Director, Target Profiling, Translational Research

The Role:

Moderna is pioneering the development of mRNA-based cancer vaccines and therapeutics, and we are seeking a Director of Target Profiling to focus on forward translation to stratify and/or identify patients for early clinical trials.  This role is critical in ensuring an efficient and seamless transition between preclinical research and clinical development.  In this role, you will lead a focused research team to envision, develop and implement integrated approaches to develop precision patient profiling methodologies, focusing on stage-appropriate companion diagnostics (CDx), biomarkers for disease monitoring, patient stratification, and assay development. Your work will enable informed product strategy decisions such as tumor-associated antigen (TAA) selection, indication prioritization, and disease tracking. By leveraging advanced technologies like flow cytometry, ctDNA sequencing, MRD assessments, and protein-based assays, you will help identify the right patients for therapeutic interventions, driving transformational drug development in the emerging oncology and autoimmune therapeutics pipelines.

Here’s What You’ll Do:

• Develop and validate cutting-edge methodologies, including ctDNA, MRD, and protein-based assays, to monitor disease progression and therapeutic efficacy in a variety of clinical settings and disease indications.

• Lead the development of stage-appropriate CDx assays to enable precision patient profiling and inform strategies for therapeutic intervention.

• Manage the implementation of flow cytometry and other advanced profiling techniques to characterize and/or stratify patient populations effectively.

• Collaborate with Preclinical Program teams, Translational Medicine and Clinical Biomarker teams to define and implement comprehensive translational strategies to drive programs from concept to clinic.

• Stay at the forefront of scientific and technological advancements in precision targeting and companion diagnostics.

• Contribute to the broader translational research team strategy, fostering innovation and excellence.

• Oversee relationships with CROs and internal labs to ensure the timely completion of assay development, qualification, and validation studies, delivering high-quality data for translational research projects.

• Mentor and develop junior scientists within the translational research team, fostering a culture of scientific excellence and continuous learning.

• Act as a scientific liaison and thought partner for key internal and external collaborators, including development and regulatory colleagues, academic institutions, and industry collaborators in the oncology space.

• Contribute to the preparation of regulatory submissions, scientific publications, and presentations, effectively communicating translational research outcomes.

Here’s What You’ll Need:

Education:

• Ph.D. in a relevant scientific discipline (e.g., oncology, immunology, cancer biology, immune-oncology) with a minimum of 10 years of experience in translational research within the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industry, preferably in immune-oncology or autoimmune therapeutic areas.

• Proven expertise in developing and validating CDx assays and disease monitoring tools.

Experience:

• therapeutic development strategies.

• Strong background in developing flow cytometry, ctDNA sequencing, MRD methodologies, and protein-based assays to inform clinical development.

• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with experience working in cross-functional teams.

• A results-driven mindset, capable of thriving in a fast-paced, innovative environment.

• A passion for advancing precision medicine to improve outcomes for patients

• Demonstrated ability to innovate translational approaches for novel therapeutic concepts or modalities.

• Experience with regulatory submissions and interactions with health authorities is highly desirable.

• Demonstrated success in developing and integrating companion diagnostics into

• Excellent project management and organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple cancer vaccine projects simultaneously.

• Strong leadership and interpersonal skills, with the ability to influence and lead cross-functional teams.

• Demonstrated proficiency in effectively managing and developing direct reports

• Exceptional communication skills, both written and verbal, with the ability to effectively convey complex scientific information related to cancer vaccines to a variety of audiences.

• A strong publication record in peer-reviewed journals is preferred