ZS Associates

Discovery Client Lead

ZS Associates$120K — $160K *
Pharmaceuticals & Biotech
Less than 5 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Advanced degree in a relevant scientific field (e.g., PhD, PharmD) or equivalent applied experience.
  • Strong client relationship and communication skills to engage with scientific leaders.
  • Experience in business development, opportunity identification, and proposal development.
  • Ability to identify and integrate client needs beyond your area of expertise.
  • Broad familiarity with drug discovery, specializing in areas like bioinformatics, AI, or scientific strategy.
  • Experience leading client-facing teams and developing team members.
  • Experience in consulting, CRO, or pharma/biotech R&D preferred.

Responsibilities

  • Serve as the named Discovery Client Lead (DCL) for assigned accounts and own client relationships.
  • Develop and execute account plans through understanding clients' R&D priorities.
  • Build trusted relationships across client stakeholders, from scientists to senior leaders.
  • Identify integrated growth opportunities across the Discovery portfolio.
  • Connect clients with appropriate ZS expertise for coordinated solutions.
  • Collaborate with broader account teams to align Discovery work with strategies.
  • Lead ZSD delivery teams to ensure quality execution and continuity of engagement.
  • Support business development by shaping opportunities and contributing to proposals.

Benefits

  • Comprehensive total rewards package supporting health, well-being, and financial future.
  • Robust skills-building programs and career progression opportunities.
  • Internal mobility paths that empower growth and role expansion.
  • Flexible hybrid working model enabling a mix of remote and on-site work.
  • Collaborative culture fostering meaningful work and professional development.
Full Job Description
ZS's Insights & Analytics group partners with clients to design and deliver solutions to help them tackle a broad range of business challenges. Our teams work on multiple projects simultaneously, leveraging advanced data analytics and problem-solving techniques. Our recommendations and solutions are based on rigorous research and analysis underpinned by deep expertise and thought leadership.

ZS Discovery partners with pharmaceutical and biotech clients to accelerate the discovery of safer, more effective therapeutics. The team brings hands-on scientific expertise, advanced analytics, AI, and strategic consulting to help research organizations become more productive, more data-driven, and more confident in their decisions. As a venture within ZS building toward practice status, Discovery combines agility and innovation with the resources and knowledge of the broader firm.

What you'll do:
  • Serve as the named Discovery Client Lead (DCL) for assigned accounts, owning the client relationship, ZSD revenue, and overall account strategy
  • Develop and execute account plans based on a deep understanding of the client's R&D organization, priorities, and decision-making structure
  • Build trusted relationships across client stakeholders, from working-level scientists to senior R&D leaders
  • Identify opportunities across the full Discovery portfolio (scientific strategy, bioinformatics, AI, data, and technology) and drive integrated growth across service lines
  • Proactively connect clients with the right ZS expertise, including in areas outside your own domain, to deliver coordinated solutions
  • Collaborate within the broader account structure (e.g., Client Service Leads, capability leaders) to align Discovery work with overall account strategy
  • Lead and coordinate ZSD delivery teams within accounts, ensuring high-quality execution and continuity of client engagement
  • Support business development efforts, including shaping opportunities, contributing to proposals, and expanding existing engagements


What you'll bring:
  • Advanced degree in a relevant scientific field (e.g., PhD, PharmD) or equivalent applied experience in research and translational sciences
  • Strong client relationship and communication skills, with the ability to engage credibly with scientific and senior stakeholders
  • Experience contributing to or leading business development, including opportunity identification and proposal development
  • Demonstrated cross-service orientation, identifying client needs beyond your domain and bringing in the right capabilities
  • Broad familiarity with drug discovery, with depth in at least one area (e.g., bioinformatics, AI, data, scientific strategy, or technology)
  • Experience leading or contributing to client-facing teams, including scaling delivery and developing team members
  • Experience in a consulting firm, CRO, pharma services organization, or pharma/biotech R&D environment preferred
  • Fluency in English
  • Client-first mentality
  • Intense work ethic
  • Collaborative spirit and problem-solving approach

How you'll grow:
  • Cross-functional skills development & custom learning pathways
  • Milestone training programs aligned to career progression opportunities
  • Internal mobility paths that empower growth via s-curves, individual contribution and role expansions


Perks & Benefits:

At ZS, your growth matters. We offer a comprehensive total rewards package that supports your health and well-being, financial future, time away, and professional development. With robust skills-building programs, multiple career progression paths, internal mobility, and a deeply collaborative culture, you'll have the opportunity to do meaningful work, expand your capabilities, and thrive as part of a global community. For details on total rewards in United States, visit ZS US office locations | Where we work | ZS.

Hybrid working model:

We are committed to giving our employees a flexible and connected way of working. A flexible and connected ZS allows us to combine work from home and on-site presence at clients/ZS offices for the majority of our week. The magic of ZS culture and innovation thrives in both planned and spontaneous face-to-face connections.

Travel:

Travel is a requirement at ZS for client facing ZSers; business needs of your project and client are the priority. While some projects may be local, all client-facing ZSers should be prepared to travel as needed. Travel provides opportunities to strengthen client relationships, gain diverse experiences, and enhance professional growth by working in different environments and cultures.

About ZS Associates

ZS is a professional services firm that works side by side with companies to help develop and deliver products that drive customer value and company results. From R&D to portfolio strategy, customer insights, marketing and sales strategy, operations and technology, we leverage our deep industry expertise and leading-edge analytics to create solutions that work in the real world. Our most valuable asset is our people?a fact that?s reflected in our values-driven organization in which new perspectives are integral and new ideas are celebrated. ZSers are passionately committed to helping companies and their customers thrive in industries ranging from healthcare and life sciences, to high-tech, financial services, travel and transportation, and beyond.
Learn more about ZS Associates
Size
10,000 employees
Industry
Founded
1983

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