Director, Translational Pharmacology

Travere Therapeutics • San Diego, CA

1d • $189,000 - $246,000 • Remote

About The Position

Travere Therapeutics is seeking an experienced and strategic scientist to join our Research and Nonclinical Development organization as Director, Translational Pharmacology. This individual will primarily serve as a key scientific contributor to external evaluation of business development opportunities, with a focus on assessing therapeutic rationale, disease biology, mechanism of action, translational strategy, pharmacology data, biomarker approaches, and development feasibility for potential external assets and collaborations focused on the rare disease space.
The successful candidate will bring strong expertise in pharmacology, translational science, and disease biology, with experience applying scientific judgment to drug discovery and development decisions. This individual will work closely with Business Development, Clinical Development, Clinical Pharmacology, Regulatory, Medical Affairs, Commercial, and external scientific experts to evaluate new therapeutic opportunities, support diligence activities, and help determine strategic fit with Travere’s rare disease portfolio and scientific priorities.
This role requires the ability to integrate diverse scientific, nonclinical, clinical, competitive, and translational data sets into clear, balanced assessments that support decision-making. The Director, Translational Pharmacology will also contribute to ongoing translational pharmacology activities for internal programs and external collaborations as needed.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree in Life Science or other related discipline required.
• PhD, MD, PharmD, or equivalent advanced degree in Pharmacology, Biology, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, Translational Medicine, or a related scientific discipline preferred.
• Equivalent combination of education and applicable job experience may be considered.
• Minimum 10 years of relevant experience in the biopharmaceutical industry required; or 6 years with PhD, MD, PharmD, or equivalent.
• Strong knowledge of pharmacology principles in nonclinical and clinical development settings.
• Demonstrated commitment to keeping patients at the center of scientific evaluation and decision-making, ensuring external opportunities are assessed with a focus on potential for meaningful patient impact.
• Experience evaluating drug candidates, mechanisms of action, disease biology and pharmacology data to support development decisions and translational strategy.
• Working knowledge of regulatory requirements and expectations for nonclinical and translational support of clinical development programs.
• Experience leading scientific initiatives, project workstreams, diligence activities, or multidisciplinary teams.
• Demonstrated ability to synthesize complex data, identify key risks and opportunities, and communicate clear recommendations.
• Excellent verbal and written communication, presentation, collaboration, and influencing skills.
• Strong organizational skills with demonstrated ability to successfully manage multiple priorities, timelines, and shifting responsibilities.
• Scientific curiosity, intellectual rigor, and commitment to improving outcomes for patients with serious diseases.
• Ability to thrive in a collaborative, fast-paced, virtual biotechnology environment.

Nice To Haves

• The ideal candidate will embody Travere’s core values: Courage, Community Spirit, Patient Focus and Teamwork
• Driven, intelligent, passionate about making a difference for patients with rare diseases
• Experience in rare disease, rare metabolic disease, nephrology, immunology, inflammation, or other therapeutic areas relevant to Travere’s portfolio and strategic interests.
• Prior experience participating in formal due diligence processes for business development, licensing, acquisition, or collaboration opportunities.
• Experience in nonclinical toxicology and safety requirements for an IND and clinical development would be preferred
• Experience developing or evaluating translational plans linking mechanism of action, target engagement, pharmacodynamic activity, biomarkers, and clinical outcomes.
• Familiarity with biomarker strategy, patient selection approaches, human translational systems, and disease-relevant pharmacology models.
• Experience managing or collaborating with CROs, academic investigators, consultants, and external scientific experts.
• Experience preparing executive-level scientific summaries, diligence reports, or governance presentations.
• Strong project leadership skills and ability to influence cross-functional stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a preclinical biology lead or key scientific contributor for evaluation of business development opportunities ranging from small-molecule to biologics at all stages of development, including external assets, platform-based technologies and research-based collaborations.
• Assess scientific rationale, mechanism of action, disease biology, pharmacology and toxicology data, translational relevance and therapeutic safety window, biomarker strategy, and development feasibility for potential opportunities.
• Review and interpret nonclinical and translational data alongside clinical, regulatory, and competitive information to identify strengths, risks, gaps, and key value drivers.
• Partner with Business Development and cross-functional diligence teams to develop scientific assessment reports, diligence questions, risk summaries, and recommendations.
• Identify critical experiments, analyses, or expert input needed to reduce scientific uncertainty for potential opportunities.
• Support evaluation of strategic fit with Travere’s portfolio, therapeutic areas of interest, rare disease focus, and translational development capabilities.
• Provide translational pharmacology expertise across preclinical and clinical-stage opportunities, including interpretation of in vitro, in vivo, ex vivo, biomarker, pharmacodynamic, and clinical pharmacology data.
• Evaluate whether available pharmacology and translational data support proposed mechanisms of action, target engagement, dose rationale, patient selection, and clinical development strategy.
• Integrate mechanistic biology, pharmacology, biomarker, and clinical observations to assess therapeutic potential and development risk.
• Stay abreast of industry trends, emerging technologies, advances in disease biology and therapeutic targets and competitive activities to inform search strategies and evaluations relevant to Travere’s areas of interest.
• Contribute to identification of new indications or patient populations where an external or internal asset may provide meaningful clinical benefit.
• Lead or contribute to scientific interactions with external companies, academic collaborators, CROs, consultants, key opinion leaders, and subject matter experts during diligence and collaboration activities.
• Identify and engage external experts to inform evaluation of disease biology, pharmacology, biomarkers, clinical translation, and development risk.
• Support assessment of external research proposals, collaboration opportunities, and emerging scientific areas relevant to Travere’s strategic interests.
• Represent Travere professionally in conferences, external scientific discussions, diligence meetings, advisory interactions, and collaborative forums.
• Interpret pharmacology, toxicology, translational, and biomarker data in the context of potential clinical development and regulatory expectations.
• Contribute to evaluation of whether available nonclinical packages are adequate to support current or proposed clinical development plans.
• Contribute to development plans and budget for selected opportunities, including translational strategy, nonclinical pharmacology and safety needs, biomarker plans, and early clinical development considerations.
• Support preparation and review of relevant sections of investigator brochures, briefing documents, regulatory submissions, and development-related documents as needed.
• Identify nonclinical or translational gaps that may affect development timelines, regulatory strategy, or probability of success.
• Provide scientific leadership within a collaborative, matrixed Research and Nonclinical Development organization.
• Support transition of selected external opportunities from diligence into integration, development planning, or collaboration management.
• Foster a culture of scientific rigor, intellectual curiosity, collaboration, and objective decision-making.
• Mentor colleagues and contribute to building translational pharmacology and scientific diligence capabilities within the organization.
• Manage multiple concurrent diligence and program-related activities in a fast-paced, dynamic biotechnology environment.
• Demonstrate sound judgment, strong ownership, and the ability to influence without formal authority.

Benefits

• premium health, financial, work-life and well-being offerings for eligible employees and dependents
• wellness and employee support programs
• life insurance
• disability
• retirement plans with employer match
• generous paid time off

What This Job Offers

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