Associate Director, Translational Medicine Lead

Introduction to role

Are you ready to turn deep B-cell malignancy biology into decisive clinical action for patients? Join us in leading translational strategy across a fast-moving portfolio in B-ALL, B-CLL and NHL, connecting mechanism to medicine across multiple modalities including T-cell engaging bispecifics, ADCs, small molecules and cell therapies.

Accountabilities

• Translational strategy and delivery: Own and execute end-to-end translational strategies for assigned B-cell malignancy programs from preclinical through Phase 1/2 and, as needed, Phase 3, with clear decision points tied to dose, schedule and patient selection.
• Disease linkage and patient selection: Integrate human genetics, expression and clinical data to define indications, stratify patients and refine target populations across monotherapy and rational combinations.
• Target engagement and PD: Design and interpret target engagement and pharmacodynamic biomarker readouts to enable data-driven dose selection and early proof of mechanism across multiple concurrent studies.
• Resistance biology: Define and investigate mechanisms of resistance using longitudinal and relapse samples to inform next-line strategies and combination hypotheses.
• Tumor microenvironment and combinations: Analyze B-cell tumor biology, pathway interactions and microenvironment features in patient samples to guide combination design and strengthen translational rationale.
• Biomarker and assay development: Lead development, validation and deployment of fit-for-purpose assays (e.g., flow cytometry, IHC/IF, molecular, MRD-adjacent panels) internally and with external labs/CROs, aligned to clinical endpoints and timelines.
• Clinical embedding and operations: Embed biomarker strategies and endpoints into protocols, sample manuals and statistical plans; partner with biosamples and precision diagnostics to ensure collection, traceability and, where relevant, CDx path alignment.
• Program leadership and portfolio impact: Represent Translational Medicine on cross-functional teams, connect insights across the B-cell portfolio to inform indication expansion and combinations, and contribute to governance materials, study reports and Go/No-Go recommendations.
• Regulatory and external influence: Contribute translational and biomarker content for health authority interactions and filings; build coherent scientific narratives; present internally and in external forums to shape the field in B-cell translational research.

Essential Skills/Experience

• PhD in a relevant biological science (hematology-oncology, immunology, oncology, molecular biology, or related field); postdoctoral and/or industry experience required.
• Demonstrated experience with T-cell engaging bispecifics (e.g., CD3-targeting bispecifics, BiTEs) in an oncology/hematology development context
• Demonstrated experience with antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) in a hematology or oncology development context
• Experience contributing to early phase oncology clinical trials, including biomarker plan development, protocol input, and sample analysis; exposure to Phase 3 trial biomarker strategies a plus.
• Established knowledge of B-cell malignancy biology spanning leukemia (B-ALL, B-CLL) and lymphoma (NHL), including disease pathogenesis, standard-of-care landscape, and mechanisms of therapeutic resistance.
• In-depth understanding of immunology and the tumor microenvironment in B-cell cancers, with ability to apply this knowledge to translational strategy and biomarker design.
• Emerging understanding of the end-to-end clinical development process — from dose escalation through registration — and the strategic role of biomarkers at each stage.
• Ability to work independently and deliver translational programs with regular managerial support; demonstrates sound scientific judgment and prioritization without close oversight.
• Proven ability to operate effectively and demonstrate scientific leadership within cross-functional program teams in a matrixed pharma or biotech environment; understands the roles of Clinical, Ops, Project Management, and HBS Clinical functions in delivering translational work.
• Clearly presents and integrates scientific data across experiments to support a cohesive program narrative; able to articulate the implications of translational findings for Go/No-Go decisions with emerging clarity on risks and caveats.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills for internal stakeholders and emerging external scientific audiences; comfortable representing TM in cross-functional governance settings.
• Emerging awareness of broader AZ functions (Regulatory, Medical, Commercial) and how TM outputs interface with and inform those stakeholders.

Desirable Skills/Experience

• Experience with small molecule hematology therapeutics in B-cell malignancies (e.g., BTK inhibitors, BCL-2 inhibitors) and familiarity with combination treatment strategies.
• Exposure to cell therapy programs (CAR-T or other engineered cell therapies) in B-cell leukemia or lymphoma.
• Familiarity with Minimal Residual Disease (MRD) methodologies (flow cytometry and/or NGS-based) in leukemia or lymphoma clinical development.
• Experience integrating multi-omic biomarker data (flow cytometry, ctDNA, cytokine panels, transcriptomics) to support clinical decision-making across combination regimens.
• Familiarity with regulatory expectations for biomarker analytical validation and CDx development.
• Early experience mentoring junior scientists; interest in contributing to team capability development.