AIRx, Sr. Director, Nonclinical Safety Lead

By clicking the “Apply” button, I understand that my employment application process with Takeda will commence and that the information I provide in my application will be processed in line with Takeda’s Privacy Notice and Terms of Use.  I further attest that all information I submit in my employment application is true to the best of my knowledge.

Job Description

Takeda Research is constructing a Lab of Tomorrow built on AI, automation, new ways of working, and talent with the singular vision of delivering differentiated medicines to the clinic at speed and cost. To catalyze these efforts, Takeda is creating two complementary units: AI Research Accelerator (AIRx) and Discovery Automation & Robotics (DAR).

AIRx will have a group of a dedicated group of experienced biologic drug hunters with the autonomy of a biotech and the resources of a leading pharmaceutical company. It is designed to incubate the future AI-powered operating models for large molecule discovery and deliver candidates to the clinic at industry leading speed and success rates.

Purpose

In AIRx, every go/no-go decision carries real cost, and the safety call is the one that stops a program or sends it forward. As Nonclinical Safety Lead, you own the safety strategy that supports every candidate in the AIRx portfolio: designing the nonclinical safety package, directing CRO execution with precision, and ensuring that the data generated at CROs is interpretable, AI-ready, and decisive.

It is a scientific strategy role combined with a hands-on project toxicologist function in a unit that moves at biotech speed. You will be embedded in the DMTA cycle from early hit assessment through IND-enabling studies, working alongside medicinal chemists, computational scientists, and biologists to flag liabilities early, design around them fast, and build the nonclinical dossier that gives programs the best possible chance in the clinic.

The right person for this role is a seasoned nonclinical safety expert who is as comfortable directing and critically interpreting study packages as they are challenging a SAR hypothesis on the basis of a structural alert; and who sees AI-enabled data integration not as a future concept but as how they want to work today.

AIRx Leadership Capabilities

• Thrive in an environment with laser focus on delivery of differentiated candidates to the clinic
• Accountable leaders who act with decisive judgment; they show agency, move work forward without waiting to be told, and make sound decisions with urgency
• Builders of momentum, not bureaucracy; they advance programs through expertise, surface the best thinking quickly, and create conditions for decisions
• Generative thinkers with a learning orientation — curious, constructive, truth-seeking. They embody "learn-it-all vs know-it-all", fail fast and learn faster, and create inclusive environments with the psychological safety to surface all contributions
• Systems thinkers who look forward — they see the whole R&D system, anticipate inflection points, and lead through cross-disciplinary integration
• Values-led under pressure — they act in the best interests of patients and Takeda and are always team players
• Change leaders who challenge norms and empower others — they are role models for the culture AIRx is creating; challenging when the norm reduces impact and staying ready for rapid shifts
• Fluent in the hybrid biopharma reality — comfortable at the wet/dry interface of lab science and AI/data/engineering; instinctive about where value inflects across the discovery-to-development continuum
• Externally oriented — they tap into external KOL networks, contribute meaningfully to business development, and monitor the competitive and regulatory landscape to inform decisions
• Deep experts in their domain — with in-depth, current knowledge of their discipline and a restless drive to advance it
• Impactful communicators who create alignment — confident in high-stakes, ambiguous settings; bridging across boundaries and keeping colleagues anchored to the mission

Nonclinical Safety Lead Accountabilities

• Own the nonclinical safety strategy across the AIRx portfolio, including small molecule and biologics projects, from early screening through IND-enabling studies; ensure every program has a clear, risk-proportionate toxicology plan aligned to its clinical hypothesis and regulatory pathway
• Design and oversee CRO- or in-house executed in vitro and in vivo safety studies; write and review study protocols, critically interpret data packages, and determine