About the position
Lila Sciences is looking for a Product Lead for our Life‑Science AI Science Factories (AISF)—a strategist‑builder who can turn visionary ideas into shipped product capabilities. Reporting to the VP of Life Science, AISF, you will own the product vision and roadmap for autonomous, AI‑driven lab workflows, aligning scientists, automation engineers, and data teams around a common mission: accelerate discovery at a scale the world has never seen. In this role you will translate user insight into requirements, prioritize features against ambitious KPIs, and guide cross‑functional execution from concept through launch. If you thrive on defining “what” and “why” just as much as orchestrating the “how,” this is your chance to work with cutting‑edge automation platforms, drive breakthrough innovation, and help shape the future of scientific super‑intelligence.
Responsibilities
- Own the product vision for AISF: craft a compelling value proposition, success metrics, and north‑star outcomes that tie directly to Lila’s mission.
- Lead customer and internal‑user discovery—interview scientists, automation engineers, and external partners to surface pain points and unmet needs.
- Translate insights into clear product requirements, acceptance criteria, and experiment plans that guide engineering and science teams.
- Continuously refine product‑market fit through data, user feedback, and rapid iteration; pivot when evidence demands it.
- Serve as single point of accountability for product status—communicating vision, milestones, and risks to senior leadership.
- Define and maintain a multi‑quarter roadmap for one or more AISF products, balancing discovery work with delivery milestones.
- Translate strategic objectives into scoped initiatives, epics, and Jira tickets.
- Drive cross‑functional collaboration among automation engineers, data engineers, and bench scientists to deliver product capabilities that unlock autonomous science.
- Run structured post‑mortems and 'failing‑forward' reviews, capturing learnings that inform both product and process.
- Track progress, dependencies, and risks in Jira; surface trade‑offs early and propose solutions.
- Facilitate kickoff meetings and write project charters to align scope, constraints, and ownership.
Requirements
- MS, PhD, or equivalent experience in Biology, Bioengineering, Chemical Engineering, or a closely related field.
- At least 6 years working with life‑science automation, giving you enough technical fluency to challenge assumptions and ask the right questions and 3 + years as a Product Manager or Product Lead delivering complex hardware‑software or lab‑automation products.
- A record of turning user insights into roadmaps, MVP definitions, and iterative releases.
- End‑to‑end ownership of multi‑team automation or instrumentation programs, with a track record of shipping on schedule and on budget.
- Working knowledge of automated liquid‑handling platforms and lab scheduling software.
- Ability to engage credibly with engineers on system integration topics.
- Scripting experience in Python—or the curiosity to read it—is a plus.
- Mastery of Jira (or similar) for dependency tracking, risk surfacing, and progress reporting.
- Familiarity with regulated or quality‑controlled environments (GxP, ISO) and the documentation discipline they require.
- Influence without authority—driving cross‑functional teams toward shared goals through extreme ownership and command‑by‑negation principles.
- Comfort operating in an early‑stage, mission‑driven environment where ambiguity is the norm and standards guide the culture.
