Client Services Manager

Client Services Manager

Southern Research (SR) is at a pivotal moment in its 80-year history. At the start of 2022, SR launched a new strategic plan focused on translational research in the life sciences. SR intends to invest over $150 million in this new strategy, including development of new facilities, platforms, and programs. We believe in the power of SR and our partners to unlock the immense potential of Alabama's biotech ecosystem to spur economic development, create jobs, and draw investment. Downtown Birmingham sees over $700M in extramural biomedical research every year, including over $300M from the NIH, in large part due to the contributions of Southern Research and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. We are on a mission to translate our R&D volume into investment, high-performance companies, and quality jobs in Alabama and in the Southeast United States.  Critical to this strategy is the development of commercialization infrastructure to bring new inventions to market. 

General Summary

The Client Services Manager will assist in the launch and development of Southern Research's biotechnology incubator, which will provide wet lab space and entrepreneurial support programming to support biotech startups and scaleups. The Client Services Manager will be responsible for providing direct and indirect support to assist incubator clients. We are looking for an energetic and nimble executer who thinks critically, relishes details, effectively collaborates with leadership to achieve mission-critical outcomes, and has demonstrated an interest in scientific research, commercialization, and economic growth. This team member will develop skills in business development, economic development, entrepreneurship, and project management.

Key Responsibilities

• Client Experience Delivery (60%)
  • Assists with development of a vibrant internal entrepreneurial community. This includes, but is not limited to, making marketing shorts of new clients, sharing clients with news, and documenting clients with milestones, taking photos during programing sessions, coordinating marketing requests to SR marketing team for social media posts after events and programs, creating flyers and promotional materials for events and programs, and ensuring clients are added and kept up to date on SR Incubator's website
  • Supports Head of Growth Strategy with programming content. Implements approved programs across both facilities including scheduling, working with various vendors and strategic partners for materials and scheduling needed, and targeting specific clients who can benefit and have a need for a specific program offering
  • Works with Head of Growth Strategy to create surprise and delight moments for incubator clients throughout the year. Organizes, manages, and implements these moments.
  • Ensures management operations and events align with departmental budget, policies, and priorities
  • Interfaces with People and Community team to identify opportunities for student learning projects, internships, or entrepreneurial educational programming
• Client Interface and Incubation (30%)
  • Provides day-to-day liaison with clients of SR's Biotech Incubator and executes approved programs to support and advance incubator companies
  • Consistently delivers an exceptional customer service experience for the incubator clients and affiliates on a day-to-day basis
  • Connects clients to entrepreneurial support organizations, resource providers, and service providers, effectively serving as the client's Birmingham concierge and navigator
  • Meets with all active residential and external clients in the program a minimum of semi-annually to ensure client is progressing through the program and utilizing programmatic resources
  • Tracks client outcomes and program metrics using tools like Salesforce and Microsoft Excel to report to the Head of Growth Strategy and Chief Business Officer monthly
• Other Duties (10%)
  • Represents the incubator program at external functions and programs
  • Conducts tours of the facilities
  • Performs duties as assigned by the Head of Growth Strategy, Chief Business Officer and SR leadership when needed  

Minimum Qualifications

• 2-3 years of experience in business development, customer service, entrepreneurship, technology commercialization, facility operations, venture capital, account management, or a related field; knowledge of business incubation programs is highly desirable
• Passionate about economic development and innovation
• Highly collaborative -- You care less about who did it than how it got done. You take deep pride in shared outcomes and you really believe the whole is greater than the sum of the parts when it comes to team efforts.
• Nimble executor – translating goals and objectives into actionable business priorities and work streams for the team to execute is second-nature for you.
• Excellent written communication skills -- Highly skilled in writing great emails, an expert in shorter vs longer summaries, and known for making amazing PowerPoint decks
• Excellent organizational, budgeting, and financial management skills