Director - Tumor Biology & Biomarker Research

JOB DESCRIPTION

TITLE: Director, Tumor Biology-Biomarker Research

REPORTS TO: Sr. VP, Biology

FLSA STATUS: Exempt, Full-Time

About Initial Therapeutics

Initial Therapeutics is pursuing a bold and original mission: discovering and developing a new class of small-molecule medicines designed to halt pathogenic protein formation in the earliest stages. Initial's approach is unique and starkly differentiated from protein degradation and other interventions that recognize and tackle proteins only after they have been fully formed.

Initial Therapeutics was formed in 2020 and is currently operating in stealth mode in labs in South San Francisco, with a substantial (8- figure) Series A commitment. Initial is founded by world-renowned scientists who bring relevant expertise and proprietary technology to enable them to address high-confidence, heretofore difficult-to-drug targets in cancer and neurodegeneration. Screening of proprietary libraries is in progress.

Initial Therapeutics is founder-led and offers a dynamic start-up environment with a close-knit team of highly skilled, mission-driven professionals. We seek colleagues who are inspired to push the boundaries of small molecule discovery using novel approaches and who excel at identifying innovative solutions to challenging problems.

At Initial Therapeutics you'll find a career where every day brings you adventures, challenges, and breakthroughs. Join a dynamic, diverse and growing team dedicated to developing transformative therapies that will revolutionize the future of cancer treatment and outcomes. Initial offers a competitive compensation and benefits package.

Position Summary:
The Director, Tumor Biology & Biomarker Research will grow and lead a fast-paced, dedicated team of biologists to provide strategic and operational disease biology direction, specifically tumor biology, for a discovery portfolio of oncology programs. The ideal candidate must be independently driven, passionate, innovative, and an excellent leader and team player. The role will involve the development and implementation of strategic approaches to halt pathogenic protein formation, exploring the MOAs, and supervise the timely generation of high-quality data to drive programs forward with scientific excellence and urgency.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Lead, develop, and provide scientific leadership and disease biology direction with a focus on tumor biology and develop PD biomarkers to support in vivo studies, through the creation and execution of high-quality integrated discovery and translational plans to support small molecular programs at preclinical and clinical stages. Develop, refine, and implement the research strategy in tumor biology with a focus on linking target biology to human disease with contributions to therapeutic target selection, evaluation, and prioritization. Lead an internal cell-based biology team in proving hands-on troubleshooting for lab work, setting scientific goals to deliver, executing comprehensive approaches to drive for results and to drive for results, and ensuring delivery in a timely manner. Provide day-to-day scientific and organizational leadership, serve as a mentor and role model with the goal of developing a high-performing cell-based biology team and scientific talents. Work with the Discovery leadership to allocate appropriate resources to ensure timely achievement of pipeline goals. Foster a science-driven, goal-oriented culture that values innovation, teamwork, agility, transparency, accountability, and empowerment. Engage, and ensure the success of collaborations across internal and external scientific research. Stay current on the latest scientific advancements and is well informed about current trends in oncology research and development to support discovery pipelines. Manage innovation to reality, review scientific progress and direction of reports on a consistent basis. Participate with other function leaders to provide input on effectiveness and development of company operational policies and procedures. Conduct scientific presentations to senior management, project teams, and internal collaborators. Maintain laboratory records in a complete, consistent, and concise manner in accordance with company intellectual property policies and practices. Comply with company health and safety policies and general laboratory practices.

Qualifications/Skills:

• Highly self-motivated, dedicated, proactive, and organized with strong management and presentation skills. A dedicated leader, efficient manager, effective team builder and a productive collaborator who will provide strong organizational and scientific leadership consistent with Initial culture of mutual respect and trust within a cohesive teamwork. Foster effective communications between cross-functional teams and to support the senior leadership. Directly supervises employee(s). Directs and controls the activities of one or more functional areas, or groups through managers with overall responsibility for the direction of those assigned areas. Has overall responsibility for planning and implementing budget. Excellent team player to build strong relationships with cross-function leader and peers to enable higher performance. Proven strong track-record of assay development, target validation, lead optimization to IND filing. Demonstrated ability to think strategically, translate strategy to research initiatives, and drive for results. Strong collaborator with the ability to manage interdisciplinary and cross-functional teams. Learns fast, grasps organizational priorities, and can change course quickly where indicated. Strong translational research expertise in the field of oncology and ribosomal biology is a plus Excellent interpersonal and analytic skills, high ethical standards, and outstanding written and verbal communication skills. Sets goals with understanding of priority and impact to program, department, and organization. Applies highly advanced expertise in multiple scientific fields and to developing future projects and products. Makes effective and persuasive presentations on sensitive or complex topics to senior management, external customers, collaborators, and public groups.

Education / Experience:

• An experienced cancer biologist with a Ph.D. in biochemistry, tumor biology, cell biology, immunology, pharmacology or a related scientific field and a minimum of ten years of relevant industry experience in oncology drug discovery; or, Equivalent combination of education and experience. Experience managing projects and/or work groups in biotechnology or pharmaceutical organizations including experience with budget procedures and management/coaching of employees. Demonstrated experience in advancing novel research programs in drug discovery from target identification through preclinical development Proven track record of scientific innovation and accomplishment in the field as evidenced by publication record, patents, and conference presentations.

Job Complexity:

• Works on extremely complex problems where analysis of situations or data requires an evaluation of intangible variables. Exercises independent judgment in developing methods, techniques and evaluation criteria for obtaining results. Uses professional concepts to contribute to the development of company concepts and principles to achieve objectives in creative and effective ways.

Disclaimer:

• The preceding job description has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities and qualifications required of employees assigned to the job.

Salary Range:

The salary range for this position is $150,000.00 to $250,000.00 per annum. Compensation will be determined based on several factors including, but not limited to, skill set, years of experience.

Vaccination Policy:

Initial Therapeutics requires employees to be vaccinated for COVID-19.

Location:
This position is located in South San Francisco, CA. Current work location is on site.