Associate Director, Pharmacology

Formation Bio•Boston, MA

2d•$177,500 - $232,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Formation Bio is seeking an Associate Director, Pharmacology to join our Development team. In this role, you will help shape and execute pharmacology strategy across development programs, applying broad pharmacology expertise, first-principles scientific thinking, and rigorous translational judgment to advance assets efficiently and credibly. You will contribute to preclinical pharmacology strategy, support drug development and business development activities, and help define the studies and evidence packages needed to make high-quality program decisions. This role is well suited for a scientifically rigorous, intellectually independent pharmacologist who can move fluidly across mechanisms, modalities, disease areas, and stages of development, with particular value placed on familiarity with immunology, animal models, and AI-enabled scientific workflows. The role reports to the Director of Pharmacology and you will be a key member of the Formation Bio Development team.

Requirements

PhD in Pharmacology, Biology, Immunology, Translational Sciences, or a related field, with 4-6+ years of relevant post-PhD biopharma industry experience; level will be commensurate with experience
Broad, hands-on expertise in preclinical pharmacology, including mechanism of action, disease biology, in vivo efficacy models, dose-response, target engagement, biomarkers, selectivity, and PK/PD
Strong first-principles scientific judgment, with evidence of original thinking, rigorous hypothesis generation, incisive experimental design, and the ability to interpret complex or ambiguous data
Experience designing, overseeing, and interpreting animal studies, including model selection, endpoint strategy, dosing rationale, exposure-response relationships, and translational limitations
Experience developing pharmacology strategies that support candidate selection, IND-enabling work, clinical development, lifecycle management, regulatory submissions, or externally sourced assets
Strong understanding of how preclinical pharmacology informs translational hypotheses, dose rationale, safety margins, therapeutic index, biomarker strategy, and regulatory positioning
Experience working cross-functionally with DMPK, Toxicology, Clinical Pharmacology, Clinical Development, Regulatory, CROs, and external partners, including management of CRO-executed studies, protocols, data quality, timelines, budgets, and reports
Highly organized, collaborative, and intellectually curious scientist with excellent communication skills, strong scientific rigor, comfort in fast-paced environments, and enthusiasm for using technology, modeling, data analytics, and AI-enabled approaches to improve pharmacology research and decision-making

Nice To Haves

familiarity with immunology, animal models, and AI-enabled scientific workflows
familiarity with immunology, immune-mediated disease biology, or immunomodulatory mechanisms preferred

Responsibilities

Execute and contribute to preclinical pharmacology strategy across development programs, with studies primarily executed through CROs
Design, oversee, and interpret pharmacology studies to characterize mechanism of action, target biology, in vivo proof of concept, dose-response, pharmacodynamic activity, exposure-response relationships, and asset progression
Develop integrated pharmacology plans covering efficacy, target engagement, receptor binding, selectivity, biomarkers, PK/PD, translational hypotheses, safety margins, therapeutic index, dose rationale, and key decision points
Apply first-principles scientific reasoning and broad pharmacology perspective to evaluate biological rationale, identify critical assumptions, pressure-test hypotheses, distinguish decision-critical data from interesting findings, and design focused studies to address key scientific, regulatory, or translational questions
Partner with DMPK, Toxicology, Clinical Pharmacology, Clinical Development, Regulatory, CROs, and external partners to integrate pharmacology into development strategy, regulatory materials, in-licensing evaluations, and interactions with regulators, partners, advisors, and internal leadership
Manage CRO-executed pharmacology studies and related workflows, including protocol review, vendor oversight, data quality, timelines, budgets, study conduct, interpretation, final reports, organizational tracking systems, and use of technology, modeling, data analytics, literature mining, and AI-enabled tools to improve speed, rigor, reproducibility, and decision-making