---
title: 'Technical Project Manager at Prolific Machines'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/technical-project-manager-prolific-machines-emeryville-3c2m9sjngke3'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-14'
---

# Technical Project Manager at Prolific Machines

- **Company:** Prolific Machines
- **Location:** Emeryville, CA
- **Compensation:** $140k–$175k
- **Employment:** full-time
- **Work type:** onsite
- **Posted:** 2026-08-28
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-14
- **Apply:** https://jobs.lever.co/prolific-machines/5ceebc6a-dc3c-4300-95c5-06b2d7d5386e

## Job description

Prolific Machines is ushering in a new era of biotechnology with light. Our first-of-its-kind optogenetic platform delivers unprecedented control, precisely guiding cellular behavior when and where it matters most. Unlike existing tools used to control biology, our technology enables dynamic, tunable control over virtually any cellular function in any cell type. We're enabling partners to unlock robust efficiency, quality, and reproducibility advantages across the most complex pharmaceuticals and therapeutic proteins. Prolific is supported by leading investors, including Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Mayfield and SOSV.

We’re looking for a Technical Project Manager with experience in leadership/management of innovative scientific projects to manage critical customer programs in Prolific’s pipeline. As Prolific has developed a unique form of cellular control using optogenetics, these projects can include, but are not limited to: R&D efforts focused on building new capabilities. Enabling pharmaceutical partners to build optogenetic capabilities at their sites. Full cell line development and preclinical scale up of customer molecules integrated into our optogenetic cell lines. As part of a broad technical organization tasked with commercializing Prolific Machine’s unique technology, the successful candidate will lead scoping, technical planning, coordination, and results reporting for our client-facing projects. They will work with technical leads from R&D, Technical Operations, Hardware, and Business Development to support  cross-team collaboration and communication, as well as coordinate with senior leadership for reporting project outcomes. This position will report into the Head of the Project Management Office. This role will be based on-site in Emeryville, CA.

Accountabilities:

- Technical project scoping, planning, and schedule oversight of internal and client-facing projects.
- Resource planning with senior leadership to forecast project needs, scope alignment, and schedule coordination.
- Close collaboration with technical leads to ensure clear communication and efficient coordination.
- Adapting and taking on new responsibilities to help the company scale project management as the company grows.
- Creation and support of new project standards and practices and improvement initiatives with project management colleagues.
- Project reporting functions, such as monthly project updates, dashboard reporting, and critical project milestone/ data reports.

Collaborate and communicate with:

- Research & Development, cell line development, process development, analytics, hardware, business development and product development teams for cross-functional coordination to make key decisions on tech transfers and technical support.
- Client/ customer teams including technical leads, business development representatives, and senior leadership.
- Third-parties, suppliers and partners for necessary capital equipment to support our teams.

Some things about you:

- You have good verbal and written communication skills with a focus on clarity and conciseness in a team-oriented environment.
- You are willing to bring your technical acumen to help with team challenges and addressing technical obstacles.
- You care about attention to detail and ensuring that our operations and processes run in a repeatable and safe manner.
- You are able to prioritize and can balance between planning and being action oriented in order to move projects forward.
- You are a thoughtful coworker who cares deeply about the company's mission and culture.
- You thrive in a dynamic environment and can take on the plurality of challenges that are inherent to startups.
- You are able to adapt to changing priorities and can support others in times of change.
- You foster a team environment and you actively seek impactful feedback from your colleagues.

What you’ll need to succeed:

- Masters (5+ years) or PhD (2+ years) with project management in cell line development or process development in a biopharmaceutical or similar industry.
- Project Management Professional (PMP) certification is desired, but not required.
- Direct technical experience with cell engineering, cell line development, or process development/scale-up is desired.

Benefits: Generous equity package in an early stage company, retirement plan with company contribution, flexible PTO with healthy time off minimums, company-covered medical, dental, and vision insurance, life and disability insurance, career coaching, mental health support, free team lunches everyday, great snacks, and companywide social events! Diversity: Prolific Machines values diverse perspectives, backgrounds, experiences, and ideas. We are committed to building an inclusive workplace where all employees can bring their authentic selves to work and have equal opportunities to succeed. Prolific Machines is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, age, disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, military or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. Location: The San Francisco Bay Area (Emeryville, CA)

## About Prolific Machines

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: Prolific Machines uses optogenetics—controlling gene expression with light—to dramatically improve the productivity, quality, and control of biologics manufacturing.
- **Entity Type**: Private (Series A, later-stage)
- **Headquarters**: Emeryville, California, United States
- **Founded**: 2020
- **Founders**: Deniz Kent (CEO), Max Huisman (CTO), and others (including Declan Jones, CIO)

