Director, HIV Scientific Lead

Position Description

Job Title:      Director, HIV Scientific Lead        
Location:     San Diego, CA       
Reports to:   Vice President – Head of Discovery Science

Position Summary:

Are you an experienced and ambitious HIV focused Scientist, who’s eager to make an impact on global public health?

IAVI is seeking a Director, HIV Scientific Lead who can strategically drive strategy and direction of HIV research. Partnering with the VP, Head of Discovery Science, the Director will serve as a scientific leader in HIV vaccine and antibody research, overseeing existing antibody and vaccine discovery platforms, while creating and implementing new innovative partnerships and platforms.  The Scientific Lead will oversee teams responsible for pre-clinical assessment of HIV vaccine candidates and induced antibody immune responses, discovery of monoclonal antibodies from human donors, and develop novel tech for enhanced HIV antibody or vaccine delivery.  The Director will apply an innovative, resourceful, and integrative approach to design short and long-term strategies, which are amenable to other infectious diseases, with the goal of broadening impact and maintaining and securing revenue resources and funding opportunities. The Director, HIV Scientific lead serves as the key leader in HIV research based at IAVI’s Neutralizing Antibody Center, a state-of-the-art research center in San Diego, CA. 

Key Responsibilities:

Lead established programs

• Oversee and manage the existing HIV vaccine immune response evaluation pipeline, working with the team to develop new and innovative platforms for assessing immunological responses.
• Oversee and manage the existing HIV antibody discovery pipeline, working with the team to implement new discovery technologies and/or approaches for functional assessment of isolated and/or optimized antibodies of interest for down-selecting lead candidates for development and manufacturing; These may include:
  • Antibody characterization by antigen-specific B cell sorting
  • FACS-based immunological analysis
  • Binding assays, epitope mapping, and antibody passive transfer and therapy studies in relevant animal models
• Work with internal and external collaborators to develop lead HIV antibody and vaccine candidates from discovery and optimization to preclinical evaluation, manufacturing, and clinical trials.
• Participate as part of a global research team advancing immune response evaluation of HIV vaccine candidates with key partners in sub-Saharan Africa.
• Publish manuscripts and present findings at national/international meetings.
• Provide appropriate subject matter expertise and written scientific content towards grant writing and reporting.
•  Oversee and coordinate the investigation of vaccine candidates, advising on immunization strategies and immune responses analyses.

Further strategic partnerships

• Maintain, build, and participate in research collaborations with industry, academia, and not-for-profit institute partners that have a vested interest in HIV discovery research.
• Serve as a point person for HIV research at IAVI for collaborating organizations as well as the broader scientific community.
• Actively seek new funding opportunities and facilitate the establishment of new research consortia, proposing new collaborative projects and writing scientific research proposals with a focus on identifying and securing funding opportunities from a variety of revenue sources.

Provide strategic scientific leadership

• Serve as a member of the Discovery Science leadership team, supporting innovative evolution and research integration across different scientific programs at IAVI.
• Participate in and offer significant contributions to organizational strategic planning initiatives, particularly those that involve R&D components.
• Provide talking points, presentations, and other written documents to communicate scientific findings or scientific strategy to a range of audiences with different degrees of scientific expertise.
• Partner with the Head of Discovery Science, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Development Officer and other leaders at IAVI to advance a comprehensive strategy for HIV research and development.
• In partnership with senior leadership and key programmatic teams, create, implement, and lead HIV research programs in line with the organization’s Strategic Plan.
• Stay up to date on research and innovation in the HIV field, including clinical applications of antibodies and vaccines for treatment and/or prevention of disease.
• Stay up to date on emerging and innovative technologies, readily applying such technologies to antibody and vaccine discovery and development programs.
• Serve as a Thought Leader, reacting to current trends in HIV prevention while building a strategy that maximizes the value of IAVI’s contributions to discoveries in the HIV vaccine and broadly neutralizing antibody space.

Education and Work Experience:

• A Ph.D. in immunology or virology, or related field is required.
• Minimum of 8 years of independent research experience following doctoral training, including significant expertise in HIV research is required.
• Experience and proficiency in conducting and developing immunological assays, including serological assays (neutralization and antibody binding assays), primary cell culture assays, cytokine staining assays, antigen-specific B and T cell identification assays is required.
• Experience with bacterial and mammalian cell cultures, recombinant antigen design, expression and purification is required.
• In-depth knowledge of rodent and non-human primate animal models in vaccine development is required.
• Experience and understanding of humoral responses, antigen-antibody interactions, epitope targeted interactions is required.
• Experience with high-parameter flow cytometry is required.
• Experience with single cell sorting, 10x Genomics, and other related antibody isolation platforms is desired.
• Understanding of technical and logistical challenges of developing HIV vaccines is required.
• A strong publication record in a relevant scientific area is required.
• Experience writing grant proposals for scientific research and successfully obtaining funding is required.
• Experience managing scientists, graduate students, technical lab staff, and/or post-doctoral associates is required.
• Track record of working in a matrixed, multi-faceted research team to successfully deliver collaborative projects is desired.
• Experience taking a product from early development through Ph1 clinical trials, including experience with preclinical and IND-enabling studies, is desired.

