Associate Director, Translational Medicine Lead

Do you feel passionate about the possibilities of great science changing lives of cancer patients? Do you have a background within oncology and/or translational research and have interest in working with antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) and an exciting portfolio? If so, this may be the role for you.

We currently have an exciting opportunity for a highly motivated A**ssociate Director/Director** to join our team of translational medicine leads supporting our exciting internal ADC programs.

**ABOUT ASTRAZENECA**

AstraZeneca is a global, science-led, patient-focused biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the discovery, development and commercialisation of prescription medicines for some of the world’s most serious diseases. But we’re more than one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies. Within AstraZeneca Oncology R&D, we are committed to advancing the science to deliver life-changing medicines to patients most in need. With a combination-focused pipeline that exploits the power of six scientific platforms (Immuno-Oncology, Tumor Drivers and Resistance, DNA Damage Response, Antibody-drug Conjugates, Cell Therapy and Epigenetics) to help address unmet clinical needs in a host of cancers, we are motivated by a dedication to the scientific discovery and collaboration that will one day help eliminate cancer as a cause of death.

The Translational Medicine function exists within AstraZeneca R&D to ensure effective and strategic biomarker studies for Oncology project teams. Closely interacting with the pre-clinical Discovery, Early Clinical Development, and Precision Medicine & Biosamples diagnostics functions, the Translational Medicine team is the single point of accountability for delivery of robust, scientifically-driven biomarkers to all project teams, providing feasibility assessments, technical validation, centralized biomarker analysis capability for clinical samples, delivery of translational science research and early clinical phase engagement. AstraZeneca has focused its efforts in developing drugs based on a strong data-driven translational approach. As part of this global initiative, Translational Medicine (TM) Oncology works closely with discovery, research and clinical development teams to integrate biomarker strategies to guide clinical translation of our new molecule entities (NMEs) across a wide variety of targeted therapies. To this end, TM Oncology group leads the biomarker strategy and execution to establish mechanism of action and predictors of response in early clinical trials. The team also implements biomarker strategies for all clinical programs. We are looking for a highly motivated translational medicine leader to support biomarker activities in early as well as late stage clinical development.

**What you’ll do/Job description**

We are seeking an **Associate Director/Director in Oncology Translational Medicine** **Strategist** to develop biomarker strategies and ensuring delivery within our internal ADC oncology project portfolio teams.

Working in partnership with the Translational Medicine team, lead the implementation of strategic vision that enables indication selection, early indication of biological activity and patient stratification/selection in Oncology

**Responsibilities**
- Delivering translational science and biomarker strategies for early and late development oncology assets through Ph1 to Ph 3 clinical studies based on the best available science and technologies.
- Generating disease linkage data to guide indication selection and targeted patient populations.
- Measuring target engagement and pharmacodynamic biomarkers reliably and quantifiably to advise clinical decisions for selecting therapeutically relevant doses and schedules.
- Understanding key cancer pathway interactions, feedback mechanisms, and features of tumor microenvironment in clinical samples to guide rational drug combinations.
- Defining novel mechanisms of resistance targeted therapies by studying tumors at relapse.
- Influence translational strategy across the AZ portfolio.
- Collaborate with Oncology Research, Translational Medicine and product development teams to facilitate appropriate incorporation of Translational Medicine strategies for molecules in early phases of development in Oncology.
- Collaborate with clinical operations and clinical teams to define sample collection, lab manuals and clinical study protocols, and biomarker analyses in clinical studies related to oncology.
- Contribute to and ensure the quality of Translational Medicine clinical study reports, data reviews and interpretations, presentations, scientific publications and recommendations to development teams and management
- Lead internal and external research collaborations in areas of clinical technologies and oncology translational research.

**Essential for the role**
- PhD and/or MD with experience in drug development.
- A minimum of 5 years’ of relevant experience
- In-depth knowledge of oncology