Vice President, Therapeutics Immunology

ModernaTX • Cambridge, MA

12d • $272,200 - $490,100 • Onsite

About The Position

Moderna is seeking a senior scientific leader to lead its Therapeutics Immunology organization and develop and drive scientific strategy for the immunology mRNA portfolio. Reporting to the Chief Scientific Officer, Therapeutics, the Vice President will build differentiated T cell receptor (TCR) capabilities and advance immunology programs from discovery through preclinical development, while influencing broader portfolio and technology decisions. The role combines deep immunology expertise with Moderna’s mRNA, delivery, protein engineering, and computational platforms to develop medicines addressing the biology of immune-mediated disease.

The leader will oversee multidisciplinary teams across T cell biology, immune repertoire and TCR discovery, functional immunology, protein and antibody engineering, and preclinical research. As a senior member of Research, they will collaborate with Bioinformatics / AI, Platform Science, Nonclinical Development, Clinical Development, Translational Medicine, CMC Development, Regulatory, and R&D Strategy teams to shape product concepts and modalities, define therapeutic hypotheses, select candidates, and guide programs toward the clinic. The role also represents Moderna externally, develops collaborations, and manages the function’s budget, headcount, technology investments, and portfolio commitments.

The position is 100% onsite. Moderna describes its workplace as smoke-free, alcohol-free, and drug-free. The salary range is $272,200 to $490,100, with possible eligibility for an annual discretionary bonus, other incentive compensation, or an equity award, subject to plan criteria and individual performance.

Requirements

• PhD, MD, or MD/PhD in immunology, cell biology, molecular biology, or a related discipline, with deep training in T cell immunology.
• At least 15 years of relevant post-terminal-degree experience in biotechnology, pharmaceutical research, or an equivalent translational research setting.
• At least 5 years leading multidisciplinary scientific teams and leaders.
• Internationally recognized expertise in human T cell biology, including TCR peptide-MHC biology, antigen-specific Treg responses, immune tolerance, and autoimmune disease mechanisms.
• Record of advancing therapeutic programs from discovery through development candidate nomination and preclinical development; experience supporting an IND or early clinical development is required.
• Demonstrated ability to build or scale a discovery platform, functional area, or research organization and convert platform capabilities into therapeutic programs.
• Expertise in TCR discovery, repertoire analysis, antigen-specific T cell identification, functional screening, and experimental and computational approaches to assess TCR specificity and cross-reactivity.
• Strong working knowledge of therapeutic protein or receptor engineering, developability, in vitro and in vivo pharmacology, translational biomarkers, and nonclinical safety considerations.
• Substantial experience in autoimmune or inflammatory disease research, including use of human data and disease-relevant models to prioritize targets and evaluate mechanisms.
• Influential scientific contributions demonstrated through therapeutic programs, publications, patents, invited presentations, or implementation of important discovery technologies.
• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills and ability to translate complex science into strategic choices, make portfolio decisions under uncertainty, and align scientific teams, senior executives, and external partners.
• Ability to operate effectively amid ambiguity, challenge assumptions, invite candid debate, and make high-quality decisions without perfect information.
• Exceptional urgency and accountability, with the ability to set ambitious goals, focus teams on high-value work, remove barriers, and maintain scientific rigor.
• Ability to take thoughtful risks, pursue bold hypotheses, design decisive experiments, learn from setbacks, and change course based on evidence.
• Enterprise-minded, low-ego collaboration skills, including the ability to build trust, develop leaders, and unite diverse disciplines.

Nice To Haves

• Experience developing TCR-based therapeutics, including TCR-T, soluble TCRs, TCR engagers, TCR-directed antibodies, or in vivo immune-cell reprogramming.
• Experience building integrated workflows across single-cell profiling, TCR sequencing, peptide-MHC technologies, functional assays, display-based engineering, biophysical characterization, and computational protein design.
• Experience with tolerance biology, pathogenic T cell depletion or modulation, regulatory T cell approaches, immune reset strategies, or related autoimmune disease mechanisms.
• Experience using high-dimensional human datasets and AI or machine-learning approaches to improve target selection, molecular design, or patient stratification.
• Experience contributing to regulatory interactions and clinical development decisions for immune-modulating therapeutics.

Responsibilities

• Set and execute scientific strategy for the mRNA therapeutics immunology pipeline, prioritizing autoimmune disease, TCR-based medicines, and immune-modulating therapeutics.
• Oversee internal TCR capabilities, including TCR deconvolution and an end-to-end TCR discovery and engineering engine.
• Lead autoimmune research programs from concept and target/disease hypotheses through lead generation, candidate selection, pharmacology, translational strategy, and preclinical development.
• Establish decision criteria for efficacy, selectivity, cross-reactivity, developability, manufacturability, and translational relevance across immune-mediated mRNA modalities, including T cell engagers and in vivo cell therapy.
• Translate patient samples, single-cell and immune-repertoire data, human genetics, functional genomics, and disease-model insights into therapeutic concepts.
• Partner with mRNA science, lipid nanoparticle delivery, protein engineering, structural biology, computational biology, and AI teams to design differentiated medicines.
• Partner with Clinical Development on mechanism-based development plans, biomarkers, patient selection, clinical pharmacology hypotheses, proof-of-mechanism studies, and interpretation of clinical data.
• Represent therapeutics immunology and autoimmune programs in senior cross-functional forums and integrate their priorities with enterprise portfolio decisions.
• Present recommendations, identify scientific and execution risks, and make evidence-based portfolio and resource decisions with senior Research and Development leaders and Executive Committee members.
• Lead the organization through senior scientific and functional leaders; set expectations; recruit, develop, and retain a multidisciplinary team; and establish succession and development plans.
• Promote scientific rigor, candid debate, reproducibility, and timely delivery.
• Represent Moderna externally and establish collaborations with academic investigators, biotech and pharmaceutical companies, CROs, and technology providers.
• Evaluate partnership and licensing opportunities, and maintain an external scientific presence through publications, conferences, advisory relationships, and engagement with immunology leaders.
• Manage the function’s budget, headcount, technology investments, and portfolio commitments in alignment with Research priorities.

Benefits

• Competitive healthcare and voluntary benefit programs.
• 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 investment programs.
• Location-specific perks and extras.
• Possible eligibility for an annual discretionary bonus, other incentive compensation, or an equity award, subject to plan eligibility criteria and individual performance.

What This Job Offers

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