Job Description
Senior Director, Discovery Biology
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Location: Boston/Cambridge, MA
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Salary: $212,000–$333,190/year + performance incentives
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Industry: Pharmaceutical / Biotechnology
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A senior scientific leadership opportunity is available for an experienced drug discovery professional to lead discovery biology strategy within an AI-enabled research environment. The role will establish the biological and translational foundation for programs, from target validation through clinical hypothesis, while integrating experimental biology with advanced data and AI-driven drug discovery approaches.
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Key Responsibilities
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- Lead disease biology and target validation strategy across a portfolio of discovery programs
- Establish mechanistic rationale, differentiation and clinical relevance for therapeutic programs
- Define translational biomarker strategies to support program progression and go/no-go decisions
- Design and oversee external CRO biology programs, including in vitro and in vivo studies
- Critically evaluate scientific data and ensure study outputs are decision-ready
- Integrate biology data into AI-enabled drug discovery and design-make-test-analyze (DMTA) workflows
- Collaborate with medicinal chemistry, computational chemistry, DMPK, safety and structural biology teams
- Challenge scientific assumptions and ensure biological rigor throughout program development
- Represent biology strategy at governance and portfolio review forums
- Contribute to IND-enabling biology packages and regulatory development activities
- Monitor developments in disease biology and competitive research to inform portfolio strategy
- Help establish new operating models for AI-enabled discovery and research automation
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Requirements
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- PhD in Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, Pharmacology or a closely related scientific discipline
- 12–15+ years of drug discovery experience
- Strong track record in target validation and disease biology
- Experience contributing to IND filings and IND-enabling biology packages
- Proven experience managing and overseeing external CRO biology programs
- Ability to connect target biology with translational strategy and clinical hypotheses
- Experience working with AI/ML-enabled data integration and large, multi-source datasets
- Expertise in at least one relevant therapeutic area
- Strong cross-functional leadership and collaboration skills
- Ability to operate effectively within a lean, fast-paced and highly innovative research environment
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Compensation: $212,000–$333,190 base salary, plus potential short- and/or long-term incentives and comprehensive benefits.