Associate Director, Translational Medicine Lead

AstraZeneca•South San Francisco, CA

1d•$142,378 - $213,566•Hybrid

About The Position

Are you ready to turn deep B-cell malignancy biology into decisive clinical action for patients? Join us in leading translational strategy across a fast-moving portfolio in B-ALL, B-CLL and NHL, connecting mechanism to medicine across multiple modalities including T-cell engaging bispecifics, ADCs, small molecules and cell therapies. In this role, you will shape the biomarker vision that drives dose, patient selection and combination choices from first-in-human through pivotal studies. You will partner closely with discovery scientists, clinicians and diagnostics experts to build translational data packages that change clinical trajectories. How will you leverage disease linkage, pharmacodynamics and resistance biology to accelerate the next generation of B-cell therapies? You will be the single point of accountability for translational strategy on assigned programs and trials, ensuring fit-for-purpose assays and data readouts inform rapid, confident decisions. Your work will directly influence which patients benefit, why therapies work, and how we outpace resistance—ultimately advancing our ambition to transform outcomes in hematologic cancers.

Requirements

PhD in a relevant biological science (hematology-oncology, immunology, oncology, molecular biology, or related field); postdoctoral and/or industry experience required.
Demonstrated experience with T-cell engaging bispecifics (e.g., CD3-targeting bispecifics, BiTEs) in an oncology/hematology development context
Demonstrated experience with antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) in a hematology or oncology development context
Experience contributing to early phase oncology clinical trials, including biomarker plan development, protocol input, and sample analysis; exposure to Phase 3 trial biomarker strategies a plus.
Demonstrated expertise in biomarker technologies such as flow cytometry, immunohistochemistry, molecular profiling, NGS, ctDNA, MRD assessment, cytokine/immune profiling, and other omics-based approaches as relevant to hematologic cancers
Established knowledge of B-cell malignancy biology spanning leukemia (B-ALL, B-CLL) and lymphoma (NHL), including disease pathogenesis, standard-of-care landscape, and mechanisms of therapeutic resistance.
In-depth understanding of immunology and the tumor microenvironment in B-cell cancers, with ability to apply this knowledge to translational strategy and biomarker design.
Emerging understanding of the end-to-end clinical development process — from dose escalation through registration — and the strategic role of biomarkers at each stage.
Ability to work independently and deliver translational programs with regular managerial support; demonstrates sound scientific judgment and prioritization without close oversight.
Proven ability to operate effectively and demonstrate scientific leadership within cross-functional program teams in a matrixed pharma or biotech environment; understands the roles of Clinical, Ops, Project Management, and HBS Clinical functions in delivering translational work.
Clearly presents and integrates scientific data across experiments to support a cohesive program narrative; able to articulate the implications of translational findings for Go/No-Go decisions with emerging clarity on risks and caveats.
Excellent communication and presentation skills for internal stakeholders and emerging external scientific audiences; comfortable representing TM in cross-functional governance settings.
Emerging awareness of broader AZ functions (Regulatory, Medical, Commercial) and how TM outputs interface with and inform those stakeholders.

Nice To Haves

Experience with small molecule hematology therapeutics in B-cell malignancies (e.g., BTK inhibitors, BCL-2 inhibitors) and familiarity with combination treatment strategies.
Exposure to cell therapy programs (CAR-T or other engineered cell therapies) in B-cell leukemia or lymphoma.
Familiarity with Minimal Residual Disease (MRD) methodologies (flow cytometry and/or NGS-based) in leukemia or lymphoma clinical development.
Experience integrating multi-omic biomarker data (flow cytometry, ctDNA, cytokine panels, transcriptomics) to support clinical decision-making across combination regimens.
Familiarity with regulatory expectations for biomarker analytical validation and CDx development.
Early experience mentoring junior scientists; interest in contributing to team capability development.

Responsibilities

Own and execute end-to-end translational strategies for assigned B-cell malignancy programs from preclinical through Phase 1/2 and, as needed, Phase 3, with clear decision points tied to dose, schedule and patient selection.
Integrate human genetics, expression and clinical data to define indications, stratify patients and refine target populations across monotherapy and rational combinations.
Design and interpret target engagement and pharmacodynamic biomarker readouts to enable data-driven dose selection and early proof of mechanism across multiple concurrent studies.
Define and investigate mechanisms of resistance using longitudinal and relapse samples to inform next-line strategies and combination hypotheses.
Analyze B-cell tumor biology, pathway interactions and microenvironment features in patient samples to guide combination design and strengthen translational rationale.
Lead development, validation and deployment of fit-for-purpose assays (e.g., flow cytometry, IHC/IF, molecular, MRD-adjacent panels) internally and with external labs/CROs, aligned to clinical endpoints and timelines.
Embed biomarker strategies and endpoints into protocols, sample manuals and statistical plans; partner with biosamples and precision diagnostics to ensure collection, traceability and, where relevant, CDx path alignment.
Represent Translational Medicine on cross-functional teams, connect insights across the B-cell portfolio to inform indication expansion and combinations, and contribute to governance materials, study reports and Go/No-Go recommendations.
Contribute translational and biomarker content for health authority interactions and filings; build coherent scientific narratives; present internally and in external forums to shape the field in B-cell translational research.