We are looking to hire a Senior Vice President – Drug Discovery, a leader who will help our client develop and implement a high-performance drug discovery strategy that meets the company’s long-term goals and objectives, who can lead the drug discovery team and bring innovative products to market.

Our client based in the DACH region develops cancer therapies by reprogramming the cellular protein quality control system. While advancing its internal programs toward clinical development, the company also maintains strategic partnerships to co-create synergies along the drug development pipeline.

The candidate will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of drug discovery, including the identification and validation of new drug targets, the development of novel lead compounds and prodrugs, the design and execution of preclinical studies, and the integration of data from all sources including internal research and external collaborations. The role requires an individual who has demonstrated leadership skills in a drug discovery setting, as well as experience managing complex drug development programs through regulatory approval.

What your main responsibilities will be?

• Lead the drug discovery function in collaboration with colleagues in medicinal chemistry, biophysics, DMPK, toxicology and safety pharmacology
• Oversee the planning, design, and execution of in vitro and in vivo profiling studies
• Proactively identify and troubleshoot issues across multiple projects and lead the drug discovery teams to cross-functional solutions to drive project decision making
• Lead efforts to understand and functionally characterize biological mechanisms of action, develop therapeutic hypotheses, and identify and validate pharmacodynamic and predictive biomarkers
• Represent the drug discovery function to both internal stakeholders and external partners
• Lead productive discussions on key scientific and strategic issues with internal and external colleagues at all levels and across all disciplines
• Contribute to the preparation of high-quality regulatory documents including IND, CTA, and NDA filings
• Contribute to external communication and reporting and provide mentorship to scientific staff across all scientific disciplines

What we are looking for:

• PhD in cancer biology, pharmacology, biochemistry, or a related bioscience discipline
• Demonstrated leadership of a biopharma drug discovery group, with a track record of guiding projects from therapeutic concepts to IND
• Extensive experience across the cancer drug discovery and development pipeline, including target identification, validation, pre-clinical development, and biomarker discovery
• Detailed understanding of the current oncology target space
• Experience with pre-clinical oncology models and integrating ADME, DMPK, PK/PD, toxicology and safety data into ongoing project decision making
• Experience in supervising in-house teams and/or CROs and excellent project management skills.