Director, Cancer Vaccine Preclinical Strategy

AstraZeneca • Boston, MA

8d • $175,498 - $263,248

About The Position

The Director of Cancer Vaccine Preclinical Strategy is responsible for leading efforts to develop and deliver a portfolio of new modalities to train the immune system to recognize and eliminate malignant cells. The Director will build on previous experience in cancer vaccines to exploit various vaccine platforms to drive long-lived, robust immune responses to prevent, treat, and drive long-lived surveillance of tumors. Building on the current state of the field, the Director will be tasked with developing preclinical strategy, guiding antigen discovery, supporting vaccine design, and developing combinatorial approaches to amplify clinical impact. The candidate will lead work across cross-functional teams to build programs. The Director will be responsible for driving collaboration and influencing internal stakeholders. In addition, the Director will develop and build a cutting-edge portfolio of intellectual property— guiding a team that fosters high-performance and innovation; building capabilities across immunology, oncology, and translational sciences; and establishing clear operating mechanisms to accelerate decision-making and delivery.

Requirements

• PhD or equivalent in immunology, oncology, molecular biology, biochemistry or a related discipline with 10+ yrs industry experience
• Proven experience developing novel immunological approaches to deploy immunity to fight tumors
• Proven experience with immune profiling, tumor modelling, systems biology, and/or immune oncology
• Experience working in a cross-functional team to maximize expertise and accelerate success
• Experience developing and implementing novel methods to support vaccine development
• Experience supporting or leading interdisciplinary vaccine discovery or development programs
• Proven experience leading and managing junior colleagues
• Proven experience developing and controlling budgets
• Excellent written and verbal communication, business analysis, and consultancy skills

Responsibilities

• Develop a preclinical pipeline for the design, testing, and delivery of cancer vaccine programs
• Implement a strategy to explore multiple vaccine modalities to train immunity to eliminate tumors
• Create an approach to evaluate combinatorial modalities to maximize control, clearance, and surveillance
• Develop a strategy to drive target discovery and evaluation
• Work with cross-disciplinary teams to guide iterative antigen design and preclinical evaluation
• Establish strategic relationships across the organization and functions
• Build animal models for rapid evaluation of emerging modalities
• Support the development of a regulatory strategy to translate programs to clinic
• Create and foster effective relationships with senior and executive stakeholders in Research, Bioprocess Development, Clinical and Translational Medicine and Global Project Teams to ensure alignment across functions
• Pioneer AI based strategies to accelerate the pace of innovation at all levels of research
• Collaborate and guide the evaluation of novel business development opportunities
• Communicate results internally and externally, as well as their associated risks, uncertainties and limitations
• Define the training standards for junior colleagues in line with best practices and principles

Benefits

• short-term incentive bonus opportunity
• equity-based long-term incentive program
• retirement contribution
• commission payment eligibility
• qualified retirement program [401(k) plan]
• paid vacation and holidays
• paid leaves
• health benefits including medical, prescription drug, dental, and vision coverage

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree