Director, Biologics Analytical Characterization and Developability

Job Description

We are on a quest for cures and are committed to be the world’s premier, most research-intensive biopharmaceutical company. Our teams combine leading drug discovery capabilities and world-class R&D with the purpose of turning breakthrough science into life-changing medicines.

We are seeking an exceptional and experienced leader in the role of Director of Biologics Analytical Characterization and Developability in the Protein Sciences Department within the Discovery Biologics at our South San Francisco site.  The Director will be responsible for the leadership of a team of 10+ scientists (group leaders, scientists, contractors) focused on the advanced characterization of biologics (antibodies, bi/multispecifics, ADCs, fusion proteins and other complex modalities) by state-of-the-art biophysical characterization and molecular interactions methods.  In this role, they will drive scientific excellence and innovation as the head of a group responsible for delivering high quality characterization data to advance discovery programs from the high-throughput screening phase to lead candidate selection. The leader will be responsible for driving innovation in biologics developability workflows at our Biologics Developability Center of excellence in South San Francisco in collaboration with the broader Discovery Biologics organization and with downstream organizations at our company.  In addition, they will directly integrate computational and wet-lab researchers with state-of-the-art automation to accelerate the discovery, engineering, and characterization of novel biologics in the pre-IND pipeline and support AI/ML initiatives and the establishment of developability endpoints prediction algorithms. 

The role is a key interface within the global Discovery Biologics network, mass spectrometry scientists, antibody generation groups, protein engineers, protein production scientists, data scientists, as well as downstream development groups and therapy areas within the broader company network.

As a people manager, they will invest in the growth and development of current and future staff, to create a culture of collaboration and accountability to enable shared success. The leader will work closely with their team members to leverage strengths and identify opportunities to continually expand skillsets, leadership, and enterprise thinking.  They will work to support the department’s efforts to recruit diverse and highly skilled key talent to the organization and be a champion for diversity and inclusion.  We recognize that the diversity in our team is our strength, and we are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.  Successful candidates must demonstrate inclusive behaviors in working with a diverse group of researchers to drive our core mission.

What you will do:

• Lead a team of group leaders and scientists focused on protein characterization and developability assessment of   molecules from various biologics modalities using state-of-the art analytical characterization and molecular interactions methods with the goal to identify optimal candidate molecules to progress to development.

• Advance existing capabilities and knowledge with innovative and impactful methods, platform, and workflow improvements.

• As a member of the Protein Sciences LT, work across groups and departments to set and deliver on our strategic goals in scientific excellence, talent development, and pipeline advancement.

• Lead and participate in cross-functional project teams to deliver impactful protein therapeutics from discovery to development.

• Lead pipeline programs in partnership with therapeutic area scientists.

• Actively attract and develop talent, including strategically leveraging diversity to strengthen the team.

• Foster a high-performance culture of collaboration, engagement, self-accountability, and inclusion.

• Effectively partner across multidisciplinary interfaces to achieve organizational objectives.

• Manage priorities, resources, and investments aligned with the Discovery Biologics strategy.

• Stay abreast of external advancements in the relevant scientific fields.

• Promote the external reputation of our company’s Discovery Biologics department.

What you will need to be successful in this role:

Qualifications & Experience

• PhD with 8+ years of substantial industry experience

• Track record in leadership and managerial roles in biologics discovery

• Experience in advancing protein therapeutics through discovery to development.

• Strong presentation and publication record in biologics protein characterization and developability.

• Excellent