Job Details

Vice President, Head of Biology and Pharmacology

Brisbane, California, United States

About Xaira Therapeutics

Xaira is an innovative biotech startup focused on leveraging AI to transform drug discovery and development. The company is leading the development of generative AI models to design protein and antibody therapeutics, enabling the creation of medicines against historically hard-to-drug molecular targets. It is also developing foundation models for biology and disease to enable better target elucidation and patient stratification. Collectively, these technologies aim to continually enable the identification of novel therapies and to improve success in drug development. Xaira is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, and London.

About the Role

Reporting to the CSO, you will provide scientific, business, and strategic leadership for Xaira's Biology and Pharmacology group. You will lead, and build a team of scientists that effectively collaborates to help develop therapeutic targets across multiple indications. You will have a proven track record in biologics drug development, from target identification through to first in human studies. You will be highly familiar with all aspects of drug development and be capable of leading areas encompassing target biology and in vitro and in vivo pharmacology (including a relevant understanding of how pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamics and/or selection of preclinical models enable drug development). You will have broad experience across indications and/or in-depth scientific knowledge in a disease-area where biologics have a focus.

Key Responsibilities

• Responsible for the scientific leadership and overall effectiveness of the biology and pharmacology group, including providing strategic direction, development, and implementation of work within the group to grow and support a robust, internal pipeline.
• Responsible for managing resources within the group, and with external CROs, to meet department and company goals, including strategic build out of organization to meet current and future goals.
• Work closely with Xaira's Scientific Leadership to deliver on pipeline from new target identification, validation, therapeutic candidate selection, and IND-enabling work to enable progression to clinic.
• Responsible for developing staff and for fostering a collaborative workplace environment.
• Responsible for maintaining rigorous scientific standards.
• Experienced in writing and/or providing oversight into preparation of technical reports and nonclinical sections of documents to support IND filings for biologics.
• Responsible for building relationships and networks outside of direct reporting lines to aid progress of programs.
• Provide strong leadership, clear direction, and open communication with staff.
• Direct and indirect management of the group including responsibility for mentoring and supporting career development.

Qualifications

• A PhD (or equivalent) in relevant area of biology with a minimum of 15 years of direct experience in biologics drug development in industry/biotech.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills across all levels both within an organization and with external companies/collaborators.
• Ability to recognize, articulate and accept calculated risks to make informed decisions.
• Proven track record in managing teams of PhD and non-PhD scientists, and in moving programs from basic research through to IND-stage.
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced environment.

Compensation

We offer a competitive compensation and benefits package, seeking to provide an open, flexible, and friendly work environment to empower employees and provide them with a platform to develop their long-term careers. A Summary of Benefits is available for all applicants. The base pay range for this position is expected to be $280,000 - $330,000 annually; however, the base pay offered may vary depending on the market, job-related knowledge, skills and capabilities, and experience.

Xaira Therapeutics is an equal-opportunity employer. We believe that our strength is in our differences. Our goal to build a diverse and inclusive team began on day one, and it will never end.