Chief Scientific Officer (CSO)

Client: Confidential (early-stage techbio platform company)

Location: Hybrid | Relocation planned

Timing: Target hire aligned with next financing milestone

About Our Client

Our client is a highly ambitious, founder-led techbio company operating at the intersection of synthetic biology and AI. The company is addressing a critical bottleneck in modern biotech: the persistent disconnect between protein design and expression.

With a proprietary platform, strong early traction, and multidisciplinary in-house capabilities across data science, molecular biology, and bioinformatics, the team is now preparing to scale. They operate under stealth and hold all IP internally. This is not a spinout or academic offshoot, but a purpose-built company with platform potential.

The Opportunity

We are looking for a Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) to lead scientific strategy and execution, while bridging that work to commercial and strategic goals. The right person will bring strong leadership experience, technical depth, and the ability to communicate a scientific vision internally and externally.

This is a pivotal executive hire who will help define the next chapter of the company’s growth. The individual will join a team that has already achieved proof-of-concept and now seeks to build market readiness, strategic partnerships, and long-term differentiation.

3 Key Selection Criteria

1. Established Scientific Leadership in Industry

• Material experience in biotech or biopharma
• Significant experience in a scientific leadership role (e.g. CSO, Director, Head level)
• Deep understanding of protein expression systems, biomanufacturing, or therapeutic R&D

2. Startup-Stage Operating Experience

• Experience in early-stage or scaling biotech/techbio
• Familiar with navigating from PoC to MVP to commercial readiness
• Comfortable managing across both computational and wetlab R&D functions

3. Visionary Thinking with Commercial Acumen

• Proven ability to translate technical capability into platform strategy or business models
• Strong external presence; experience engaging with investors, partners, or regulators
• Track record of guiding partnerships or external-facing R&D initiatives

3 Core Requirements

1. Hybrid Scientific & Commercial Mindset

• Ability to define scientific roadmap aligned with commercial drivers
• Strategic thinking that connects technical feasibility with market opportunity

2. Builder of Teams and Culture

• Experience building and leading multi-functional scientific teams
• Strong mentoring instincts; ability to scale high-calibre scientific talent

3. Grit, Agility, and Growth Drive

• Comfortable in early-stage, fast-paced environments
• Not too senior to get hands-on; thrives in ambiguity and opportunity
• Operates with urgency, ambition, and adaptability

Key Responsibilities

• Define and lead long-term scientific strategy across platform and product development
• Act as a public-facing scientific spokesperson in stealth-phase partner/investor settings
• Grow, structure, and mentor the internal scientific team (computational and wetlab)
• Align scientific execution with evolving business needs and fundraising milestones
• Build relationships with potential collaborators, industry leaders, and future customers

Desirable Additional Experience

• Familiarity with AI-driven applications in protein design, drug discovery, or synthetic biology
• Knowledge of regulatory and IP frameworks in biopharma or biomanufacturing
• Previous experience in investor communications, VC-backed company leadership, or strategic partnerships

Why This Role, Why Now?

• Foundational executive role in a highly differentiated platform company
• Rare opportunity to influence category-defining science at an inflection point
• Chance to join a company with a meaningful, global-impact mission
• Operate with autonomy, clarity of purpose, and strong early technical validation

Process & Timeline

1. Initial conversation with retained search representative
2. Follow-up call with founding team (schedule-dependent)
3. Deeper session (e.g. working session or whiteboard)
4. Final round discussions, aligned with next funding milestone

There is scope for the successful candidate to begin in an advisory capacity ahead of full-time transition.

All conversations will be held in strict confidence. We encourage early expressions of interest ahead of formal financing close.