VP Drug Discovery and Development

IMIDomics, Inc. is a privately held biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of new medicines for the treatment of immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs). IMIDomics’ Precision Discovery Platform combines and analyzes clinical, epidemiologic, and biomolecular data to uncover new insights about IMIDs including rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, psoriatic arthritis, ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease and systemic lupus erythematosus. IMIDomics utilizes a proprietary digital bioinformatics portal that integrates and interrogates data to generate novel insights into disease mechanisms, including identification of potential new drug targets. 

The company, headquartered in San Francisco, California, and with a Permanent Establishment in Barcelona, Spain, intends to nominate such targets for drug discovery and is building a team and capability to perform preclinical development through to preclinical proof of concept, and in some cases through first-in-human studies. We are seeking a drug discovery leader, at the Vice President level, with experience and capability to rapidly drive our drug discovery and preclinical development efforts. This person must be an outstanding individual who is driven to develop meaningful new medicines to improve the condition of patients in need.

The individual will work together with our multidisciplinary team of bioinformaticians, data scientists, geneticists, molecular biologists, clinicians and seasoned business executives.

Who will love this job:

An energetic drug discovery and translation leader who is motivated by the challenge of discovering and developing new therapeutics to treat patients with serious inflammatory disease.  This person enjoys developing and implementing drug discovery and preclinical development strategy, leading a mix of internal and external resources to produce therapeutic candidates of varying formats (small molecules, biologics, etc.).  The VP should have a passion for immunology and be motivated to work with our discovery team to select appropriate targets, consider factors such as patient need, therapeutic landscape, druggability of targets, development of TPPs and definition of translational milestones, and lead the discovery and development of drugs against these selected targets.  The VP should be expert in leading such activities at CROs (including engagement, study design development, monitoring, and timely delivery of study results).

What you will do:

• Work as a team player with IMIDomics senior leaders and discovery team to identify appropriate therapeutic targets across the IMID space.
• Develop and lead the execution of drug discovery and preclinical development programs from target nomination to preclinical and potentially first-in-human clinical POC.  This includes establishment of TPPs and plans (including definition and implementation of translational criteria for each program, and success milestones).
• Provide scientific leadership in the areas of IMIDs from a drug discovery and development point of view, including selection and prioritization of therapeutic target opportunities that are nominated for IMIDomics Precision Discovery platform.
• Build an internal preclinical development capability (team, resources, networks, budgets, etc.) in which leadership of projects is maintained internally, and external services and capabilities are used to drive projects forward.  The goal is to develop an effective, efficient and successful but lean infrastructure.
• Interact with clinical colleagues to define and validate translational biomarker approaches.  Lead communications with regulatory bodies as may be necessary to advance discovery and development programs.
• Stay informed on trends and emerging developments regarding R&D in immunology and inflammatory diseases. 

What you should have:

• Ph.D., M.D./Ph.D. or similar, with training or practical experience in discovery and preclinical development of drug candidates, most preferably those that modulate immune system/inflammatory diseases.
• 10+ years of experience in the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industries, accountable for building a drug discovery, preclinical, and translational research capability.
• Experience with development strategies for small molecules and biologics and possibly other drug formats. 
• Understands the use of patient derived clinical, epidemiological and molecular data and the application of such data to nominate targets and inform drug discovery strategy.
• Proven ability to effectively manage, motivate and inspire a cross-functional group of preclinical, and translational scientists.
• Proven ability to identify, negotiate, establish and manage capabilities from service providers and CROs.
• Demonstrated success in managing internal and partnered projects.
• Demonstrated success in managing and capitalizing on key opinion leaders and investigators.
• Passion about working in early-stage companies and comfortable in lean organizations.
• Strong leadership, interpersonal, presentation, and communications skills (written and verbal) to effectively address all levels within an organization.  Spanish fluency is a plus.