Vice President, Translational Science (DMPK)

Certara•UNAVAILABLE, UNAVAILABLE

About The Position

Certara is seeking a Vice President of Translational Science (Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics, DMPK) to lead Simcyp’s Translational Science organization. The role provides scientific leadership, strategic vision, and innovation across the team, shaping the scientific direction of DMPK-driven Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic (PBPK) innovation. It combines scientific excellence, executive leadership, strategic decision-making, and external influence, with a focus on delivering high-impact Model-Informed Drug Development (MIDD) through the Simcyp platform. The position champions translational approaches, including AI/ML and advanced data science, to improve data integration, model translation, predictive performance, and platform evolution. The Vice President sets scientific priorities and directs strategic initiatives; oversees scientific work and Simcyp Simulator regression testing; and guides the development, implementation, validation, release, support, and retirement of scientific platform capabilities in partnership with software development teams. The role also engages clients, prospective clients, regulators, and key opinion leaders; supports workshops and training; and leads and mentors a multidisciplinary DMPK team of approximately 35 scientists. At the executive level, the position contributes to operational management, company policies, and long-term strategy aligned with Board objectives. It holds accountability for Translational Science delivery, including prioritization, resourcing, risk management, and trade-off decisions affecting the Simcyp platform.

Requirements

PhD in Pharmacokinetics, DMPK, Pharmaceutical Sciences, or a related discipline.
10+ years of experience in Pharmacokinetics, DMPK, or Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Extensive experience in translational science, PBPK modelling, and DMPK.
Demonstrated success leading large, highly skilled scientific teams and complex, multi-stakeholder programmes.
Strong record of scientific publications, conference presentations, and external engagement.
Exceptional communication skills and the presence and credibility to operate effectively at executive, regulatory, and client-facing levels.

Nice To Haves

Experience spanning both industry and consultancy environments.
Experience or strong interest in applying AI/ML and advanced analytics to translational science and model-informed drug development.

Responsibilities

Provide scientific leadership and direction for strategic initiatives, set translational science priorities, select scientific approaches, and deliver initiatives while balancing scientific ambition with platform feasibility, timelines, and regulatory expectations.
Oversee, support, and contribute to the design, execution, reporting, and dissemination of scholarly scientific work from the Translational Science in DMPK team.
Champion the integration of AI/ML, real-world data, and advanced analytics to enhance PBPK-based translation.
Present Simcyp translational science outputs at national and international conferences, workshops, and scientific forums.
Hold overall responsibility for scientific regression testing of the Simcyp Simulator, ensuring rigor, quality, and consistency of platform outputs.
Apply DMPK and translational science expertise when supervising implementation of new scientific modules and capabilities within the Simcyp platform.
Partner with software development teams to translate scientific requirements into robust, maintainable, high-performance software solutions.
Provide scientific leadership across the Simcyp platform lifecycle, including prioritization, development, validation, release, post-release support, and strategic retirement of capabilities.
Guide the Translational Science team in creating, maintaining, implementing, and testing scientific modules and platform components.
Oversee the development, communication, and presentation of strategic initiatives, ensuring transparency, scientific clarity, and alignment with long-term platform and company strategy.
Support preparation and delivery of MIDD workshops, focused training, and capability-building activities related to the Simcyp platform; lead workshops as required.
Visit client and prospective client organizations to advise on optimal use of Simcyp, integration of DMPK knowledge, and best practices in translational modelling.
Engage with regulatory agencies and support platform qualification and regulatory science initiatives.
Lead, manage, and mentor a multidisciplinary Translational Science DMPK team of approximately 35 scientists, fostering scientific excellence, collaboration, innovation, and continuous professional development.
Set priorities, expectations, and development plans aligned with corporate and scientific objectives.
Contribute to operational management decisions, company policies, and long-term strategy in alignment with Board objectives.
Act as a key scientific interface with key opinion leaders and ensure external scientific insight informs internal priorities, platform evolution, and long-term strategy.
Hold executive accountability for Translational Science delivery, including prioritization, resourcing, risk management, and trade-off decisions impacting the Simcyp platform.