Director, Government Partnership Development

ginkgobioworks

Remote, US · Remote · United States

Posted May 21, 2026

Contract
Government Business Development and Program Management

Job description

Our mission is to make biology easier to engineer. Ginkgo is constructing, editing, and redesigning the living world in order to answer the globe’s growing challenges in health, energy, food, materials, and more. Our bioengineers make use of an in-house automated foundry for designing and building new organisms.

Ginkgo Bioworks is a publicly-traded biotech company that is redesigning the living world to solve some of the globe’s most-pressing challenges in health, materials, energy, sustainability, food, and more. Our mission to “make biology easier to engineer” is poised to disrupt multiple industries by leveraging our innovative automation, data, and scale capabilities in biological engineering. Our bioengineers make use of Ginkgo’s in-house autonomous lab for designing and building new organisms.

We’re seeking an experienced, passionate, and collaborative Director, Government Partnership Development to join our Government team. As Ginkgo continues to grow, we are building out our team to work collaboratively with the U.S. Government and its labs to accelerate American innovation and support the development of state-of-the art therapeutics, diagnostics, medical countermeasures, a generation of new transformative AI/ML-training datasets and AI-enabled research workflows, and new capabilities for reshoring of pharmaceutical supply chains. Ginkgo Automation’s mission is to provide holistic scientific automation solutions that accelerate the pace of scientific discovery. Our approach integrates hardware and software to create seamless, automated workflows for laboratories.

This role will drive the sales and adoption of (1) Ginkgo’s proprietary lab automation products and services, including our Reconfigurable Automation Carts (RACs) and RAC software, and (2) Ginkgo’s cell engineering Solutions and Datapoints services. As Director, Government Partnership Development, you will build and support key strategic accounts within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Department of War (DOW) with a focus on communicating to new customers and existing how Ginkgo’s cutting-edge lab automation products and Solutions and Datapoints services will promote pharmaceutical supply chain resilience and demonstrate how enabling technologies can protect the American people from public health emergencies and drive further scientific innovation across industries. Your role sits at the nexus of Ginkgo’s mission and strategy, and you will be uniquely positioned to create impact both for our U.S. Government partners and for Ginkgo at large. Success in this role comes with the ability to effectively leverage the full breadth of the Ginkgo platform by coordinating with all of our constituent teams, including business development, government affairs, alliance management, finance, legal, and technical teams throughout all aspects of the capture, proposal, contract negotiations, and project execution.

In this role, you will be a core part of the Government Business Development team at Ginkgo and work hand-in-hand with industry partners and Ginkgo’s Commercial Business Development teams to scope, draft and generate innovative proposals and respond to new public-private partnership funding opportunities. Additionally, you will be scouting new areas within Pharma and therapeutics where Ginkgo’s platform can effectively serve as a disruptive technology. A key focus will be developing and executing a sales strategy to introduce and embed Ginkgo's automation products, like RACs, into Government research and development wet labs. Given your industry/federal experience, you know the key players, understand the biotechnology field, keep up with emerging trends, and you can leverage your strong network to create an effective market strategy and sales pipeline. You also enjoy building relationships and teams, both internal and external to Ginkgo, and take a proactive approach to maximizing new and existing business opportunities. And most importantly, you see the bigger picture: you’re excited about Ginkgo and eager to help us achieve our mission of making biology easier to engineer.

Responsibilities

Plans and implements business development strategy for HHS, DOW, and related government agencies to drive bookings growth within the federal market and expand Ginkgo’s brand awareness and influence among Government customers
Lead the sales cycle for Ginkgo's automation products and services (RACs and RAC software) to wet labs within USG agencies, specifically targeting HHS and DoW.
Craft innovative white papers, proposals, and pitches aimed at Government leadership with a focus on the value proposition of Ginkgo’s end-to-end lab automation service products and Solutions and Datapoints services.
Create and shape business opportunities with the HHS, DOW, and other OneHealth-focused Government agencies, as well as with leading private sector government-focused entities, via both teaming efforts and direct sales, with a focus on top of the funnel activities
Lead Gov-funded pharma pipeline development and management activities
Map complex decision making processes, identify funding and award trends
Build a core set of strategic partnerships with industry, academic, and nonprofit organizations
Provide feedback/inputs to technical teams to support the development of new services/offerings and automation product features based on customer feedback.
Work jointly with Ginkgo’s U.S. Government partners to identify and scope out new project opportunities where Ginkgo is uniquely positioned to act as a valuable partner
Collaborate with partners to understand their program objectives and desired capabilities, including automation needs, and ensure that this context is incorporated into Ginkgo’s project scoping and delivery
Connect BD activities to U.S. Government solicitations such as RFPs, BAAs, FOAs, etc.
Be the voice of the customer during proposal development and reviews
Support the development of technical proposal materials and ensure the customer’s needs are incorporated
Support proposal development activities including writing content and participating in reviews
Scout for complementary partners, collaborators, and technologies and establish teaming relationships with them
Work across Ginkgo to ensure all parts of the organization are aligned during the business development process, and oversee and track the progress of projects and their execution to ensure high quality and timely deliverables
Collaborate with Ginkgo’s executive leadership and senior management team to define the company’s strategic goals for its U.S. Government HHS and DOW initiatives

Minimum Requirements

Bachelor’s degree with minimum of 8-10 years of relevant work experience in U.S. Government business development and acquisition
Understanding of the biotechnology industry and its applications and understanding of HHS and DOW contracting and decision making
Understanding of USG acquisition regulations and processes and budgeting processes
Demonstrated technical aptitude for complex, new, and disruptive products and services
Experience with complex deal structures
Enthusiasm about advancing Ginkgo’s mission to make biology easier to engineer
Ability to work effectively with cross-functional teams and mobilize people across the organization, and to learn quickly and thrive in a fast-paced environment
Strong aptitude for cultivating working relationships at all levels of management, both internally and externally
Organized and robust project management skills

Preferred Capabilities and Experience

Master’s degree or PhD in science or technical field
10+ years experience working with medical USG advanced developers
Previous experience with federal sales of lab automation equipment, specifically fully automated platforms, robotics, or liquid handling systems, to Government and/or commercial wet labs.
Transitioned one MCM product to market as either the prime contractor, subcontractor, or project manager
Strong existing relationships with leadership personnel at BARDA, ASPR, NIH, DHA, ARPA-H, USDA, DARPA, DTRA and other federal agencies focusing on OneHealth
Experience in technology development with government partners, in areas such medical countermeasures, cell lines and/or CBRNE defense
Ability and willingness to obtain a US security clearance at the Secret designation or above

Location: Boston, MA; Washington, DC Metro Area; or Emeryville, CA (preferred).

The base salary range for this role is $170,100 - $273,500. Actual pay within this range will depend on a candidate's skills, expertise, and experience. We also offer company stock awards, a comprehensive benefits package including medical, dental & vision coverage, health spending accounts, voluntary benefits, leave of absence policies, 401(k) program with employer contribution, 8 paid holidays in addition to a full-week winter shutdown and unlimited Paid Time Off policy.

Please Note: This role may require the ability to travel to the Boston, MA office 1 time per quarter.

It is the policy of Ginkgo Bioworks to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees, employment applicants, and EOE disability/vet.

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