Scientific Fellow (Director), Immunology

Key Responsibilities

Program team leadership: 

• Create and update research operating plans, including resource planning, budget management, risk assessment and contingency planning for your programs 

• Secure cross-functional alignment and organizational support for program plans 

• Lead multidisciplinary program teams and be accountable for meeting program goals, milestones and timelines 

• Define stage-gate success criteria and timelines for your programs, recommend resource allocation and go/no-go decisions to leadership  

• Manage CRO partnerships across all biology activities in support of your programs, including study design, execution, data quality and delivery to project teams 

Strategic alignment and influence: 

• Shape the validation of targets and the scientific strategy for the immunology portfolio, advising leadership on opportunities and trade-offs  

• Engage key opinion leaders and external experts to pressure-test program hypotheses, align priorities with leadership and inform business and partnering decisions 

• Present program progress to senior leadership, and represent programs to prospective partners and at scientific conferences 

Hands-on lab science: 

• Design and oversee hit finding campaigns (e.g., HTS and DEL), including hit triage and confirmation 

• Build and transfer fit-for-purpose assay cascades (biochemical, biophysical, cellular and whole blood) that support hit triage, SAR, target engagement and mechanism of action, to team members in-house and at CROs 

• Design and run in vitro pharmacology studies using primary human immune cells, whole blood and, where available, patient-derived samples, and design and oversee in vivo pharmacology and PK/PD studies in models of inflammation and autoimmunity, to link compound exposure to immune-cell function and disease-relevant outcomes 

• Contribute to the development and execution of translational biology biomarker strategies 

Mentoring and capability building: 

• Build new in-house capabilities and technologies (e.g., assay platforms, human-cell and whole-blood systems) that serve multiple programs and keep PsiThera at the leading edge 

• Evaluate emerging technologies, CROs and academic or industry collaborations 

• Mentor scientists across the organization and constructively challenge scientific thinking 

Qualifications

Required Qualifications: 

• PhD in Immunology, Molecular and Cellular Biology, or a related field with 12+ years of biotech or pharma drug discovery experience, or an MS with 16+ years of equivalent experience 

• Track record of advancing small molecules from hit identification to DC selection as project team leader or lead biologist 

• Hands-on experience in hit finding, including screening assay development, HTS or DEL campaigns, and hit triage and confirmation 

• Prior people management experience and demonstrated leadership of cross-functional project teams or workstreams 

• Hands-on expertise with primary human immune cells and whole blood, and in building assay cascades (biochemical, biophysical, cellular) for screening, SAR and mechanism-of-action studies 

• Broad knowledge of in vitro and in vivo models of inflammation and autoimmunity, with experience designing and interpreting in vivo pharmacology and PK/PD studies 

• Experience managing CRO collaborations 

• Scientific achievement shown through peer-reviewed publications and/or patents 

• Strong scientific rigor in generating, analyzing and presenting data to drive program decisions 

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with scientific, executive and partner audiences 

Preferred Qualifications: 

• Experience across multiple target classes and therapeutic areas 

• Experience working with clinical teams on translational research or biomarker strategy 

• Experience leading programs through IND submission 

• Experience in a small or growing biotech environment