Job Description
Forbius is looking for an experienced Director, Translational Research to join our energetic and high-performance team. Under the direction of the Chief Scientific Officer, and in collaboration with the Clinical/Medical, Preclinical and Discovery teams, the Director, Translational Research will lead our biomarker discovery efforts and drive the development and execution of biomarker development plans and patient selection strategies.
Based in Montréal, QC, the incumbent will be a vital part of shaping our translational strategy and vision.
Key responsibilities
- Provides scientific leadership in areas of biomarker discovery, development and translational science working with multiple cross-functional teams
- Collaborate with Preclinical Development, Clinical Operations teams and external experts as appropriate to develop scientifically rigorous translational and exploratory biomarker strategies that assess proof of mechanism, establish early signs of efficacy, enable proof of concept studies, patient selection and generate an understanding of the variability in patient response
- Oversee companion diagnostics development
- Partner with preclinical and drug discovery scientists to design and execute translational research to discover and validate pathways and biomarkers associated with mechanism of action and drug response
- Support scientific input and review of all translational medicine aspects of clinical and regulatory documents, including but not limited to development plans, study protocols, clinical study reports, regulatory submissions and responses to any regulatory questions, etc.
- Propose and develop innovative methods and technologies as well as new directions for project development
- Function as a scientific and business thought-leader inside and outside of the company and a key link to external scientific & medical community.
Qualifications
- PhD (and/or MD) with primary focus in either Cellular or Molecular Biology, Immunology, Cancer Biology and/or Pharmacology with at least 8 years of pharmaceutical or biotechnology industry experience in biomarker discovery and companion diagnostics
- Thorough understanding of clinical trials and clinical strategy, experience with oncology and fibrosis drug development as well as analytical and clinical validation of biomarker assays
- First-hand experience with identification and validation of pharmacodynamic and patient selection biomarkers and clinical implementation
- Ability to drive and influence projects from discovery through early clinical development with a focus on the identification of indications with biomarkers of response and/or resistance to therapy
- Expertise in establishing and running preclinical studies
- Familiarity with data management and visualization tools and collaborating with computational biology to analyze complex genomic data sets
- Passion for developing new therapies
Competencies
- Outstanding analytical, research and organizational skills
- Strong interpersonal, influencing and collaboration skills to work in a team-oriented, fast-paced environment
- Strong scientific communication skills to diverse audiences, and ability to present the results in a clear and concise manner
- Ability to prioritize, be highly productive and flexible in a fast-paced work environment.
How to Apply
Please submit your CV and cover letter in PDF format to careers@forbius.com. Please indicate the position title in the subject line of your email. We will contact you should we wish to arrange a meeting to discuss this position further.