Associate Director, BioPharma Safety

AstraZeneca; Cambridge; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading company in BioPharma seeks an Associate Director, Discovery Safety Specialist/Toxicologist in Cambridge. This role involves developing safety strategies for innovative drug projects, focusing on cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Candidates should have a PhD and significant experience in toxicology with strong leadership abilities.

Qualifications

• Strong scientific track record in safety assessment.
• Experience with therapeutic safety evaluations from various modalities.
• Over 3 years in drug discovery as a Toxicologist.

Responsibilities

• Lead safety strategy in multidisciplinary drug discovery teams.
• Contribute to the design of therapeutic concepts and drug selections.
• Develop and execute strategies for risk assessment and mitigation.

Skills

Scientific leadership

Communication skills

Team-oriented mindset

Problem-solving

Education

PhD in toxicology, cell biology, pharmacology, or related field

Job description

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Associate Director, BioPharma Safety, Cambridge

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Client:

Location:

Cambridge, United Kingdom

Job Category:

Other

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EU work permit required:

Yes

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Job Reference:

033ebdec571f

Job Views:

4

Posted:

02.07.2025

Expiry Date:

16.08.2025

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Job Description:

Are you an experienced Discovery Safety Specialist/Toxicologist? Would you like to bring your scientific excellence to BioPharma Safety and become a key player in the discovery of safe innovative medicines? If yes, this might be your next career step!

We are looking for a motivated individual to join us as an Associate Director, Discovery Safety Specialist/Toxicologist to strengthen the BioPharma Discovery Safety team with a focus on cardiovascular, renal, metabolism and respiratory drug projects. You will bring critical safety-expertise to BioPharma Safety within the larger function of Clinical Pharmacology and Safety Sciences (CPSS). The position will be placed either at our vibrant R&D site in Gothenburg, Sweden or in Cambridge Biomedical Campus, UK.

The BioPharma Discovery Safety team develop and apply innovative scientific strategies to drive the design and selection of safe medicines for patients suffering from Cardiovascular, Renal and Metabolic (CVRM) diseases as well as respiratory diseases.

Within Clinical Pharmacology and Safety Sciences, we put a strong emphasis on talent development. You will be able to develop your scientific leadership by working together with leaders in investigative toxicology, drug discovery, cell biology, and predictive safety science.

Accountabilities:
As true Drug Hunting partners to BioPharma R&D, we contribute to the selection of novel drug targets, design of therapeutic concepts, identification and optimization of different modalities, and the selection of novel candidate drugs. We develop and apply cutting edge molecular, cellular and technologies to push the boundaries of predictive safety science and investigative toxicology.

You will also be responsible for the safety strategy in multi-disciplinary drug discovery project teams and provide scientific leadership to influence project decision making with the aim to deliver molecules with the Right Safety profile.

Design and build and strategies to predict, assess, and mitigate on-target, off-target and drug-related safety risks and execute through internal and external experimental capabilities.

Develop innovative solutions and research proposals based on strategic needs of the discovery project portfolio, and to pursue cutting edge science and technologies in order to optimize and influence safety assessment of novel drugs.

Engage with world-class experts across our organization to develop, refine and implement innovative experimental strategies and use the data to assess and/or provide mechanistic understanding of safety issues.

PhD (or equivalent) in toxicology, cell biology, pharmacology, systems biology or related field, and a strong scientific track record. Relevance on the job experience will also be considered.

Experience working with design of strategies and execution of and experiments to determine the safety of therapeutics (experience from different modalities small molecules, oligonucleotides, peptides and biologics).

Knowledge of advanced drug delivery and tissue targeting approaches across modalities. Understanding the safety aspects of targeted delivery.

Experience from doing Target Safety Assessments to identify on-target risks and setting up mitigation strategies.

Preferably >3 years’ experience as Toxicologist in the drug discovery phase handling multiple drug projects in parallel.

Experience from external scientific collaborations. Experience of scientific mentorship leading work for a PhD student.

The successful candidate is a highly motivated, creative and innovative scientist with a flexible, collaborative and team-oriented mindset. You like to solve problems in a goal-focused fashion and you have strong communication and presentation skills. Along with this, you have a social personality and will enjoy contributing to our open, positive, collaborative working climate.

