Senior Director, Integrative Biology- Oncology Discovery

7555-Janssen Pharmaceutica NV Legal Entity; Geel; On-site; EUR 182,000 - 313,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual bonus

Vacation days and standard leave

Job summary

Johnson & Johnson is seeking a Senior Director to lead Oncology Integrative Biology, applying AI/ML and computational biology to deepen cancer insights and drive target identification across discovery programs. You will shape bioscience strategy, mentor teams, and partner with Data Science, Translational Oncology, and Discovery leadership.

This role requires a Ph.D. or equivalent, 12+ years of industry experience, and proven leadership in computational biology to accelerate transformative

Qualifications

• Ph.D. or equivalent advanced degree in Computational Biology, Bioinformatics, Systems Biology, Genetics/Genomics, Biostatistics, Data Science, or a related discipline.
• 12+ years of relevant industry experience.
• Significant computational biology leadership experience with a track record of impact and team development.
• Expertise applying statistical and computational methods to complex genomics and multi-omics data.

Responsibilities

• Define and execute the computational biology strategy for Oncology Discovery, aligned with TA priorities and portfolio needs.
• Lead computational approaches for target identification and validation, disease segmentation, mechanism-of-action understanding, and biomarker hypotheses.
• Integrate multi-omics data to generate mechanistic insights and testable hypotheses in cancer biology.
• Embed computational thinking and AI early in discovery programs and translate insights into portfolio decisions.

Skills

AI solution evaluation

Big Data Management

Data Reporting

Developing Others

Strategic Thinking

Stakeholder Engagement

Regulatory Affairs

Risk Management

Leadership

Education

Ph.D. or equivalent in Computational Biology/Genomics/Bioinformatics

Tools

SOP

Job description

Please note that this role is available across multiple countries and may be posted under different requisition numbers to comply with local requirements. While you are welcome to apply to any or all of the postings, we recommend focusing on the specific country(s) that align with your preferred location(s): Belgium R-108593, United States of America R-109034 Remember, whether you apply to one or all of these requisition numbers, your applications will be considered as a single submission.

Job Function: Discovery & Pre-Clinical/Clinical Development Job Sub Function: Biological Research Job Category: People Leader All Job Posting Locations: Beerse, Antwerp, Belgium, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America, Spring House, Pennsylvania, United States of America

Job Description: About Oncology Our expertise in Innovative Medicine is informed and inspired by patients, whose insights fuel our science-based advancements. Visionaries like you work on teams that save lives by developing the medicines of tomorrow. Our Oncology team is focused on the elimination of cancer by discovering new pathways and modalities to finding treatments and cures. We lead where medicine is going and need innovators with an unwavering commitment to results. Join us in developing treatments, finding cures, and pioneering the path from lab to life while championing patients every step of the way. Oncology Integrative Biology is a new cross-disease-area team that integrates biological evidence and emerging computational approaches to advance target identification and validation, generate precision medicine hypotheses, and deepen pathway biology across pre-portfolio and portfolio programs. The team will pioneer AI-enabled approaches to discovery biology, working closely with disease-area, DPDS, Data Science, Translational Oncology and other discovery partners. We are seeking a visionary Senior Director to lead the Oncology Integrative Biology team and to provide scientific and strategic leadership for computational biology within Oncology Discovery across all disease area strongholds. This individual will lead the application of computational, data-driven, and AI/ML approaches to deepen our understanding of cancer biology, identify and validate novel therapeutic opportunities, and accelerate the discovery of transformative medicines for patients. The Senior Director will be on the Discovery SLT and serve as a key scientific partner to Oncology Discovery leaders, DASL, Translational Research, and discovery project teams, leveraging large-scale biological datasets to generate actionable insights and inform drug discovery strategy. This leader will build and develop a high-performing computational biology capability, establish fit-for-purpose computational strategies across the discovery portfolio, and ensure that computational insights are translated into clear biological hypotheses and decisions. In addition, the leader will be responsible for implementing and driving AI Native related workstreams to support the Oncology discovery team. The integrative discovery team is expected to grow up to 10 FTE over the next years.

