Sr. Director, Translational Medicine Lead, Autoimmune

ModernaTX • Princeton, MA

19h • Onsite

About The Position

Moderna is seeking an exceptional scientific leader to serve as Senior Director, Translational Medicine Lead – Autoimmune. This individual will lead translational strategy for high-priority and scientifically complex autoimmune programs while helping shape cross-program and modality-level translational strategy across Moderna’s emerging Immune Therapeutics portfolio. The successful candidate will combine deep expertise in human autoimmune immunology and translational drug development with broad understanding of immune tolerance, pathogenic T- and B-cell biology, immune-cell depletion and reprogramming, clinical biomarkers, quantitative pharmacology, and mechanism-based development. This role will operate as a senior scientific leader across program and portfolio teams, strengthen translational capabilities, mentor scientific leaders, establish cross-asset approaches, and influence senior governance and external scientific strategy.

Requirements

• PhD, MD, MD/PhD, PharmD, or equivalent advanced degree in immunology, autoimmune disease, translational medicine, or a related discipline.
• Typically 10+ years of relevant scientific and drug-development experience following advanced training, with substantial biotechnology/pharmaceutical and/or human translational medicine experience.
• Demonstrated track record leading translational strategy for multiple clinical-stage immune-mediated or autoimmune programs.
• Broad and deep expertise in human immunology and autoimmune disease mechanisms, including strong command of adaptive and innate immunology, T-cell regulation, B-cell and autoantibody biology, antigen presentation, and inflammatory signaling.
• Extensive experience with clinical biomarker strategy and biomarker-rich clinical trials, with demonstrated ability to translate complex immune mechanisms and clinical and translational datasets into dose, patient population, proof-of-concept, lifecycle, and other development decisions.
• Strong understanding of the end-to-end drug-development process and how translational evidence influences clinical, regulatory, and portfolio strategy.
• Demonstrated ability to lead and influence senior stakeholders in complex matrix environments, mentor scientific talent, and communicate effectively at executive level.

Nice To Haves

• Broad development experience across more than one autoimmune disease or therapeutic modality.
• Expertise in antigen-specific tolerance, Treg biology, B-cell depletion, immune-cell engineering/reprogramming, or other disease-modifying immune approaches.
• Experience with first-in-human development of novel or first-in-class immunomodulatory therapies.
• Experience with mRNA therapeutics, lipid nanoparticle delivery, or related emerging modalities.
• Experience defining translational strategy from early development through later-stage development and supporting major regulatory interactions involving innovative immune mechanisms or biomarker strategies.
• Experience developing cross-program biomarker platforms or translational capabilities.
• Strong external scientific network, recognized scientific credibility in autoimmune disease and/or human translational immunology, and a strong publication record.
• A desire to make an impact as part of a high-growth, transformational company that is Bold, Relentless, Curious, and Collaborative.

Responsibilities

• Lead clinical-facing translational strategy for multiple programs and/or the most scientifically complex and business-critical autoimmune assets, integrating disease biology, therapeutic mechanism, patient heterogeneity, pharmacology, biomarker evidence, safety, and clinical outcomes into coherent development strategies.
• Define the evidence required to establish confidence in mechanism, biological activity, therapeutic window, differentiation, and probability of technical success; anticipate major translational uncertainties and establish focused evidence-generation strategies to resolve them.
• Shape autoimmune portfolio and modality strategy by establishing common scientific frameworks for immune tolerance, immune reset, durability, relapse, and non-response, and by informing prioritization of programs and indications based on human biology, translatability, biomarker feasibility, and competitive differentiation.
• Provide senior leadership in human translational immunology, establishing state-of-the-art approaches to evaluate pathogenic and regulatory T-cell biology, B-cell states, autoantibodies, innate immunity, antigen-specific responses, and immune networks in patients.
• Advance cross-program biomarker and translational technology strategy, including standards for clinical immune monitoring and fit-for-purpose use of high-dimensional flow cytometry, antigen-specific functional assays, immune repertoire analysis, transcriptomics, proteomics, serology, HLA/genetic analysis, and tissue-based approaches.
• Partner with Clinical and Quantitative Pharmacology to establish integrated PK/PD and exposure-response frameworks connecting dose to target engagement, immune-cell effects, disease biology, safety, and clinical outcomes, including induction, maintenance, retreatment, or boosting strategies where relevant.
• Shape translational safety strategy by anticipating risks from novel immune biology and integrating mechanistic monitoring into development plans; provide senior scientific leadership in interpreting relationships between efficacy-driving pharmacology and safety.
• Serve as a senior translational voice in program and portfolio governance, presenting and defending recommendations concerning mechanism, patient population, dose, proof-of-concept, indication expansion, Go/No-Go criteria, and translational probability of success.
• Lead cross-program reverse translation by identifying patterns across clinical programs, building feedback loops between human data and Research, and ensuring clinical observations influence target selection, modality design, next-generation programs, and portfolio-level understanding of mRNA/LNP behavior in autoimmune applications.
• Build scientific capability and talent by mentoring Directors, Associate Directors, and scientists; establishing best practices; identifying capability gaps; and leading selected cross-functional initiatives that improve scientific quality, consistency, and speed across Translational Medicine.
• Lead external scientific engagement with investigators and experts in autoimmune disease, immunology, and translational medicine; represent Moderna in scientific collaborations and appropriate external forums; drive high-impact publication strategies; and support evaluation of external technologies, partnerships, and innovation.
• Additional duties as may be assigned from time to time.

Benefits

• Competitive healthcare, plus voluntary benefit programs to support your unique needs
• A holistic approach to well-being, with access to fitness, mindfulness, and mental health support
• Family planning benefits, including fertility, adoption, and surrogacy support
• Generous paid time off, including vacation, volunteer days, sabbatical, global recharge days, and a discretionary year-end shutdown
• Savings and investments to help you plan for the future
• Location-specific perks and extras

What This Job Offers

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