Associate Director/Director, Translational Sciences

SeattleRemoteFull Timeexecutive

OtherDirectorDirector/Director Translational Sciences

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Requirements Summary

6-8+ years of experience in oncology drug development in industry, recent experience in cell therapy or immune-oncology preferred, and 6+ ye

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OtherDirectorDirector/Director Translational Sciences

About Outpace Bio

Outpace Bio is pioneering the future of cell therapy for solid tumors by harnessing unrivaled AI-powered protein design. Our mission is to program immune cells for enhanced function inside patients, overcoming key barriers such as poor tumor access, weak survival, antigen escape, and dose-related toxicity. By creating and integrating modular, plug-and-play technology assets, we are developing cell therapies with unprecedented efficacy, transforming how engineered T cells interact with cancer and the immune system to deliver life-changing outcomes. Our multidisciplinary team of scientists, engineers, coders, and cell therapy developers works at the cutting edge of computational protein design, synthetic biology, and immunology. Together, we are reimagining how cells function to unlock novel therapeutic possibilities.Located in Seattle’s vibrant biotech hub overlooking scenic South Lake Union, Outpace Bio is led by pioneers in computational protein design and engineered cell therapies. Our culture is built on a foundation of respect and inclusion, which are fundamental to how we collaborate to revolutionize cell therapy through groundbreaking innovation rooted in rigorous science.

Our Commitment to Diversity

At Outpace Bio, we believe that the highest performing teams include people from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences. We are committed to cultivating an open, diverse, and inclusive culture for all employees. Recognizing that the best candidates do not always match all criteria of the job description, we encourage you to apply if you think you would be a good fit for the role and are inspired by our mission to cure disease by pushing the boundaries of biology.

Our Momentum

In August 2024, Outpace Bio secured an oversubscribed $144 million Series B financing, led by RA Capital Management and supported by a premier syndicate of life science investors. This funding accelerates our pipeline of programmed T cell therapies, including our lead candidate OPB-101, a mesothelin-specific chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell enhanced by Outpace’s proprietary OUTSMART™, OUTLAST™, OUTSPACER™, and OUTSAFE™ technologies. OPB-101 is advancing toward IND clearance and first dosing in 2025 for patients with advanced platinum-resistant ovarian cancers. The Series B investment also supports the expansion of our pipeline, enabling us to develop additional transformative therapies leveraging our innovative plug-and-play technology platform.

Outpace Bio is seeking a highly talented and experienced Associate Director/Director of Translational Sciences to lead the development and execution of translational strategy for assigned cellular therapies in solid tumor programs. The successful candidate will design and implement fit-for-purpose translational/biomarker strategies for clinical programs, focusing on delivering informative and actionable translational data to support clinical development, including patient selection and stratification, pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic, mechanism of action, resistance and toxicity, prognostic and predictive biomarkers. This critical role will manage mostly outsourced assay development/validation, support operationalization of the trial with Central and Specialty Labs, and deliver data and interpretation to the asset team and other stakeholders and contribute to asset team strategy and regulatory submissions. The ideal candidate will have expertise in translational strategy design and execution for cell therapies in oncology, with a proven track record of initiating and delivering on translational plans in phase 1 and later stages clinical trials, and experience with patient selection and CDx strategy. This individual will work in a fast-paced, highly dynamic and collaborative environment, in close collaboration with diverse cross-functional teams. The position reports to the Head of Translational Sciences, and may be located in Seattle, WA or remote.

Translational, Strategic and Cross-Functional Leadership:

Provide strategic, technical and scientific functional leadership and build productive relationships in matrix teams to advance fit-for-purpose translational strategies in support of Outpace’s innovative cell therapy programs.

Design and deliver translational strategies including patient selection/stratification, pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic, mechanism of action, resistance and toxicity, prognostic and predictive biomarkers, and support indication expansion, and asset differentiation to support programs in all phases of development.

Effectively manage and communicate key biomarker program information, risks, milestones, data and interpretation to asset teams and other stakeholders.

Responsible for the preparation and review of biomarker sections of candidate nomination, IND package, Clinical Development Plan, clinical protocols, ICFs and regulatory documents.

Act as Translational Sciences representative in relevant asset team and/or lead/contribute to translational subteams in collaboration with translational operations, clinical development, clinical operations, research, CMC, regulatory, quality, program management and business development

Productively engages with external collaborators and scientific KOLs to support translational goals.

Contribute to the growth and excellence of the Translational Sciences team, execute continuous improvement initiatives to enhance quality, cost effectiveness, scalability, and long-term implementation of translational initiatives.

Outsourced Translational Vendor Management:

Responsible for the engagement and management of outsourced Central and Specialty labs to generate high quality data, according to plan and established timelines.

Design and implement fit-for-purpose outsourced qualification/validation for clinical biomarker assays to ensure high scientific quality of target expression, patient selection, PK, target engagement / pharmacodynamics, ATA, prognostic, predictive and safety biomarker data to support program decision-making.

PhD or equivalent in Oncology, Immunology, Cell Biology or relevant related field preferred with: 6-8+ years of experience in oncology drug development in industry, recent experience in cell therapy or immune-oncology preferred, and 6+ years of experience in translational/biomarkers/correlative research

Proven experience of independent leadership of translational biomarker strategy for oncology programs, including study design, operational startup and execution, data generation and analysis

Strong understanding of translational approaches as applied to clinical trial design and regulatory processes, proof-of-concept studies, and the implementation of biomarkers and diagnostics

Excellent scientific acumen and strong hands-on experience developing and validating biomarker assays and analyzing data including immune profiling and flow cytometry, tumor tissue imaging and analysis, cell therapy monitoring, transcriptomics and genomics assays, and other cell based and soluble biomarkers.

Understanding of and experience planning and executing patient selection plans and development of CDx strategies preferred

Working understanding of clinical laboratory regulatory and compliance requirements (GLP, GCP, GCLP, CLIA, CAP)

Experience in authoring of translational sections of candidate nomination, IND package, Clinical Development Plan, clinical protocols, ICFs, regulatory documents submitted to Regulatory Agencies and manuscripts/publications/reviews, scientific presentations of translational data.

Significant experience with Vendor Management, oversight responsibilities for agreements, work plans, budget and invoices, assay development, transfer, validation and associated reports, sample analyses and associated reports, data transfers and overall data quality.

Excellent communication (written and verbal), influencing, and interpersonal skills. Able to convey complex scientific and business issues to devise, reach agreement on, and implement solutions

Demonstrated ability to think strategically and creatively while managing and prioritizing multiple projects effectively and efficiently. Ability to multitask, drive, manage, execute and independently deliver results for complex multi-functional projects according to established timelines.

Passionate for excellent science and innovation, inclusive, open-minded, collaborative, forward-thinking and solution-oriented