R&D Domain Specialist – Research Technology & Innovation Associate Consultant (Discovery)

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ZS is a place where passion changes lives. As a management consulting and technology firm focused on improving life and how we live it, we transform ideas into impact by bringing together data, science, technology and human ingenuity to deliver better outcomes for all. Here you’ll work side-by-side with a powerful collective of thinkers and experts shaping life-changing solutions for patients, caregivers and consumers, worldwide.

ZSers drive impact by bringing a client-first mentality to each and every engagement. We partner collaboratively with our clients to develop custom solutions and technology products that create value and deliver company results across critical areas of their business. Bring your curiosity for learning, bold ideas, courage and passion to drive life-changing impact to ZS.

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As a R&D Domain Specialist – Research Technology & Innovation Associate Consultant in Discovery, you will apply your pharma R&D domain knowledge, consulting skills, and research technology experience to help clients improve and streamline drug discovery workflows at leading biotech and biopharma organizations.

ZS’s Discovery Venture partners with clients to develop and deploy in silico approaches that accelerate the discovery of safer, more effective therapeutics. We work closely with other ZS practices, bringing hands-on scientific expertise to enhance both technology and strategy initiatives. As a Venture within ZS, we continuously develop, test, and refine new approaches to maximize impact for our clients and the patients they serve.

This unique position enables us to combine agility and innovation with the resources and knowledge of ZS’s 13,000+ global team. ZS is expanding the Discovery Venture and seeking driven, curious, and creative experts to help shape the practice area, collaborate across ZS’s R&D teams, and deliver excellent outcomes for clients.

What you’ll do:

  • Lead structured discovery interviews and workshops with scientists, business stakeholders, and IT teams to understand current challenges, workflows, and technology needs.
  • Own current- and future-state workflow documentation, including process maps, requirements documentation, and structured outputs that inform solution design.
  • Translate scientific and business needs into actionable requirements, structured problem statements, and roadmap inputs.
  • Apply hands-on experience with research technology systems and advanced analytics to improve and streamline drug discovery processes.
  • Support clients across R&D workflows, with a focus on research technology platforms, data enablement, and scientific process improvement.
  • Develop strategy-level outputs independently, including findings, recommendations, workflow assessments, and roadmap materials.
  • Collaborate with interdisciplinary teams, including scientists, business partners, IT stakeholders, data scientists, and project managers, to integrate research technology and analytics into broader project objectives.
  • Support client readouts with evidence-based presentations and clearly communicate analysis findings, recommendations, and next steps.
  • Lead modules and workstreams within projects while contributing to hands-on implementation and solution development.
  • Contribute to the assessment of emerging datasets, technologies, and platforms that impact drug discovery.
  • Serve as a subject matter expert in research technology, analytics, or a relevant discovery domain to drive innovation, mentor colleagues, and share knowledge across teams.
What you’ll bring:
  • Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree strongly preferred, ideally in Life Sciences, Business Administration, Health Informatics, Business Analytics, Computer Science, MIS, or a related field; PhD in a pharma-relevant domain is a plus.
  • At least 2.5 years of relevant professional experience, ideally in consulting, CRO, pharma, biotech, or research technology environments in lieu of PhD
  • Demonstrated pharma domain knowledge, including familiarity with R&D workflows and drug discovery processes.
  • Experience with large molecule or antibody discovery and in vitro and in vivo preclinical development is strongly preferred. Familiarity with more novel hybrid modalities is a plus.
  • Experience gathering, documenting, and translating business, scientific, and technical requirements using tools such as JIRA, Confluence, and Visio.
  • Experience developing process maps and current- and future-state workflows.
  • Ab
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