So, what’s next?

Are you ready to make a meaningful and lasting difference? Apply today and join us in our mission to push the boundaries of science and transform medicine! We look forward to your application, please submit both a resume and a personal letter. Please submit your application no later than August 10, 2025.

Date Posted

27-Jun-2025

Are you an experienced Discovery Safety Specialist/Toxicologist? Would you like to bring your scientific excellence to BioPharma Safety and become a key player in the discovery of safe innovative medicines? If yes, this might be your next career step!

We are looking for a motivated individual to join us as an Associate Director, Discovery Safety Specialist/Toxicologist to strengthen the BioPharma Discovery Safety team with a focus on cardiovascular, renal, metabolism and respiratory drug projects. You will bring critical safety-expertise to BioPharma Safety within the larger function of Clinical Pharmacology and Safety Sciences (CPSS). The position will be placed either at our vibrant R&D site in Gothenburg, Sweden or in Cambridge Biomedical Campus, UK.

The BioPharma Discovery Safety team develop and apply innovative scientific strategies to drive the design and selection of safe medicines for patients suffering from Cardiovascular, Renal and Metabolic (CVRM) diseases as well as respiratory diseases.

Within Clinical Pharmacology and Safety Sciences, we put a strong emphasis on talent development. You will be able to develop your scientific leadership by working together with leaders in investigative toxicology, drug discovery, cell biology, and predictive safety science.

Accountabilities:
As true Drug Hunting partners to BioPharma R&D, we contribute to the selection of novel drug targets, design of therapeutic concepts, identification and optimization of different modalities, and the selection of novel candidate drugs. We develop and apply cutting edge molecular, cellular and technologies to push the boundaries of predictive safety science and investigative toxicology.

You will also be responsible for the safety strategy in multi-disciplinary drug discovery project teams and provide scientific leadership to influence project decision making with the aim to deliver molecules with the Right Safety profile.

Design and build and strategies to predict, assess, and mitigate on-target, off-target and drug-related safety risks and execute through internal and external experimental capabilities.

Develop innovative solutions and research proposals based on strategic needs of the discovery project portfolio, and to pursue cutting edge science and technologies in order to optimize and influence safety assessment of novel drugs.

Engage with world-class experts across our organization to develop, refine and implement innovative experimental strategies and use the data to assess and/or provide mechanistic understanding of safety issues.

Essential Skills/Experience:

PhD (or equivalent) in toxicology, cell biology, pharmacology, systems biology or related field, and a strong scientific track record. Relevance on the job experience will also be considered.

Experience working with design of strategies and execution of and experiments to determine the safety of therapeutics (experience from different modalities small molecules, oligonucleotides, peptides and biologics).

Knowledge of advanced drug delivery and tissue targeting approaches across modalities. Understanding the safety aspects of targeted delivery.

Experience from doing Target Safety Assessments to identify on-target risks and setting up mitigation strategies.

Preferably >3 years’ experience as Toxicologist in the drug discovery phase handling multiple drug projects in parallel.

Experience from external scientific collaborations. Experience of scientific mentorship leading work for a PhD student.

The successful candidate is a highly motivated, creative and innovative scientist with a flexible, collaborative and team-oriented mindset. You like to solve problems in a goal-focused fashion and you have strong communication and presentation skills. Along with this, you have a social personality and will enjoy contributing to our open, positive, collaborative working climate.

So, what’s next?

Are you ready to make a meaningful and lasting difference? Apply today and join us in our mission to push the boundaries of science and transform medicine! We look forward to your application, please submit both a resume and a personal letter. Please submit your application no later than August 10, 2025.

Date Posted

27-Jun-2025

Closing Date

10-Aug-2025Our mission is to build an inclusive and equitable environment. We want people to feel they belong at AstraZeneca and Alexion, starting with our recruitment process. We welcome and consider applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of characteristics. We offer reasonable adjustments/accommodations to help all candidates to perform at their best. If you have a need for any adjustments/accommodations, please complete the section in the application form.