## Core Business
- **Primary industry**: Biotechnology (Industrial Biomanufacturing, Synthetic Biology)
- **Target customers**: Biotech and pharmaceutical companies developing biologics (including complex, difficult-to-express molecules), and CDMOs (Contract Development and Manufacturing Organizations).
- **Mission statement**: “To enable the next generation of biologic medicines by transforming how they are manufactured.” [prolific-machines.com](https://www.prolific-machines.com/about-us)

## Products & Services
- **enLIGHTtened BioManufacturing Platform**: An integrated system combining optogenetics-enabled cell lines, plug-and-play illumination hardware (compatible with standard bioreactors), AI-driven process optimization software, and advanced analytics. It offers dynamic, real-time control of protein expression to boost yields and product quality. [prolific-machines.com](https://www.prolific-machines.com/about-us)
- **Preclinical Cell Line & Process Development Services**: Early-stage development services offered to pharma and biotech partners.
- **Platform Licensing**: Options for partners to license the technology for in-house or CDMO-based manufacturing.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation/Market Cap**: Not publicly available.
- **Total Funding**: $109M across multiple rounds (including a $42M Series A in September 2022, a $12M Seed round, and several earlier Convertible Notes). [linkedin.com](https://linkedin.com/company/prolific-machines)
- **Estimated Annual Revenue**: ~$3.5M (based on third-party estimates). [linkedin.com](https://linkedin.com/company/prolific-machines)
- **Notable Investors**: Includes a syndicate of over 12 investors in the Series A round, and a strong base of early backers.
- **Growth Signals**: Year-over-year headcount growth of +4.8% (reaching 54 employees). The company has expanded its team across the US, Ghana, France, and Denmark. Job postings for roles in engineering, operations, and analytical sciences indicate ongoing scaling. [linkedin.com](https://linkedin.com/company/prolific-machines)

## Competitive Advantages
- **Secret sauce technology**: Prolific is the first company to industrialize optogenetics for biomanufacturing, bringing dynamic, real-time control of gene expression that is not possible with traditional engineering methods.
- **Plug-and-play integration**: The illumination system and cell lines are designed to fit into *existing* bioreactor infrastructure, lowering the barrier for adoption by CDMOs and pharma.
- **Full-stack solution**: Combines hardware, cell line engineering, AI/software for process optimization, and analytics—a rare integrated offering in the biologics manufacturing space.

## Strategic Focus
- **Productization and scaling**: Transitioning from a development-stage company to a commercial platform provider, with a focus on selling services and licenses to biotech and pharma partners.
- **Real-world manufacturing**: Emphasis on ensuring the technology works seamlessly in high-volume, regulated GMP environments.
- **Enabling complex biologics**: Targeting the most difficult-to-produce molecules (e.g., bispecific antibodies, fusion proteins) for which current manufacturing methods are bottlenecks.

## Why Work Here
- **High-impact mission**: Directly enabling the next generation of biologic medicines that are currently limited by manufacturing challenges.
- **Collaborative, transparent culture**: The company emphasizes “rigorously sharing, testing, and developing ideas as a group” and judging ideas on merit, not origin. [prolific-machines.com](https://www.prolific-machines.com/careers)
- **Strong total rewards**:
    - Competitive cash compensation and generous equity packages.
    - Spot performance bonuses and retirement plan with company contribution.
    - Flexible PTO with healthy minimums.
    - Company-covered medical, dental, and vision insurance.
    - Free team lunches every day and great snacks.
    - Career coaching and mental health support. [prolific-machines.com](https://www.prolific-machines.com/careers)
- **Work model**: Roles listed on the careers page are currently **on-site** in Emeryville, California. [jobs.lever.co](https://jobs.lever.co/prolific-machines)
- **Employee sentiment**: Strong ratings on LinkedIn (4.2/5 overall), with particularly high marks for Culture (5.0), Career (4.7), and Work-Life Balance (4.8). [linkedin.com](https://linkedin.com/company/prolific-machines)

## Sources
1. [prolific-machines.com - About Us](https://www.prolific-machines.com/about-us)
2. [prolific-machines.com - Careers](https://www.prolific-machines.com/careers)
3. [linkedin.com - Prolific Machines Company Profile](https://linkedin.com/company/prolific-machines)
4. [jobs.lever.co - Prolific Machines Open Roles](https://jobs.lever.co/prolific-machines)
5. [prolific-machines.com - Meet the Team](https://www.prolific-machines.com/team)

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