Director, Associate Director, Senior Scientist, or Principal Scientist

About Initial Therapeutics

Initial Therapeutics is pursuing a bold and original mission: discovering and developing a new class of small-molecule medicines designed to halt pathogenic protein formation in the earliest stages.  Initial’s approach is unique and starkly differentiated from protein degradation and other interventions that recognize and tackle proteins only after they have been fully formed.

Initial Therapeutics was formed in 2020 and is currently operating in stealth mode in labs in South San Francisco, with a substantial (8- figure) Series A commitment.  Initial is founded by world-renowned scientists who bring relevant expertise and proprietary technology to enable them to address high-confidence, heretofore difficult-to-drug targets in cancer and neurodegeneration.  Screening of proprietary libraries is in progress.

Initial Therapeutics is founder-led and offers a dynamic start-up environment with a close-knit team of highly skilled, mission-driven professionals. We seek colleagues who are inspired to push the boundaries of small molecule discovery using novel approaches and who excel at identifying innovative solutions to challenging problems.

At Initial Therapeutics you’ll find a career where every day brings you adventures, challenges, and breakthroughs.  Join a dynamic, diverse and growing team dedicated to developing transformative therapies that will revolutionize the future of cancer treatment and outcomes. Initial offers a competitive compensation and benefits package.

Position Summary and Scope

The ideal candidate will bring a passion for world class science, a strong work ethic and collaborative spirit with broad experience in Assay Science in support of small molecule drug discovery.  In this role, the candidate will be the principal architect of strategy for developing Critical Path assays to support Hit-to-Lead-to-Candidate small molecule discovery work. The candidate will build and manage an Assay Science team that works in a highly collaborative manner within Initial, with multiple CROs and with a world-class SAB. The successful candidate will have excellent interpersonal and organizational skills and will have significant hands-on experience, with leadership of biochemical and cell-based assay design, development and validation.  

Primary Responsibilities (duties are not limited to the below and will evolve over time in response to business needs)

• Build and manage an Assay Science team that conceives, plans, executes, and interprets data from experiments.  Establish appropriate in vivo tumor xenograft models at CROs.  Provide leadership, supervision and technical guidance/oversight for Research Scientists

• Ensure accurate and consistent recording of experimental methods, materials and results.  Analyze experimental results, form conclusions, and recommend future experiments.  Prepare written reports and presentations summarizing experimental and project status.  Present experimental and project status.  Ensure activities are conducted within internal and external guidelines and regulations.  Prepare manuscripts for publication in peer reviewed journals

• As programs progress, develop and maintain an effective working relationship with clinical laboratory team to allow effective coordinated assay transition from the R&D phase to clinical use.

• Cultivate and foster scientific and technological innovation.  Maintain current knowledge of advances in pertinent scientific fields, as well as knowledge of applicable state and federal regulations germane to molecular and diagnostic laboratories, through attending lectures, seminars, professional conferences.

Qualifications/Skills:

• In-depth knowledge of assay science, spanning biochemical, cell-based and in vivo models of disease.  Depth in oncology is a strong plus.

• Experience managing assay science in support of small molecule Hit to Candidate work.  Utilizes technical knowledge and drug discovery experience to deliver actionable insights to the team. 

• Demonstrated ability to work on complex cross-disciplinary problems where analysis of both quantitative data and of intangible variables has been critical for success.  Exercises independent judgment in developing methods, techniques and evaluation criteria for obtaining results.

• Excellent critical thinking and scientific acumen with a demonstrated ability to analyze, interpret and clearly communicate complex data and the impact to inform program and regulatory strategy

• Excellent interpersonal skills, with ability to interact effectively and work efficiently with people at all levels in an organization. 

• Support the creation and implementation of best practice guidelines, digital tools and infrastructure.  High level of proficiency in PC-based software programs

Education / Experience:

• PhD (or equivalent) in cell biology, cancer biology, immunology, biochemistry, or a related scientific field. 
• Demonstrated experience in successfully managing small molecule drug-discovery projects.
• 10+ years of experience on assay development, validation and transition to a clinical environment, with profound understanding of small molecule oncology research.  3+ years leading scientific teams; in a commercial environment with proven track record.
• Expertise and experience in biochemistry, molecular biology/genomics, and/or immunology assay development, verifiable through patents, publications or description of completed projects.

• Hands-on experience conducting and/or managing in vivo efficacy studies.  Experience with xenograft tumor models is a plus.

• Experience with multi-parametric flow cytometry and general molecular biological techniques including Western blotting, ELISAs, q-PCR, RNASeq etc.
• Substantial technical writing: protocols, study reports, regulatory communications and manuscripts