Director, In Vivo Pharmacology

Ferring Pharmaceuticals is a globally recognized, research-driven, biopharmaceutical company with 70 years of history. Headquartered in Switzerland, Ferring is privately owned with over 6000 employees in nearly 60 countries. Within Ferring, the Global Drug Discovery and External Innovation (GDDEI) organization has an aggressive growth agenda to drive scientific excellence and build an early pipeline. The research focus is to discover transformational medicine and advance most promising science, internal or external, in the fields of reproductive medicine & maternal health, uro-oncology, and GI/microbiome.

People Come First at Ferring. The Ferring Philosophy places people at the heart of what we do. This guides our relations with patients, physicians, employees, and other stakeholders. We invite you to share our passion for people and the power of science.

The Ferring Research Institute was established in San Diego, California in 1996. More than 80 people work at its state-of-the-art research facility located in the heart of the Southern California biopharmaceutical community.

Summary:

The Associate Director/Director of In Vivo Pharmacology will lead and mentor a group of scientists responsible for developing and executing in vivo strategies in support of the Reproductive Medicine & Maternal Health, Gastroenterology, Immunology, and Uro-oncology Therapeutic Areas.  The candidate will be part of the Pharmacology leadership within the Lead Generation and Pharmacology Department. 

The qualified candidate is a highly motivated, interactive, and team-oriented individual that possesses the ability to work across a highly matrixed environment to provide technical and scientific in vivo expertise to advance drug discovery programs from target identification/validation to IND-enabling activities

Responsibilities:

• Leadership, management, and mentoring of the in vivo pharmacology group consisting of 10 – 13 members, including vivarium staff
• Development of high quality and reproducible animal models for efficacy and mechanism of action studies of small molecule, peptide, protein, and antibody therapeutics in close collaboration with the Therapeutic Area teams, pharmacology, medicinal chemistry, biotherapeutics, preclinical safety, DMPK, and translational medicine
• Oversight of vivarium management and membership in the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee
• Contribution to pharmacology strategy, vision, and operation
• Contribute to evaluation, optimization, and management of preclinical Contract Research Organizations

Requirements:

• DMV or PhD in Physiology, Pharmacology, Animal Science or related discipline with at least 10 years of Drug Discovery experience, and at least 3 years in a group leadership role
• Strong understanding of development of animal models and general physiology in a drug discovery setting
• Expertise in Inflammatory Bowel Disease or Fertility & Obstetric disorders animal models is preferred.
• Experience managing preclinical CROs
• Experience managing research scientists, including budget and timelines
• Exceptional verbal, presentation, and written communication skills
• Excellent working ability across a highly matrixed environment