Director of Life Sciences - California

Rust Automation & Controls is a family-owned industrial automation company celebrating 50 years in business, with a 10-year and growing presence in California. We specialize in valves, instrumentation, automation solutions, and high-touch technical services for mission-critical industrial applications.

Our culture is grounded in long-term relationships, both with customers and with our people. Leadership is accessible, decisions are made quickly, and we care deeply about how we show up in the field for our team and customers. We are not a volume-driven, transactional sales organization. We win by being trusted, responsive, and service-oriented.

This is a rare opportunity to build and own the life sciences vertical in California for a stable, values-driven company with meaningful growth ambitions.

Position Overview

Director of Life Sciences – California (Bay Area Focus)

Outside Sales Leadership | Biotech & Pharma Manufacturing

Location: South San Francisco–based (must live within ~45 minutes)
Territory includes the greater Bay Area and nearby life sciences hubs.

Compensation

• Base salary: $125,000–$150,000
• Commission: $50,000–$100,000+
• • We believe the compensation plan should realistically be 200k+; this person will be highly compensated with clear metrics that justify the cost. 80% of the commission compensation will be directly based on GM from customer accounts in the Bay Area, and the remaining 20% will be a lump sum contingent on LS GM growth across the territory.

We are hiring a Director of Life Sciences – California to lead and grow our life sciences business across the Bay Area and surrounding biotech hubs. This is a senior individual contributor role with significant autonomy, visibility, and influence.

While this role includes new customer development, it is ideally suited for someone who already brings existing relationships in Bay Area biotech, pharma manufacturing, and CDMOs and is excited to turn those relationships into long-term partnerships centered on the diverse offerings of our manufacturing partners.

You will own the life sciences portfolio in California, driving growth through a combination of project-based selling and recurring, relationship-driven business, supported by a strong inside sales, applications engineering, and project team based out of Salt Lake City. You will report directly to the Regional Vice President and work closely with senior management to shape strategy in this vertical.

What you will do

• Own and grow Rust Automation’s life sciences business in California, with a heavy focus on the Bay Area
• Leverage existing biotech and pharma relationships to accelerate market entry and credibility
• Develop new strategic accounts while expanding presence within existing customers
• Sell a portfolio centered on:
• • Valves and instrumentation
  • Service capabilities, including calibration, commissioning, and loop verification—often a key door-opener in regulated life sciences environments
• Engage regularly with:
• • Process engineers
  • Utilities engineers
  • Maintenance & reliability teams
  • Procurement and sourcing
• Manage long-cycle, specification-driven project opportunities while building repeat and preferred-vendor business.
• Serve as a trusted, visible presence at customer sites. This is a field-based, customer-facing role with direct account responsibility.
• Local day travel primarily, approximately two overnight trips per month.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience selling into the life sciences market (biotech, pharma manufacturing, and/or CDMOs required)
• Existing Bay Area life sciences relationships you can activate
• A strong communicator who builds trust easily and enjoys being face-to-face with customers
• Self-motivated, organized, and comfortable operating independently
• Service-oriented mindset, you care deeply about customer outcomes, not just closing deals
• Technically curious and credible (you don’t need to be an engineer, but you know how to navigate technical conversations)
• Cheerful, grounded, and collaborative, not a “lone-wolf” or hard-charging, ego-driven seller
• Someone who values long-term relationships, stability, and culture, not just the next logo

What Success Looks Like (12–18 Months)

• Tripling life sciences revenue in the territory. Currently, 500k in LS GM across CA, 70k in the Bay Area. All numbers exclude service revenue.
• Establishing at least six new strategic life sciences accounts, "strategic" is defined as accounts with over 50k in GM.
• Becoming a primary vendor at two or more key biotech or pharma facilities, with 100k or more in GM.
• Being recognized internally and externally as Rust Automation’s life sciences leader in California

Benefits

• Comprehensive benefits package
• Competitive paid time off
• 401(k) with company match
• Company Vehicle

Why This Role is Different

• You’re not inheriting a crowded territory, you’re building something meaningful
• You’ll have real autonomy with executive visibility and support
• You’ll represent a family-owned company with staying power, not a short-term roll-up
• This role is designed as a long-term career home, with room to grow as the life sciences vertical expands