Director -In Vivo Pharmacology

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:

Initial Therapeutics is seeking a an experienced, highly motivated In Vivo Pharmacologist to lead and grow a portfolio-wide in vivo studies and to enable oncology discovery pipelines. The successful candidate will be expected to participate in multidisciplinary drug discovery teams, to develop and execute robust in vivo pharmacology studies, through external CROs, to support oncology R&D. The ideal candidate must be independently driven, passionate, innovative, an excellent team player, and committed to high-quality data to drive programs forward with scientific excellence and urgency.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Serve as a function lead of pharmacology to develop the in vivo pharmacology strategy for oncology programs to enable effective lead identification, characterization, and optimization. Leveraging CROs, negotiating budgets, overseeing the in-life studies, and delivering data on small molecule tolerability, PK, PD, and efficacy relationships in CDX and PDX models. Serve as a pharmacology expert to support translational research objectives including target engagement, biomarker discovery and regulation, indication expansion, mechanisms for drug safety and resistance, and patient stratification for clinical and pre-clinical stage programs.    Proactively recognize and solve technical and scientific issues to assure high-quality data delivery in a timely manner. Serve as a point contact to engage and ensure the success of collaborations across internal and external scientific research. Contribute to authorship of documents supporting IND, clinical trials, and scientific manuscripts when needed. Work with the discovery leadership to allocate an appropriate budget for the timely achievement of company goals. Foster a science-driven, goal-oriented culture that values innovation, teamwork, agility, transparency, accountability, and empowerment. Stay up to date on emerging data and current trends in oncology research to support oncology pipelines. Participate with other function leaders to provide input on the effectiveness and development of company operational policies and procedures. Conduct scientific presentations to senior management, project teams, and internal and external collaborations. Maintain laboratory records in a complete, consistent, and concise manner in accordance with company intellectual property policies and practices.

Qualifications/Skills:

• Proven strong track record and expertise with in vivo models of oncology in a drug discovery setting including PK, tolerability, PD, and efficacy relationships in CDX and PDX for IND filing and clinical research.  Excellent problem-solving ability, drive for results, and attention to detail is critical, as well as the ability to communicate complex issues in a simple way and to orchestrate plans to resolve issues and mitigate risks. Demonstrated ability to leverage the knowledge of biological mechanisms towards novel experimental design, and translate strategy into action while employing strong consensus-building skills. Excellent interpersonal and analytic skills, high ethical standards, and outstanding written and verbal communication skills to communicate clearly and effectively with management and CROs. Experience with developing exposure-response relationships, all aspects of pharmacology/toxicology for small molecule targeted therapies. Strong reasoning ability in the identification of problems and the ability to draw conclusions and make responsible decisions in a team-based drug discovery and development environment. The ability to utilize and/or develop connections within the scientific community and utilize these resources in the resolution of issues. Strong interpersonal, influencing and collaboration skills to work in a team-oriented environment to build strong relationships with cross-function leader and peers to enable higher performance. Learns fast, grasps organizational priorities, and can change course quickly where indicated. Strong translational research expertise in the field of oncology and ribosomal biology is a plus. Excellent project management and organization skills with the ability to effectively manage CROs and to facilitate interactions with academic labs and companies to ensure project progression. Makes effective and persuasive presentations on sensitive or complex topics to senior management, external customers, collaborators, and public groups.

Key leadership competencies:

• Highly self-motivated, dedicated, proactive, and organized with strong management and presentation skills. Foster effective communications between cross-functional teams and to support the senior leadership. Directs and controls the activities of one or more functional areas, or groups with overall responsibility for the direction of those assigned areas. Has overall responsibility for planning and implementing budget.

Education / Experience:

• An Ph.D. in pharmacology or related fields with a minimum of ten years of relevant industry experience in oncology drug discovery Equivalent combination of education and experience

Disclaimer:

The preceding job description has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification.  It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities and qualifications required of employees assigned to the job.

Salary Range:

The salary range for this position is $185,000 to $215,000  per annum. Compensation will be determined based on several factors including, but not limited to, skill set, years of experience.

Vaccination Policy:
Initial Therapeutics requires employees to be vaccinated for COVID-19.

Location:
This position is in South San Francisco, CA. Current work location is on site.