Open to opportunities

Zach Rivas

@zachrivas

Message

PMP-certified scientific program leader driving preclinical antimicrobial development and cross-functional teams.

United States

Message

What I'm looking for

I seek remote roles in biotech/CRO/government contracting where I can lead preclinical program management, enable data-driven decisions, and scale regulated R&D operations.

I am a PMP-certified scientific program leader with a PhD in microbiology and immunology focused on advancing preclinical antimicrobial therapeutics in federally funded and regulated environments.

I lead cross-functional teams and manage multi-project portfolios, having overseen a $6.2M federally funded program and coordinated schedules, budgets, and resources across parallel workstreams to deliver decision-ready data.

I improved data fidelity and reduced execution risk by implementing standardized operating procedures, formal review workflows, and stakeholder governance cadences, enabling auditable, evidence-based decision making for DoD sponsors and partners.

I have built laboratory capabilities, led technical projects, supported CRADAs/subawards/NDAs, and published peer-reviewed research; I seek to apply my program management and scientific leadership to roles that advance regulated preclinical R&D.

Experience

Work history, roles, and key accomplishments

Current

Research Scientist I

Current

Henry M. Jackson Foundation

Jul 2023 - Present (2 years 5 months)

Lead program management for a $6.2M federally funded antimicrobial development portfolio, managing cost, staff, and resources across five projects and instituting SOPs and review workflows to improve data fidelity and reduce execution risk.

Program Management Budgeting SOP Development CRADA NDA Subaward Coordination Risk Management

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

GDIT

Jun 2022 - Jul 2023 (1 year 1 month)

Led two antimicrobial development projects delivering decision-ready preclinical data, built in-house molecular and cell culture capabilities to increase throughput, and supervised research staff to balance workload and quality objectives.

Molecular Biology Mammalian Cell Culture Staff Supervision Experimental Design Data Package Preparation laboratory operations

PhD Research Assistant

University of Miami Miller School of Medicine

Aug 2016 - May 2022 (5 years 9 months)

Planned and executed multi-year microbiology and immunology research projects that produced peer-reviewed publications, resolved data consistency issues through improved documentation, and mentored junior researchers.

Data Analysis Scientific Writing Mentoring

Education

Degrees, certifications, and relevant coursework

Project Management Institute

Project Management Professional (PMP), Project Management

2025 - 2025

Obtained the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification to validate project and program management competencies.

University of Miami Miller School of Medicine

Doctor of Philosophy, Microbiology & Immunology

2016 - 2022

Activities and societies: Research assistantship, mentored junior researchers, taught laboratory courses, contributed to peer-reviewed publications.

Completed a PhD in Microbiology & Immunology conducting multi-year research projects that generated peer-reviewed publications and supported preclinical development efforts.