Director, Drug Discovery and Translational Biology

Director, Drug Discovery and Translational Biology

We are seeking an experienced, enthusiastic, and highly motivated drug discovery/translational biology scientist to join our team. By leading biology efforts on drug discovery programs to guide both candidate selection and the design of early clinical trials, this person will play a critical role in advancing Treeline's portfolio. Through the generation of preclinical data sets using cell and molecular biology, biochemistry, animal models, genetics/genomics and other state-of-the-art scientific approaches, you will play a key role in generating key program hypotheses that will be tested in the clinic. As a drug discovery and translational biology project leader, you will collaborate closely with other cell biologists, in vivo pharmacologists, medicinal and computational chemists, structural biologists, biochemists, biophysicists and data scientists to enable the advancement of drug discovery programs and the development of assets in early clinical trials. You will help to build our company's expertise in translational biology and to execute translational strategies for the successful development of therapeutics for people with cancer.

Responsibilities

• Provide drug discovery and translational biology leadership to multiple project teams
• Develop and oversee assay workflows in support of drug discovery campaigns
• Establish and prosecute cellular assays to drive the hit-to-lead and lead optimization processes in close collaboration with medicinal chemistry, biochemistry/biophysics, structural biology, and medicine design teams
• Design and coordinate key in vivo studies to assess the activity (PK-PD), mechanism-of-action, safety and efficacy of candidate molecules, including as part of rational drug-drug combinations
• Recruit and manage scientists to execute a wide variety of cellular and molecular techniques to validate and characterize genetic or small molecule perturbations of targets and downstream pathways, including CRISPR/RNAi tool design/generation, western blot, qPCR, ELISA, MSD, IP, luminescence assays, phenotypic assays, and flow cytometry.
• As a senior leader in R&D, contribute to target selection, validation activities, and portfolio strategy discussions

Required Qualifications

• D. in Life Sciences with 8-10+ years of experience in biotech/pharma industry, ideally in the discovery and development of small-molecule oncology therapeutics
• Translational biology expertise and experience, including a strong focus on mechanism-of-action, pharmacodynamic (PD) and predictive biomarkers, mechanisms of resistance, rational combinations and the identification of potential new indications for therapeutics
• Basic and translational research experience in hematology and hematologic malignancies (ALL, AML, MDS, MPNs, NHLs, multiple myeloma, etc.) a plus
• Successful track record of being part of a multidisciplinary team spanning different scientific areas - g. , biochemistry, cell biology, DMPK, medicinal chemistry, structure-based drug design, etc.
• Experience leading oncology small molecule drug discovery programs: advancing programs from target validation to screening, hit finding and lead optimization, as well as advancing candidates to the clinic. Additional experience in preclinical development and supporting IND-enabling studies is a plus.
• Demonstrated experience in advancing innovative new ideas and concepts, inspiring and motivating teams and taking initiative to solve complex biology problems
• Experience with systematic drug discovery approaches - g. , functional genomics, forward- and reverse-genetics, computational biology, chemical biology
• Experience in building and managing a team of scientists with diverse levels of experience, with a keen desire to grow and develop the careers of team members
• Strong written and oral communication skills, excellent interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to work collaboratively on multidisciplinary teams
• Experience initiating and directing out-sourced activities at CROs, especially in vivo work
• High-level of motivation, ownership and dependability

Treeline Biosciences is committed to protecting the health and safety of our team. Our company requires all employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, including a booster shoot. Proof of vaccination must be provided prior to the first day of employment. As required by applicable law, Treeline will consider requests for Reasonable Accommodations.