Scientific Data & Technology Strategy Associate Consultant - Discovery

About the Role ZS's Discovery Venture is expanding to help biotech/pharma clients accelerate drug discovery through data, science and technology. As a Scientific Data & Technology Strategy Associate Consultant in Discovery, you will apply technical, data, and research technology expertise to design and implement scalable solutions that improve drug discovery workflows. This role will work with cross-disciplinary teams to translate scientific needs into practical technology strategies. What You'll Do

• Partner with scientists, business stakeholders, and IT teams to translate scientific workflows and research needs into technical designs and practical solutions.
• Define conceptual and logical data models, metadata standards, integration patterns, and system architecture components to support research data management and analytics.
• Lead defined implementation workstreams from design through deployment, ensuring solutions are aligned with business needs, scientific workflows, and enterprise technology standards.
• Apply hands-on experience with pharma datasets, cloud platforms, and cross-system integrations to improve research technology ecosystems.
• Support research IT strategy, SDLC, and roadmap development by contributing technical recommendations, solution options, and implementation planning.
• Collaborate with interdisciplinary teams, including scientists, data engineers, architects, business partners, and project managers, to integrate research technology and analytics into broader project objectives.
• Translate scientific and business needs into structured technical requirements, solution designs, and roadmap inputs.
• Support the design and implementation of ETL/ELT pipelines, cloud-native data platforms, APIs, and cross-system integrations.
• Contribute to research data management initiatives, including data modeling, metadata strategy, FAIR data principles, and information architecture across biopharmaceutical research domains.
• Support client readouts with evidence-based presentations, clearly communicating technical findings, solution recommendations, and next steps.
• Mentor junior team members, share knowledge across teams, and contribute to a collaborative, high-quality delivery environment. What We're Looking For
• Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s degree strongly preferred, ideally in Computer Science, Data Science, Biomedical Engineering, Health Informatics, or a life science-related field; Advanced degree, including MS or PhD, in a scientific discipline with data and/or technology exposure is a plus.
• At least 2.5 years of relevant professional experience in research technology, data platforms, pharma technology, consulting, biotech, pharma, or related environments.
• Hands-on experience with pharma datasets, cloud platforms, and cross-system integrations.
• Prior ownership of solution design components, including data models, integration patterns, technical requirements, or architecture documentation.
• Experience bridging scientific and IT stakeholders and translating scientific workflows into technical solutions.
• Experience with conceptual and logical data modeling, system architecture, metadata standards, and information architecture.
• Familiarity with cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, or GCP.
• Understanding of RESTful APIs, ETL/ELT pipelines, and cross-system integration design.
• Experience with lakehouse and cloud-native data platforms such as Databricks and Snowflake.
• Understanding of research data management and FAIR principles.
• Knowledge of how to interpret and enforce enterprise architecture and engineering standards.
• Knowledge of research information management and analytics applications such as research LIMS systems, ELN platforms, Certara, Schrödinger, GeneData, Watson, or similar platforms is preferred.
• Knowledge and experience in scientific data modeling or information architecture engineering across a range of biopharmaceutical research domains.
• Evidence of strong commitment to quality and client satisfaction.
• Excellent communication, presentation, and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to engage effectively with clients and teams. Compensation & Benefits
• Salary: $120,000.00 - $137,000.00 per year