Associate Director Biologics Project Team Leader siRNA

Job Description Summary

Position onsite in Cambridge or San Diego

The Biologics Research Center (BRC) is accommodated within the BR. BRC, in collaboration with the disease areas (DA) and technical expert groups, builds the future biologics therapy pipeline of Novartis through the discovery and creation of new antibody, protein, nucleic acid and virus-based molecules.

We are seeking a highly motivated scientist and leader to join the Project and Portfolio Management group within Biologics Research Center (BRC) at our site in Cambridge or San Diego. We are looking for experience in early research project leadership in the field of siRNA therapeutics, for treatment of various diseases in NS, CVM and other fields. Our group is driving successful execution of a wide range of traditional biologics projects, including cell and gene therapies and siRNA therapies. This starts with early strategic and operational discussions on therapeutic concept and drug candidate generation, assembly of internal teams and execution of desired strategy, up to technical leadership of early process development and the developability assessment of candidate compounds. You will be reporting to the Head of BRC’s Project and Portfolio Management.

 

Job Description

What you’ll be doing (key responsibilities, but not limited to):

• Work collaboratively with cross-functional and multidisciplinary teams, spanning multiple NVS global sites to discover and develop efficient siRNA-based therapies.
• Co-lead projects with DA project lead; formulate and execute on project strategy, manage interfaces with DAs, including timelines, priority, board presentations.
• Build and lead internal BRC teams of experimental scientists. Seek technical and operational input from key BRC / BR / Novartis stakeholders to build the project execution plan.
• Lead BRC internal project meetings. Collect and interprets data to advance project, adapts strategy, and addresses the right scientific questions. Ensure team discussions and decisions are summarized in minutes. Ensure that key milestones and go / no go criteria are data driven and clearly defined. Own quality of project information and make sure project information is accurate and included in the system(s) in a timely matter.
• Guide projects with respect to biotherapeutic approaches for discovery, formats, modalities and technologies, and leads corresponding efforts. Lead developability assessment, manufacturing cell line development and early process development. Track and oversee projects by maintaining an overview of the project goals, activities and commitments, and timelines of project teams, in line with strategic priorities. Manage and optimize project plans and resource assignments with the aim to manage/mitigate risks.
• Aligns with BRC LT and BRC DA rep on project strategy and resourcing. Regular project/portfolio updates to BRC LT.
• Represent BRC in and actively contribute to BR core project team. Represent BRC in TRD CMC sub-team up to Gate 2. Manages interfaces to TRD TPLs, BRC and EPD LFs on aspects of project management (timelines, strategy, priority). Conducts planning and resource alignments (e.g. from final vector onwards).
• Manages and communicates project status, issues, and options for resolution to ensure optimal and timely information flow to all stakeholders (BR and TRD). 
• Foster effective, proactive and open communication within and across project teams, build trust among team members to achieve transparency and clarity of program goals, progress and issues. Mentor less experienced team members.
• Contribute to vendor/CRO evaluations, coordination of outsourcing requests, budget monitoring and communication, evaluation of external collaborations and due diligence.
• Ensure best practices, knowledge exchange and continuous mentoring and training of our team members.

Minimum requirements:

• PhD with a strong background in Biotherapeutics or siRNA.
• 5+ years of relevant biotech/pharma experience, including focus on biotherapeutic/ siRNA therapeutic design, production, characterization and delivery.
• Previous track record of success in leadership position, working with international and multidisciplinary drug development teams.
• Ambitious, yet highly collaborative and fully committed to team’s and project success.
• Result- and quality oriented. Able to deal with conflicting interests and willing to make compromises to ensure project progress.
• Excellent project management skills, organizational and team management skills, in