Principal Translational Scientist & Team Leader, Oncology Biomarkers & Translational Research

Genentech's Translational Medicine Oncology (TM ONC) Department supports the entire R&D portfolio of novel therapies. We develop and implement biomarker strategies to study disease pathways, confirm a therapeutic's mechanism of action, and improve clinical trial efficiency and success. Biomarker scientists within our department are responsible for conducting biomarker discovery, developing biomarker strategies, designing and implementing biomarker assays, and interpreting biomarker results. Additionally, we conduct foundational clinical translational research to study the molecular and cellular pathways driving disease to generate novel target and biomarker approaches. 

We are seeking an exceptional translational scientist to help shape the next generation of precision oncology. This role sits at the intersection of translational biology, emerging profiling technologies, clinical development, and computational science, with a focus on uncovering novel disease biology from large-scale patient datasets and clinical trial biospecimens. As a Principal Scientist, you will play a critical dual role: driving high-impact scientific strategy while leading and growing a dedicated team of translational research scientists.

The successful candidate will design innovative translational research strategies that integrate multimodal molecular profiling, clinical data, and advanced computational approaches to generate actionable biological insights. Working closely with computational biologists, statisticians, and AI/ML scientists, this individual will help identify novel disease states, resistance mechanisms, biomarkers, and patient populations that may inform future oncology treatments.

This role offers a unique opportunity to leverage large-scale patient cohorts, clinical trial biospecimens, and emerging technologies to address previously intractable questions in cancer biology. The successful candidate will play a key role in translating biological questions into fit-for-purpose data generation strategies and partnering across disciplines to transform complex multimodal datasets into insights that influence biomarker strategies, patient stratification, and future therapeutic development.

This role is ideal for a seasoned scientist who is excited by scientific discovery, technology innovation, and the opportunity to combine biology and data science, and team leadership to scale their impact and to advance precision medicine for patients.

Key Responsibilities

• Define the long-term translational research priorities and strategic roadmaps for the group, ensuring alignment with Genentech’s broader oncology R&D portfolio.

• Directly manage, mentor, and develop a high-performing team of translational research scientists, fostering a collaborative culture that bridges wet-lab biology and data science.

• Co-design and oversee translational research strategies that address key biological and clinical questions across oncology programs.

• Leverage large-scale patient cohorts, clinical trial biospecimens, and multimodal datasets to generate molecule-specific, mechanism-specific, and disease-specific insights.

• Identify novel disease states, resistance mechanisms, biomarkers, and patient populations that may inform future oncology treatments.

• Evaluate, champion, and integrate emerging profiling technologies, including genomic, spatial, proteomic, liquid biopsy, single-cell, multimodal, and AI-enabled approaches.

• Guide tumor profiling and assay selection for correlative studies, balancing scientific objectives, sample constraints, technical feasibility, and clinical development needs.

• Lead fit-for-purpose biomarker study design, including cohort selection, assay strategy, benchmarking, quality control, analytical workflows, and data interpretation.

• Partner with biologists, laboratory scientists, computational biologists, statisticians, and AI/ML scientists to integrate data and translate findings into actionable hypotheses.

• Contribute to biomarker plans, translational medicine strategies, study protocols, publications, scientific communications, and external collaborations.

• Communicate scientific insights and strategic recommendations to multidisciplinary teams, clinical teams, and senior stakeholders.

Who You Are

• PhD in Cancer Biology, Molecular Biology, Immunology, Genomics, Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, or a related discipline.

• Postdoctoral training and 3+ years of relevant industry or academic experience in translational onc