Director, Pharmacology

TarsusRX•Irvine, CA

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Director, Pharmacology will be a scientific and strategic thought partner instrumental in developing and building the pipeline at Tarsus. They will be responsible for bringing biology/pharmacology expertise and can readily bridge cutting-edge translational medicine environments to develop category-creating products. The role connects the discovery and clinical development organizations and supports projects at the interface between discovery and early clinical development. This role reports to the VP, Translational Science, with the opportunity to build and lead a translational team with responsibilities across the pipeline.

Requirements

PhD or MD/PhD degree in Biology, Pharmacology, Molecular or Cell biology or related life sciences field with 10 years experience in a pharmaceutical or biotechnology industry setting.
Knowledge and solid understanding of emerging research, mechanisms of action and disease models preclinically and clinically.
Demonstrated experience developing and implementing strategies — including assay selection, qualification, and CRO-based execution — to support proof of concept, MOA, route and dose selection.
Excellent oral and written communication skills, including writing, reviewing, and editing scientific documents.
Strong interpersonal skills, diplomacy, and positive-influencing abilities.
Proven influencing and partnering skills to drive decision-making within multidisciplinary, matrixed teams.
Effective project management skills.
Strong presentation skills; must be able to provide succinct, strategic, and actionable insights.
Scientifically independent, proactive self-starter who can lead work independently, anticipate issues, and identify the next step without direction.
Enterprise and entrepreneurial mindset.

Nice To Haves

Experience in ophthalmology, dermatology, or infectious disease; prior work in ocular drug development or ocular disease models is strongly preferred.
Recognized scientific standing evidenced by peer-reviewed publications and an established network of academic and clinical thought leaders.
Experience evaluating external assets in a business development or in-licensing context.
Experience authoring and reviewing nonclinical and translational sections of regulatory documents (IND, Investigator's Brochure, briefing books).

Responsibilities

Subject Matter Expert in Pharmacology, Pathophysiology and drug target biology.
Establish and maintain strong external partnerships with key opinion leaders, academic institutions and other external partners.
Partner with key internal experts across the company — including Clinical Development, Innovation Lab, and Business Development (BD).
Drive stage-appropriate project translational strategy for a differentiated asset to address unmet patient need with key “Go/No Go” decision points.
Execute non-clinical experiments to support mechanism-of-action (MOA) related translational questions as well as overall understanding of disease biology, treatment approaches, routes of administration, and target engagement.
Develop deep internal expertise in disease areas within ophthalmology, which are prioritized by the company.
Elucidate mechanisms of action, evaluate disease models and preclinical proof-of-concept approaches, and partner with Pharmacokinetics to identify first-in-human dosing requirements.
Generate clear, testable translational hypotheses addressing mechanism of action and pharmacodynamics, and supporting patient selection.
Assess relevant models, select and manage CRO partners, and interact with academic experts to evaluate potential assets.
Partner with BD and bring scientific expertise to evaluate and triage external assets and opportunities, identify key risks and mitigation plans, and build additional evidence to enable Go/No Go decisions.
Partner with Innovation Lab team to prioritize competing hypotheses, identify possible assets, and enable advancement into clinical development.
Build open relationships with peers and external partners to ensure best decision making.