Senior Director, Genetic Medicine
About The Position
Form Bio develops AI-powered platforms to accelerate genetic medicine development and synthetic biology. By combining data, technology, and expertise, Form’s solutions accelerate timelines from discovery to clinic by providing drug developers with rapid in silico characterization and optimization of their therapeutics — enabling higher yields, better expression, enhanced safety, and shorter, less-expensive development cycles. Form Bio’s proprietary, patent-pending AI models are the first of their kind, purpose-built to solve the most complex challenges in genetic engineering and design for gene and nucleic acid-based therapies. We are seeking a visionary and hands-on Senior Director, Genetic Medicine to lead our scientific strategy, R&D execution, advanced therapeutic initiatives and bioplatform development. Operating out of our San Carlos, CA office, this pivotal leader will sit at the intersection of drug discovery, genome engineering, AI technology, and commercial growth. The ideal candidate brings deep experience in the end-to-end drug discovery process and has a proven track record of thriving in high-growth startup environments. You will be responsible for defining our scientific roadmap, managing physical lab environments, and mentoring cross-functional teams. Crucially, you will bridge the gap between scientific innovation and commercial viability, working alongside our business development, engineering, and AI teams to transform technical discoveries into tangible revenue streams.
Requirements
- PhD in Molecular Biology, Genetics, Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, or a related scientific discipline.
- 10+ years of experience in drug discovery, with deep technical expertise in cell therapy applications and advanced biologics.
- Expert-level knowledge of gene editing platforms and their real-world application in genetic medicine.
- Proven track record of managing a physical wet lab environment, hands on, overseeing equipment/protocols, and directly training/mentoring laboratory staff.
- Demonstrated ability to collaborate with commercial, product, and engineering teams to turn R&D innovations into scalable, revenue-generating products or services.
- Proven success leading scientific teams and managing scientific pivot points in a fast-paced, high-visibility startup environment.
- Ability and willingness to work out of the San Carlos, CA office 2-3 days per week.
- Exceptional ability to communicate complex scientific plans clearly, objectively, and timely across executive, technical, and commercial audiences.
Nice To Haves
- Experience working with cloud-native bioinformatics platform delivery (GCP preferred).
- Existing network within the Bay Area biotechnology and cell/gene therapy ecosystem.
- Familiarity with high-throughput screening and automated lab systems.
Responsibilities
- Define, scale, and execute Form Bio’s comprehensive R&D strategy for genetic medicine and therapeutic optimization platforms.
- Lead the scientific roadmap for genome engineering and gene editing technologies (e.g., CRISPR, base editing, and advanced viral vector design).
- Direct the translation of high-level scientific hypotheses into executable research plans, clear timelines, and milestones that advance the company's core platform.
- Stay at the absolute forefront of trends in cell therapy, gene therapy, manufacturing and synthetic biology to ensure Form Bio remains an industry leader.
- Partner closely with Business Development, Software Engineering, Bioinformatics and AI/ML teams to identify high-value platform discoveries.
- Develop strategies to package, validate, and implement product discoveries into revenue-generating services, software features, or strategic biopharma partnerships.
- Assist business development in high-stakes technical meetings, translating complex genetic medicine capabilities into clear value propositions for potential clients.
- Oversee operations, budgets, data integrity, and compliance protocols within our physical laboratory environment.
- Actively manage, train, and upscale wet-lab and computational scientists, with a specific focus on teaching and working on cell therapy techniques and analytical workflows.
- Optimize the "design-build-test-learn" cycle by tightly integrating wet-lab experimental validation with dry-lab AI/ML training loops.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
Education Level
Ph.D. or professional degree
