Director, Translational Sciences

About Allogene:

Allogene Therapeutics, with headquarters in South San Francisco, is a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering the development of allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor T cell (AlloCAR TTM) products for cancer and autoimmune disease. Led by a management team with significant experience in cell therapy, Allogene is developing a pipeline of "off-the-shelf" CAR T cell product candidates with the goal of delivering readily available cell therapy on-demand, more reliably, and at greater scale to more patients. For more information, please visit , and follow @AllogeneTx on X (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn.

About the role:

Allogene is seeking a Director, Translational Sciences to help guide our translational discovery efforts and play a pivotal role in advancing our CAR T programs. The position level may be adjusted in accordance with the successful candidate's experience. This is a remote role with occasional travel to headquarters in South San Francisco, CA.

• The candidate will be responsible for crafting and executing the biomarker strategy for our anti-CD70 and autoimmune pipeline assets in Clinical Development. The ideal candidate is an individual seeking challenges in a fast-paced and dynamic start-up environment.
• As a member of the Allogene Translational Sciences team, the candidate will function in a key scientific leadership position on clinical and non-clinical development teams to ensure that key biological questions are addressed in a pragmatic, timely and efficient manner to support and enable the advancement of the CAR T portfolio programs toward clinical success and regulatory approval.
• The candidate will bring their expertise in the cell therapy/immuno-oncology space to develop comprehensive biomarker plans which augment our understanding of underlying tumor biology and its interplay with the CAR T products and clinical outcomes, as well as guiding future study and product design.
• In this role, the candidate will work in a cross-functional environment interfacing with multiple functional groups including: research, clinical development, clinical and translational operations, regulatory, biometrics, bioinformatics, medical affairs and manufacturing process development to integrate information and help guide and shape the strategy.
• The candidate will be a confident and respected leader in the field of cell therapy or immuno-oncology with significant prior success in the pharmaceutical or biotech industry. The candidate is expected to exhibit and inspire a strong collaborative attitude within the team.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Application of knowledge of cancer biology, autoimmunity, immunology and cell therapy. Prior experience in clinical trial design and conduct, informed consent authorship, assay development, clinical and translational operations, sample handling and data analyses to design, prioritize and execute clinical and non-clinical translational studies that will inform key product and/or clinical development decisions and advance the development of CAR T-based therapies within the Allogene portfolio.
  • Key focus areas include product characterization, pharmacodynamic proof-of-mechanism/pharmacology, patient selection/stratification, clinical proof-of-concept, and underlying disease biology of relevance to therapy sensitivity or resistance.
• Identification, evaluation and prioritization of candidate predictive biomarkers and development of companion diagnostic tests that can feasibly transition from early to late phase clinical development.
• Working directly with academic collaborators and key opinion leaders as well as a variety of external contract research organizations/vendors to execute and expand clinical translational research efforts.
• Working collaboratively within matrixed, multi-functional teams to achieve goals and deliverables.
• Leading cross-functional, multidisciplinary correlative sciences teams to deliver clinical study biomarker analyses.
• Provision of proactive scientific leadership to research and clinical development teams to ensure prioritization of science-driven drug development.
• Other duties as assigned.

Position Requirements & Experience:

Ideal candidates will possess a detailed understanding of cancer biology (hematologic and non-hematologic), cell therapy, immuno-oncology, autoimmunity, immunology, cancer genetics and cancer immunology and will have demonstrated a breadth of diverse leadership experiences and capabilities including: the ability to influence and collaborate with peers, and oversight and guidance of the work of other colleagues to achieve meaningful outcomes and create business impact.

• Advanced degree (PhD, MD, MD/PhD, Pharm. D.) with focus on cancer biology, autoimmunity or immunology and biomarkers.
• Industry experience in clinical oncology, developing cell therapies or autoimmune therapies with experience demonstrating excellence in designing, executing and interpreting studies of biomarkers in clinical trials, including biomarker development, validation and clinical application.
• Thorough understanding of clinical trial design, logistics and regulatory considerations as well as familiarity with the development and regulatory approval of oncology companion diagnostics.
• Demonstrated ability to think strategically and creatively while contributing to multiple projects and to work well in collaborative, multi-disciplinary team setting; effective verbal and written communication skills.
• Clinical Project Expertise: demonstrated potential or ability to design, initiate and conduct clinical studies focusing on integrating and executing biomarker analyses that support clinical development objectives.
• Scientific Excellence: demonstrated understanding of non-clinical research approaches and clinical tumor biology, and the ability to apply that knowledge to drug and process development; demonstrated understanding of the complexities and recent developments in the relevant therapeutic/technical area, and the ability to apply such knowledge to product development.
• Presentation and Analytical Skills: demonstrated ability to present translational and clinical data, study plans and tactics clearly and accurately to relevant audiences to inform and direct decisions.
• Networking and Alliance Building: Capacity to work across many interfaces and line functions: clinical development, research, biometrics, computational biology, regulatory, operations, data management, commercial, med affairs and project management.
• Education: Willing and able to support and mentor teammates (as appropriate) and to foster continued learning within the therapeutic areas regarding translational medicine approaches, including collection and application of lessons learned.
• Leadership: Skill and comfort leading multi-disciplinary groups; ability to manage and motivate investigators and contract research organizations.
• Innovation: Challenges existing paradigms in clinical research and encourages innovation and breakthrough designs; works with clinical development operations on study design, data capture and retrieval, reporting.
• Candidates must be authorized to work in the U.S.

We offer a chance to work with talented people in a collaborative environment and provide a top-notch compensation and benefits package, which includes an annual performance bonus, equity, health insurance, generous time off (including 2 annual holiday company-wide shutdowns) and much more. The expected salary range for this role is $200,000 to $240,000. Actual pay will be determined based on experience, qualifications, geographic location, business needs, and other job-related factors permitted by law.

As an equal opportunity employer, Allogene 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. We also embrace differences in experience and background, and welcome diversity of opinions and thought with active recruitment and internships designed to create a stronger and better Allogene that is focused on developing life-changing products for patients.

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