Responsibilities

• Scientific & Discovery Leadership
  • Define and execute the computational biology strategy for Oncology Discovery, aligned with TA priorities and portfolio needs across multiple therapeutic modalities.
  • Lead computational approaches for target identification and validation, disease segmentation, mechanism-of-action understanding, and biomarker hypotheses to inform therapeutic opportunities.
  • Integrate human tumor, patient-derived, multi-omics, and functional genomics data to generate mechanistic insights and experimentally testable hypotheses in cancer biology.
• Computational Innovation & AI/ML
  • Advance the application of machine learning, AI, network biology, predictive modeling, and multimodal data integration to oncology discovery questions.
  • Partner with data science, AI/ML, informatics, and technology teams to develop scalable analytical approaches and evaluate emerging methods and platforms.
  • Champion rigorous, reproducible, and interpretable computational science, ensuring analyses lead to biologically meaningful and experimentally testable hypotheses.
• Portfolio & Project Impact
  • Embed computational thinking and AI early in discovery programs, partnering with project teams to translate critical biological questions and quantitative insights into experimental and portfolio decisions.
  • Establish evidence frameworks for evaluating targets and therapeutic hypotheses, drawing on insights across programs and datasets.
  • Communicate complex computational findings in clear biological and strategic terms to Discovery teams and senior leadership.
• Organizational Leadership
  • Recruit, lead, mentor, and develop exceptional computational biologists, fostering scientific excellence, innovation, collaboration, and deep understanding of cancer biology.
  • Establish priorities and deploy computational resources against the highest-impact scientific questions.
  • Build productive partnerships across Oncology Discovery, Translational Research, Data Science, AI/ML, Precision Medicine, and other R&D functions.
• External Scientific Leadership
  • Maintain awareness of emerging advances in cancer genomics, functional genomics, single-cell and spatial biology, computational biology, AI/ML, and drug discovery.
  • Establish collaborations with leading academic investigators, biotechnology companies, technology providers, and other external partners.
  • Represent the organization at scientific conferences and through publications and other external scientific interactions.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. or equivalent advanced degree in Computational Biology, Bioinformatics, Systems Biology, Genetics/Genomics, Biostatistics, Data Science, or a related discipline, with deep expertise in cancer biology and oncology drug discovery.
• 12+ years of relevant industry experience.
• Significant computational biology leadership experience with a track record of scientific impact, team development, and influence across multidisciplinary discovery teams.
• Demonstrated expertise applying statistical and computational methods to complex genomics and multi-omics data, translating results into testable biological hypotheses and clear recommendations for experimental scientists and senior decision-makers.

#LI-Onsite

Required Skills

Required Skills: Preferred Skills: AI solution evaluation, Big Data Management, Data Reporting, Data Savvy, Developing Others, Drug Discovery Development, Inclusive Leadership, Leadership, Molecular Diagnostics, Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Product Knowledge, Project Reporting, Regulatory Affairs Management, Risk Management, Scientific Research, Stakeholder Engagement, Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), Strategic Thinking, Sustainability

The anticipated base pay range for this position is: $204,000.00 - $351,900.00

Benefits

• * an annual bonus with set target (% of pay) depending on pay grade / location, where the actual amount is based on the employees’ and companies’ performance of the previous calendar year, or sales commissions. Moreover, we offer vacation days, parental leave for a minimum of 12 weeks, bereavement leave, caregiver leave, volunteer leave, well-being reimbursement, programs for financial, physical and mental health. We also offer service anniversary and recognition awards, and subject to the terms of their respective plans, employees - and in some location’s eligible dependents - can participate in several insurance plans.
• * This is for informative purposes only. Amounts and actual benefits may vary by location and are subject to change.

Our Credo calls on us to respect the dignity of every individual and create an environment for all people to thrive.

Throughout the recruitment process - from application through hiring - we are committed to providing reasonable accommodations/adjustments for qualified candidates with disabilities. If you need support at any stage of the recruitment process, please complete our candidate accommodation request form so we can assist you.