Lead Research Officer, Project Management (GIS)

A*STAR RESEARCH ENTITIES; Singapore; On-site; SGD 150,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

A*STAR Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) invites applications for a Lead Research Officer, Project Management to drive the translational therapeutic portfolio, with an initial focus on RNA and neurology. You will convert priority scientific opportunities into milestone-driven programmes ready for internal investment, grant support, industry partnerships, licensing or spinout consideration.

You will collaborate with scientific leads, PI teams, Project Management, Strategy and external advisors

Qualifications

• PhD/MD/PharmD/MBA with 10–12 years in biomedical research, translational programme management, or related fields.
• Strong understanding of the path from discovery biology to translational development.
• Demonstrated ability to structure ambiguous opportunities into clear project plans with milestones, risks, dependencies, decision criteria and resource requirements.
• Experience working with scientists, clinicians, BD teams, project managers, external advisors, funders, industry partners or investors.
• Familiarity with RNA & DNA Technologies, population health, precision medicine, spatial & single cell systems, or AI & compute areas would be advantageous.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate complex scientific and development issues into clear decision-ready materials.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain GIS RNA/neurology translational portfolio overview.
• Classify projects by maturity, relevance, evidence, development readiness, risks, resource needs and next decision points.
• Develop leadership-facing dashboards to support prioritisation, resource allocation and decisions.
• Identify common portfolio gaps including disease models, translational biomarkers, clinical access, pharmacology, CMC, toxicology, regulatory input, external advisory needs.
• Prepare projects with milestone-based workplans and enable PIs to advance toward funding or spinout readiness.
• Provide input into grant and funding proposals with realistic milestones, deliverables and risks.

Skills

Milestone planning

Risk management

Resource planning

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

PhD, MD, PharmD, MBA

Job description

Overview

A*STAR Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) is seeking a Lead Research Officer, Project Management who will drive the development and management of GIS’s translational therapeutic portfolio, with an initial focus on RNA and neurology. The role will support GIS scientific leadership in converting priority scientific opportunities into structured, milestone-driven programmes that are ready for internal investment, grant support, industry partnership, licensing, spinout consideration or further preclinical development in collaboration with other A*STAR biomedical research institutes.

The Lead will work closely with scientific leads, PIs, Project Management team, TechBiz team, Strategy team, BMRC, and external advisors to strengthen project discipline, clarify development pathways, identify key risks, and ensure that promising science is advanced through clear evidence packages, stage gates, resourcing plans and decision points including in-house and outsourcing.

Key Responsibilities

1. Translational Portfolio Management

• Build and maintain a clear view of GIS’s RNA and neurology translational portfolio, covering projects from early discovery and target validation through to preclinical proof of concept and spinout-ready opportunities.
• Classify projects by maturity, strategic relevance, evidence strength, development readiness, risks, resource needs and next decision points.
• Develop leadership-facing portfolio dashboards to support prioritisation, resource allocation and continue, pause, stop, re-scope, accelerate, funding, partnership or spinout decisions.
• Identify common portfolio gaps, including disease models, translational biomarkers, clinical access, pharmacology, CMC, toxicology, regulatory input, computational support and external advisory needs.

2. Project Maturation and PI Enablement

• Work with scientific leads to convert promising scientific ideas into structured translational project charters.
• Help define each project’s scientific premise, therapeutic hypothesis, disease relevance, target validation status, modality options, evidence gaps, milestones, risks, dependencies, budget needs and decision criteria together with scientific leads.
• Support PIs in designing milestone-based workplans that connect experiments to translational decisions, funding opportunities or spinout readiness.
• Act as an enabling partner to PIs by helping unblock dependencies, connect relevant expertise and prepare projects for leadership or external review.

3. Stage-Gate and Decision Frameworks

• Establish and operationalise a practical stage-gate framework for early therapeutic projects in RNA and neurology.
• Define progression criteria across stages such as discovery idea, target validation, translational entry, modality selection, preclinical proof of concept and BD/funding readiness.

6. External Funding or Spinout Readiness

• Prepare selected projects, together with Tech-Biz team, for funding, partnership or spinout action by ensuring that project rationale, data package, development plan and next value-inflection milestone are clearly defined.
• Provide input into grant and funding proposals by ensuring that milestones, workplans, risks, deliverables and decision points are realistic and translationally meaningful.

Requirements

• PhD, MD, PharmD, MBA with minimum 10 to 12 years of relevant experience in biomedical research, biotech/pharma, translational programme management, research commercialisation, R&D strategy, venture building, or innovation operations, with demonstrated experience working across scientific, operational and external-facing stakeholders.
• Strong understanding of the path from discovery biology to translational development.
• Demonstrated ability to structure ambiguous scientific opportunities into clear project plans with milestones, risks, dependencies, decision criteria and resource requirements.
• Experience working with scientists, clinicians, BD teams, project managers, external advisors, funders, industry partners or investors to advance early-stage biomedical opportunities.
• Familiarity with RNA & DNA Technologies, population health, precision medicine, spatial & single cell systems, or AI & compute areas would be advantageous.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate complex scientific and development issues into clear decision-ready materials.

The above eligibility criteria are not exhaustive. A*STAR may include additional selection criteria based on its prevailing recruitment policies. These policies may be amended from time to time without notice. We regret that only shortlisted candidates will be notified.