VP, US/Ireland Research

Company Information

Legend Biotech is a global biotechnology company dedicated to treating, and one day curing, life-threatening diseases. Headquartered in Somerset, New Jersey, we are developing advanced cell therapies across a diverse array of technology platforms, including autologous and allogenic chimeric antigen receptor T-cell and natural killer (NK) cell-based immunotherapy. 

Legend Biotech entered into a global collaboration agreement with Janssen, one of the pharmaceutical companies of Johnson & Johnson, to jointly develop and commercialize ciltacabtagene autolecuel (cilta-cel) in 2017. Our strategic partnership is designed to combine the strengths and expertise of both companies to advance the promise of an immunotherapy in the treatment of multiple myeloma.

Legend Biotech is seeking VP, US/Ireland Research as part of the R&D team based in Somerset, New Jersey. 

Responsibilities, include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Leads talented teams to develop novel cell therapy technologies and platforms, optimize preclinical process development, and deliver an innovative and sustainable autologous and allogeneic cell therapy pipeline from inception to preclinical development.
• Understands/Defines key technology hurdles in cell therapies (e.g. target selectivity and expression heterogeneity, host vs. graft reactions), develop innovative approaches to overcome these hurdles, and build differentiated technology platforms to ensure our long term leadership position.
• Guides department staff and project teams to develop scientific and technological blueprints that define key go/no-go decision points and resources according to portfolio priorities.
• Directs research projects with deep knowledge and scientific judgment to focus on the critical areas of inquiry and to maintain the highest standard of scientific and technical rigor. Demonstrates keen intellect for integrating novel science and emerging technologies at the intersection of immunology, cancer biology, cell engineering, and process development.
• Build strong collaboration with China Research Aligns and coordinates cross-functional and cross-site activities to ensure resource efficiency and timely delivery.
• Makes strategic decisions in consultation with key senior leaders to advance research projects from target selection to IND.
• Supports the evaluation and review of projects across the entire portfolio and serves as a key leader in scientific governance bodies.
• Expands the cutting-edge expertise and capacity, develops novel platforms, and grows the depth of knowledge in cell therapy research development.
• Evaluates preclinical/clinical-stage licensing and collaboration
• Ensures the success of key external collaborations by developing focused research plan and providing appropriate collaborative support.
• Drive expansion of US Research team by recruit top Mentors/Develops internal talent, providing performance feedback, training opportunities, and exposure to new assignments.
• Builds a culture of scientific excellence, teamwork, and Optimize organization structure for clarity, collaboration, and effectiveness.

Qualifications:

• PhD or MD/PhD with 10+ years of directly relevant pharmaceutical industry experience in immune oncology, immunology, and/or cell therapy.
• A deep scientist with broad knowledge in immunology and/or oncology and extensive working experience in in vitro/ex vivo/in vivo T cell and/or NK biology, as evidenced by a strong publication and patent records.
• An accomplished drug hunter in biologics and/or cell therapy discovery and early development, as demonstrated by a strong track record of advancing programs to A deep understanding of pre-clinical, clinical regulatory requirements, and corresponding translational endpoints to enable human studies.
• An experienced organizational leader with ability to think strategically, develop tactic plan and aggressively execute, to nurture and develop talents, and to effectively collaborate across functions and across sites with a track record of delivering project milestones within budget and

Skills and Abilities:

• A strong mindset of “can-do” and “will-deliver” with ability to think and create out of
• A strong drive in innovation with a purpose while maintaining the highest scientific rigor
• Excellent communication, management, and interpersonal
• Ability to address complex scientific problems with practical research plan and efficiently execute and A proven record of making critical scientific decisions and demonstration of a thoughtful and decisive approach.
• Strong self-motivation, high integrity, clear tr