Senior Director/ VP Operations

About Xaira Therapeutics

Xaira is an innovative biotech startup focused on leveraging AI to transform drug discovery and development. The company is leading the development of generative AI models to design protein and antibody therapeutics, enabling the creation of medicines against historically hard-to-drug molecular targets. It is also developing foundation models for biology and disease to enable better target elucidation and patient stratification. Collectively, these technologies aim to continually enable the identification of novel therapies and to improve success in drug development. Xaira is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, and London.

About the Role

Reporting to the COO, you will be a strategic and operational leader, driving efficiency, performance measurement, and scalable growth. As the head of the Business Operations team, you’ll collaborate closely with leadership to implement robust processes and systems that support data-driven decision-making and sustainable growth. You bring a proven track record of leading Business Operations teams at high-growth companies and executing cross-functional initiatives. Your ability to balance high-level strategy with hands-on execution, combined with a structured approach to solving complex operational challenges, will be critical to delivering measurable impact.

Key Responsibilities

• Foster, mentor, develop, and empower a high-performing Business Operations and Lab team. Inspiring them to achieve and exceed organizational goals with excellence.
• Drive key governance processes, including Annual Operating Plan development, Quarterly Business Reviews, and Project Review and Prioritization  ensuring alignment between strategy and execution.
• Drive strategic portfolio management by assessing, prioritizing, and optimizing projects to align with organizational goals, maximize resource allocation, and deliver measurable business impact.
• Establish and maintain an operating cadence to facilitate planning, execution, and monitoring of outcomes.
• Lead scalability and efficiency initiatives across operations, ensuring the organization is prepared for sustainable growth while maintaining cost discipline.
• Define and track key performance indicators (KPIs) to monitor company wide performance across cost and efficiency.
• Lead the implementation and optimization of enterprise business systems (e.g. procurement system, learning management systems, and project management and collaboration tools).
• Collaborate Work with business partners including Finance, HR, and IT to ensure timely actionable insights.
• Manage Lab Operations across Bay Area and Seattle sites to ensure alignment with our goals.
• Build and maintain relationships with strategic partners and vendors to maximize value and innovation.

Qualifications

• 10 years of experience in business operations, lab management including scaling operations in high-growth environments.
• Bachelor’s degree required; MBA or advanced degree preferred.
• Expertise in process optimization, cost management, and operational efficiency.
• Experience defining and tracking KPIs to drive performance improvement.
• Exceptional analytical skills with the ability to transform complex data into actionable insights.
• Experience defining and tracking KPIs to drive performance improvement.
• Exceptional leadership skills with experience building and mentoring high performing teams.
• Proven ability to foster cross functional collaboration and alignment across departments.

Compensation

We offer a competitive compensation and benefits package, seeking to provide an open, flexible, and friendly work environment to empower employees and provide them with a platform to develop their long-term careers. A Summary of Benefits is available for all applicants. We offer a competitive package that includes base salary, bonus, and equity. The base pay range for this position is expected to be $215,000 - $325,000 annually; however, the base pay offered may vary depending on the market, job-related knowledge, skills and capabilities, and experience.

Xaira Therapeutics an equal-opportunity employer. We believe that our strength is in our differences. Our goal to build a diverse and inclusive team began on day one, and it will never end.

TO ALL RECRUITMENT AGENCIES: Xaira Therapeutics does not accept agency resumes. Please do not forward resumes to our jobs alias or employees. Xaira Therapeutics is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes.