synthesizing DNA to set a new standard for customizing nucleic acid synthesis thus accelerating discovery in genetics, genomics, and synthetic biology. Discovery disciplines with profound impacts upon humanity such as biopharma, translational genetics and even molecular information storage all start with synthetic DNA. The company has recently initiated the commercialization of its first EDS powered platform, the SYNTAX system. 

To date, DNA Script has raised over $315M of financing, with leading investors such as Coatue Management, Fidelity Management and Research, Catalio Capital Management, Casdin Capital, LSP, Bpifrance Large Ventures, Danaher, Illumina Ventures, Agilent, Merck Ventures, Sofinnova Partners, Kurma Partners, T Rowe Price, Baillie Gifford and Eurazeo. 

DNA Script also partners on technology and product development with leading organizations such as DARPA, IARPA, Moderna Therapeutics, GE Research, Illumina, the Broad Institute, Harvard University, Institut Pasteur and the French Department of Defense.

DNA Script has its research and manufacturing facilities headquartered in Paris, France, and is in the process of expanding its commercial and development teams in South San Francisco.

Opportunity and Challenges :

We are looking to assemble a team of best-in-class, innovative and passionately eager people.  We want to gather their talents and skills to achieve one goal: unlock the power of “DNA-write.” We offer the opportunity of joining a dynamic, international, and highly skilled team in a pioneering startup. Our DNA On Demand platform not only has the potential to change the way the world makes and uses synthetic DNA, but also to accelerate the rate of discovery by delivering upon the promise of same-day results.

This is an opportunity to join a rapidly growing company and to have a large impact on developing a technology that will have far-reaching impacts across biological sciences.

The Role

We are seeking an experienced product owner (Syntax system software, web based SYNTAX Console software, On-premises SYNTAX Console software, Instrument Control Software) to join our team and help lead the development and commercialization of the software for our SYNTAX platform. This position will require working within a cross-functional product development team alongside members from commercial, R&D, project management, and other roles. The position will be responsible for developing, communicating, and owning software features, user requirements, user stories, including (as appropriate) financial assumptions, pricing, product fit, and integration with genomics workflows, from oligo sequence and experimental design to downstream applications.

The successful applicant will ideally have experience thriving in a dynamic and rapidly evolving organization, working proactively and independently across multiple job functions to execute on commercial priorities with limited resources, support, and high expectations.

Main Responsibilities:

• Manages SYNTAX applications landscape with analysis and understanding of customer needs and requirements, as well as current or emerging technologies, applications, and industry trends from a software perspective.
• Software product lifecycle management
• Represents the commercial organization and the needs of customers as part of the product development process within a core team from a software as well as full workflow perspective.
• Collaborates with prospective users and clients to understand and anticipate their needs and translate them into product requirements
• Develops, writes SRS, epics, user stories, acceptance criteria as appropriate
• Leads the scrum team as software product owner within our Agile software development process and provide direction to our development team
• Partners with scrum master/project manager and engineering leads to play an active role in mitigating impediments impacting successful team completion of release/sprint goals
• Manages the product backlog and prioritizing them based on changing requirements
• Supporting process improvements to help establish new or mature existing processes
• Works with the product designer on the UI/UX design
• Provides support for customer test sites (managing training, staging, production servers, instrument simulators, troubleshooting support)
• Supports sales, applications, regional marketing teams with training and collateral development as related to software.
• Collaborate with Product Manager for Software to develop the software product strategy and roadmap
• Develops and fosters a DNA Script community, in partnership with others in the organization, as well as with distributors, customers, and broader scientific or lay audiences

Experience:

• Minimum of Bachelor’s degree in life sciences or a related field, graduate degree (including PhD and/or MBA) preferred
• 2+ years in life sciences or related industry product owner experience with strong experience in oligo synthesis and related research areas
• Experience with market research, financial analysis and modeling, product launch go-to-market planning, and lifecycle management as related to software
• Experience in cross-functional teams
• Experience with Jira SW for project management and coordination
• Effective time and project management
• Excellent written, presentation, communication and collaboration skills with experience presenting to diverse scientific and other audiences

Benefits:

• Health, Dental, Vision. Company pays 80% of premiums for employees and dependents. We have lots of plans available including HMOs, PPOs, HDHPs, etc.
• Life insurance
• 401(k) with 4% match
• Short and long-term disability insurance
• Other employee-funded plans including pre-tax commuter, HSA, and FSA
• EAP