Associate Director / Director, Translational Sciences

Job Description

Job Description

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.

Key Responsibilities (position responsibilities may include, but are not limited to) :

• 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.

Qualifications :

This position is an Associate Director or Director level position with a compensation range of $158,000-$205,000 for an Associate Director level and $191,000-$230,000 for a Director level. Actual compensation is dependent upon current market data, experience, and pay parity at Outpace.

LOCATION :  Remote - candidates based in the following states will be considered to align with company operations : CA, OR, or WA.

The salary range is based on Outpace Bio's reasonable estimate of base salary for this role at the time of posting. Actual base salary will be based on a variety of factors including skills, experience, and other related factors permitted by law.

Working at Outpace offers an exciting opportunity to contribute to groundbreaking research that has the potential to transform the lives of people around the world.

Outpace Bio Total Rewards

Full time employees and their eligible dependents may enroll in Outpace's medical, dental, vision, life insurance, disability, flexible spending account, and 401k plan. In addition, employees may receive stock option grants to be outlined in their offer of employment and a performance bonus. Outpace employees enjoy flexible PTO, paid sick leave which complies with local requirements, and fifteen paid holidays plus a winter shutdown. Outpace also offers a generous paid parental leave policy to all regular full-time employees.

Outpace Bio is committed to a diverse workforce. Employment decisions regarding recruitment and selection will be made without discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, genetic information or characteristic, gender identity and expression, veteran status, or other non-job related characteristics or other prohibited grounds specified in applicable federal, state and local laws.

Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States. If you are legally authorized to work in the United States now, or in the future without any form of sponsorship, we encourage you to apply.