Senior Director/VP, Immunology

Synnovation Therapeutics is a precision medicine company developing small molecule therapies optimized to achieve best-in-class pharmacology against highly validated disease targets.

Synnovation’s pipeline is built around discovering compounds with greater selectivity and optimized pharmaceutical properties that have the potential to address liabilities in existing standards of care and meaningfully improve patient outcomes.

We are looking for a highly motivated and creative individual with a strong background in Immunology and drug discovery to join our team. The candidate will provide scientific and strategic leadership for inflammatory or autoimmune diseases programs from target selection through preclinical development. The candidate will also play a key role in developing biomarker strategies by collaborating with translational and clinical teams in the advancement of the lead molecules into clinical trials.

The title will be commensurate with the successful candidate’s experience. The position will be based in Synnovation’s headquarters in Wilmington, DE.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide scientific expertise in immunology and leadership for autoimmune/inflammation drug discovery projects from target evaluation through preclinical development and early clinical proof of concept
• Direct and oversee in vitro and ex vivo immunology experiments to support clinical candidate selection and characterization of the mechanisms of action
• Work with internal team and CROs to design in vivo pharmacology experiments to evaluate PK-PD relationships and relevant disease modifying endpoints
• Collaborate with translational scientists to identify pathway biomarkers and develop robust assays to support proof of mechanism in early clinical trials
• Represent the immunology programs in presentations to external partners, collaborators, and other stakeholders
• Align priorities with program needs and ensure effective cross-functional scientific communication
• Provide mentorship to scientific team

Minimum Requirements

• Ph.D. in immunology or related field with 10 years of industry experience and a proven track record of productivity (as demonstrated by patent applications, presentations and publications)
• Experience leading cross-functional teams and programs from discovery to the clinic
• Deep understanding of biological pathways and therapeutic rationale for autoimmune and inflammatory drug targets
• Ability to design, perform and interpret in vitro immunology assays to support lead optimization and candidate selection
• Knowledge of in vivo disease models of inflammation and autoimmunity and ability to design pharmacology experiments to demonstrate the impact of small molecules on immune cell responses and disease modification
• Prior experience directing work with contract research organizations or managing collaborators
• Excellent communication skills to develop and communicate complex data sets in a clear and concise manner to different audiences
• Experience with IND-enabling workflows and authoring scientific reports for regulatory filings

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with pharmacology of small molecule drugs including characterization of drug mechanism of action on immune cell functions in vitro and in vivo
• Demonstrated experience in managing scientific team
• Translational medicine expertise spanning discovery to the clinic
• Strong organizational and time-management skills including the ability to manage several projects simultaneously
• Embraces opportunities and challenges of rapid-paced start-up environment.
• Independent, creative, highly motivated team player

Synnovation Therapeutics is an equal opportunity employer and will not discriminate against any employee or applicant on the basis of age, color, disability, gender, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation, veteran status, or any classification protected by federal, state, or local law.