Vice President, Translational Science

About the Role

The Vice President, Translational Science will be a scientific and strategic thought leader instrumental in developing and building the pipeline at Tarsus. They will be responsible for bringing biology/pharmacology expertise and can readily bridge cutting-edge translational medicine environments to develop category-creating products. The role connects the discovery and clinical development organization and aims to support projects at the interface between discovery and early clinical development. 

Let’s talk about some of the key responsibilities of the role:

• Subject Matter Expert in Pharmacology, Pathophysiology and drug target biology for both anterior and posterior segment diseases.
• Establish and maintain strong external partnerships with key opinion leaders, academic institutions and other external partners and be seen as a scientific thought leader in the field of ophthalmology.
• Partner with key internal experts across the company including Clinical Development, Innovation Lab and Business Development (BD) to drive translational strategy from preclinical development through candidate selection and contribute to translational strategies in early clinical development through early Proof of Concept.
• Establish stage-appropriate project translational strategy for a differentiated asset to address unmet patient need with key “Go/No Go” decision points.
• Design and execute non-clinical experiments to support MOA-related translational questions as well as overall understanding of the disease treatment approaches.

Translational biology/pharmacology:

• Build and develop deep internal expertise in disease areas within ophthalmology, which are prioritized by the company. Identify possible mechanisms, disease models, preclinical POC approaches.
• Generate clear, testable translational hypothesis to address unmet needs (mechanism of action, pharmacodynamics, patient selection).
• Identify most relevant models, liaise with the best CRO and interact with academic experts to evaluate potential assets.

Translational sciences strategy:

• In collaboration with clinical development, define translational strategy on projects with the objective to guide clinical development: indication identification, patient stratification strategy, combination potential, optimization of dose selection, overall biomarker strategy, etc.
• In partnership with clinical development, build the differentiation strategy for the therapeutic as well as defining the clinical and mechanism of action hypothesis and disease indication selection for early clinical development.
• Contribute to hypothesis-driven study design, execution, and data analysis, including identification of most relevant preclinical and ex vivo models.
• Identify key scientific questions in the projects and builds translation sciences plan according to their priority level.

Internal and External Innovation:

• Partner with BD and bring scientific expertise to evaluate and triage external assets and opportunities, identify main risk and mitigation plan and build additional evidence to enable Go/No Go decisions.
• Partner with Innovation Lab team to prioritize various hypothesis, identify possible assets, generate evidence to enable advancement into clinical development.
• Build open relationships with peers and external partners to ensure best decision making.

Factors for Success:

Minimum Requirements/Qualifications:

• PhD or MD/PhD degree in Biology, Pharmacology, Molecular or Cell biology or related life sciences field with 15 years’ experience and a minimum of 10 years in the pharmaceutical or industry setting.
• In-depth understanding and recognized scientific leader with expertise in scientific drug development for assets progressing through pre-clinical and IND-enabling studies and/or Phase I/II trials.
• Superior knowledge and solid understanding of emerging research, mechanisms of action and disease models in anterior and posterior segment eye care diseases, preclinically and clinically.
• Knowledge of the clinical landscape in ophthalmology indications with good understanding of novel agents and impact to this landscape.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, including writing, reviewing, and editing scientific documents.
• Superior interpersonal skills, diplomacy, and positive-influencing abilities.
• Exceptional communication, influencing and partnering skills to drive decision-making within a multi-disciplinary, matrix teams.
• Ability to demonstrate effective leadership behaviors to ensure effective outcomes, including business agility as well as a curious, open-minded, and solution focused mindset.
• Effective project management skills.
• Strong presentation skills; must be able to provide succinct, strategic, and actionable insights to senior executives.
• Proactive self-starter who can lead work independently, with the ability to see the next step and anticipate issues.
• Scientifically independent.
• Enterprise and entrepreneurial mindset.

Preferred experience/background:

• Experience in clinical sciences, including contribution to clinical trials or to observational clinical studies in an academic or industry setting.
• Track record of success and measurable contribution in moving ophthalmology therapeutic programs forward through preclinical and/or clinical development in an academic or industry setting.
• Experience in research and/or development of anterior and/or posterior eye care segment therapies.

A Few Other Details Worth Mentioning:

• The position will be based in our beautiful Irvine office, complete with a courtyard, snacks, drinks, and occasional catered meals. We provide a hybrid work environment. Remote work is an option.
• We are passionate about our culture! Our Tarsans live our values of commitment to patients, empowerment to champion innovation, and teamwork to amplify impact!
• This position reports directly to our Chief Operating Officer
• Some travel may be required – up to 20%

At Tarsus, we understand the importance of attracting and retaining top talent. The expected base pay range for this position is $259,500 - $363,300 plus bonus, stock equity, and comprehensive benefits. The base pay range reflects the target range for this position, but individual pay will be determined by additional factors such as job-related skills, experience and relevant education or training. Our benefits include health, dental and vision insurance benefits to ensure your well-being. We believe in work-life balance and offer generous paid time off, including vacation, holidays, and personal days. For more details regarding Tarsus benefits, please visit: https://alliantbenefits.cld.bz/tarsus2024BenSnapshot.

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