Director, Inflammatory Disease Research

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Job Description

Objective / Purpose:

The GI2-Drug Discovery Unit at Takeda is building a new team of experienced, innovative and collaborative drug discovery scientists to build an industry-leading portfolio of drugs for a range of inflammatory diseases with high unmet medical.

We are seeking an experienced research scientist and drug hunter to lead biology and cross-functional drug discovery teams focused on inflammatory and autoimmune disease.

The Director Inflammatory Disease Research will:

• Be responsible for driving internal and external partnered research from new target identification, and technology platform development through early clinical proof-of-concept, to create therapeutic opportunities for patients with Inflammatory diseases.
• Recruit, retain, and develop a world class, highly innovative Inflammation research group
• Be a strong scientific thinker with significant experience leading discovery and development of therapies for inflammatory diseases
• Lead the identification of novel innovative inflammation drug discovery and developmental science through the preclinical pipeline in support of candidate selection, as a key part of this role
• Be accountable for defining and alignment on the preclinical and early clinical inflammation disease research elements for one or more drug discovery projects in partnership with other research leaders
• Interface with the business development group and review innovative external opportunities
• Help maintain the Takeda culture that promotes creativity, open communication, collaboration, collegiality, and a high sense of urgency. Maintain the highest quality of scientific foundations of the company’s drug discovery process.

Accountabilities:                                                                                                                 

• Lead research programs in collaboration with internal and external partners focused on the development of novel drug candidates for the treatment of inflammatory disease
• Have extensive experience developing and/or evaluating novel small molecule, biologic or nucleic acid therapeutics
• Support, evaluate and/or identify business development opportunities to enhance project and/or pipeline progression
• Be a highly collaborative and energetic scientist with superior communication skills, who can balance multiple, collaborative projects and act as senior scientific consultant to and leader of early-stage matrix project teams
• Invests time in helping others to enhance their skills and perform at a higher level.
• Build strong relationships and collaborate effectively with other interfacing Takeda functions.

Education & Competencies (Technical and Behavioral):

• PhD degree in Immunology or a closely related discipline with 10+ years’ experience
• 7 years of Industry experience required
• 7 years of managerial experience required

Desired technical skills

• Knowledgeable and experienced in all aspects drug discovery and development for Inflammatory or Autoimmune diseases through to POC, including contributing to regulatory documentation
• Experienced with validation of drug targets and the exploratory drug development