Qualifications and Skills:

• Ability to critically interpret and understand data flowing in from various branches within interdisciplinary programs.
• Ability to work with a high level of scientific independence and direct others.
• Ability to offer relevant and realistic strategic plans, programs, and recommendations.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills are required
• Strong interpersonal skills with proven ability to develop relationships and work collaboratively with others from a range of disciplines and cultures.
• Experience communicating major findings to senior management, funding agencies, and other relevant audiences is required.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, innovative environment while remaining flexible, proactive, and resourceful.

Organizational Overview: 

IAVI is a nonprofit scientific research organization dedicated to addressing urgent, unmet global health challenges including HIV and tuberculosis. Our mission is to translate scientific discoveries into affordable, globally accessible public health solutions. Through scientific and clinical research in Africa, India, Europe, and the U.S., IAVI is pioneering the development of biomedical innovations designed for broad global access. We develop vaccines and antibodies in and for the developing world and seek to accelerate their introduction in low-income countries. IAVI programs and partnerships are grounded in the regions of the world where the disease burden is the greatest, and our approach emphasizes sustainability. Our network of clinical research center partners in Africa and India helps strengthen in-country research capacity and supports the training and education of the next generation of scientists. The global impact of our science includes fundamental contributions to understanding the biology of HIV infection, which IAVI and others are applying toward advancing vaccine science and immunology. IAVI accelerates scientific discovery and development by fostering unique collaborations among academia, industry, local communities, governments, and funders to explore new and better ways to address public health threats that disproportionately affect people living in poverty. Our global reach, including a clinical research network in five countries in sub-Saharan Africa and in India, has allowed us to make fundamental contributions to understanding the epidemiology, transmission, virology, and immunology of HIV. This work played a key role in facilitating the design of promising HIV vaccine candidates, as well as the discovery of broadly neutralizing antibodies that are now being advanced as promising approaches for HIV prevention. Our integrated capabilities in vaccine and antibody discovery, development, and clinical research take advantage of bio-pharmaceutical industry expertise to accelerate the development and testing of prevention methods for HIV and other diseases. Through the Product Development Center, we support external researchers with technical and scientific expertise to accelerate the development of their own products.  

IAVI CORE VALUES: 

• Dedication to the Mission: We are committed to the translation of scientific discoveries into affordable, globally accessible public health solutions
• Innovative Evolution: We are committed to solving complex problems in creative and innovative ways, learning from our mistakes and successes and never giving up 
• Integrity: We are committed to meeting the highest ethical and professional standards in everything we do and to taking responsibility for our actions to earn respect 
• Collaboration: We are committed to embracing diversity, the power of global teamwork and the belief that by working as one we can make a difference

Disclaimer: Nothing in this job description restricts management's right to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time. The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by individuals assigned to this position. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities and skills required of personnel so classified. This document does not create an employment contract, implied or otherwise, other than an “at-will” relationship. IAVI is an equal opportunity employer and applicants will be considered for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.  

IAVI IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER actively committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive global organization. IAVI believes that diversity and inclusion among our teammates is critical, and we seek to recruit, develop and retain the most talented people from a representative candidate pool. At IAVI, we celebrate the spectrum of colleagues’ experiences and believe that dedication to our mission above all is essential to our success as a scientific global non-profit. IAVI upholds these principles through IAVI’s Global Diversity and Inclusion Committee.  

IAVI has zero tolerance for discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, caste, national origin, home language, ancestry, religion, marital or civil partnership status, age, physical or mental disability, HIV status and any other medical condition, genetic information, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, and veteran status, in addition to any other status protected under the law in any of our locations worldwide. 

Compensation and Benefits Information for US-Based Candidates:   

The annual base salary for this position is targeted at $175,000.00 - 210,000.00  

Please note, there may be some variation based on experience level. In addition, this position offers competitive benefits such as annual bonus, generous retirement savings plan, three health insurance plans to choose from, and other benefits.   

Salary : $175,000 - $210,000