Associate Director, Research Project Management – Biologics

About Xaira Therapeutics

Xaira is an innovative biotech startup focused on leveraging AI to transform drug discovery and development. The company is leading the development of generative AI models to design protein and antibody therapeutics, enabling the creation of medicines against historically hard-to-drug molecular targets. It is also developing foundation models for biology and disease to enable better target elucidation and patient stratification. Collectively, these technologies aim to continually enable the identification of novel therapies and to improve success in drug development. Xaira is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, and London.

About the Role

We are seeking a highly skilled and proactive Associate Director, Research Project Manager to oversee the planning and execution of biologics projects from early-stage research through IND submission. The ideal candidate will bring deep expertise in project management tools and practices, and will play a critical role in driving task-level execution, tracking progress, and ensuring alignment across cross-functional teams. This individual will be instrumental in managing and accelerating timelines, coordinating deliverables, and supporting scientific leads in moving projects forward with efficiency and precision. 

Key Responsibilities

Program Leadership, Planning & Execution

• Serve as the primary project manager for biologics R&D initiatives, ensuring day-to-day execution from early discovery through IND-enabling studies.
• Build and actively maintain detailed and integrated program timelines, including critical path identification, milestone tracking, and scenario planning with clear milestones, dependencies, and deliverables.
• Partner with program leads and functional stakeholders to define and track key deliverables and progress across teams, ensuring alignment of scope, timelines and priorities.
  
  

Milestone Management & Decision Support

• Collaborate with scientific teams to define key project milestones, decisional experiments and translate into actionable, resource-information timelines.
• Coordinate and facilitate planning and documentation of decisive experiments, and update project plans based on results and next steps.
• Support informed decision-making by compiling relevant data, timelines, risks, and trade-offs.
  
  

Cross-Functional Project Coordination

• Facilitate cross-functional collaboration across research to ensure effective communication and documentation of decisions, alignment of priorities  and timelines.
• Schedule and run cross-functional meetings, ensuring clear agendas, effective documentation, and follow-up on action items.
• Monitor interdependencies across functions and proactively identify, flag and resolve conflicts across workstreams.
  
  

Operational Support & Project Monitoring

• Use expert-level proficiency in project management tools (e.g., Smartsheet, MS Project) to manage task assignments, track progress, and share updates with team members, driving efficiency and transparency across teams.
• Analyze and report regularly on project status, risks, and mitigation strategies to internal stakeholders and functional leaders.
• Identify operational challenges and recommend improvements to enhance efficiency and coordination.

Resource Coordination & Timeline Scenarios

• Work closely with functional and team leads to understand resourcing needs, identify gaps and timeline impacts.
• Develop scenario plans for critical path development decisions to support contingency and investment planning to address potential delays, bottlenecks, or shifts in scope.

Qualifications

• Advanced degree (MS, PhD, or equivalent) in life sciences or a related field strongly preferred.
• Minimum of 8+ years of project/program management experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, with a focus on biologics.
• Proven track record of managing programs from research through IND filing.
• Deep understanding of biologics R&D processes, including nonclinical, CMC, and regulatory components.
• Strong analytical, planning, and organizational skills; able to translate complex scientific ideas into clear plans.
• Excellent communication, time management collaboration, and stakeholder management skills.
• Proficiency in project management software tools and methodologies; PMP certification a plus.
• Please note that this position will be required to be on-site in the SSF/Brisbane office. Remote candidates will not be considered.