Chief Scientific Officer

Tessering Biosciences; New York (NY); On-site; USD 180,000 - 300,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Founding-team equity

Publication support

Professional development budget

Job summary

Tessering Biosciences Inc. is seeking an exceptional scientist to lead preclinical discovery and development in a startup setting focused on women's health.

You will steer in vitro/in vivo pharmacology, translational studies, and IND-enabling work, building a robust preclinical program. You will define scientific vision, pursue external opportunities, and recruit a high-caliber team as the company scales, shaping a portfolio with long-term impact on patients.

Qualifications

• PhD in pharmacology, reproductive biology, endocrinology, toxicology, cell/molecular biology, pharmaceutical sciences, or closely related field.
• Significant experience in small-molecule drug discovery and preclinical development.
• Deep hands-on expertise in vitro and in vivo pharmacology; independently design and interpret experiments.
• Experience moving a program from discovery to IND-enabling development.
• Experience developing and transferring assays; ability to build new assays when needed.
• Experience designing pharmacology, PK, toxicology, and translational studies.
• Familiarity with GLP and contributing to GLP studies.
• Experience with reproductive toxicology programs.
• Excellent scientific writing for grants, proposals, regulatory materials.
• Ability to synthesize data across disciplines and make program-level decisions.
• Strong scientific communication across technical and non-technical audiences.

Responsibilities

• Lead preclinical drug development plans end-to-end with a focus on sex-specific biology.
• Define and communicate the scientific vision and long-term research roadmap.
• Identify opportunities and enabling technologies to strengthen the portfolio.
• Determine fastest rigorous path through development, including indication selection and regulatory strategy.
• Build robust technical capabilities and SOPs for infrastructure.
• Contribute to IND-enabling data packages and scientific writing.
• Lead grant strategy and writing for major applications; act as PI where appropriate.
• Recruit and lead Tessering’s scientific organization as programs grow.
• Develop company culture for rigor, strategy, and velocity.
• Operate with resourcefulness; learn quickly from data.
• Tackle complex problems with energy and ambition.

Skills

Small-molecule discovery

Preclinical development

In vitro & in vivo pharmacology

IND-enabling development

Assay development & transfer

Pharmacology PK/Tox

GLP knowledge

Reproductive toxicology

Scientific writing

Cross-disciplinary data synthesis

Scientific communication

Education

PhD in pharmacology or related

Job description

Tessering Biosciences is a biotech startup developing small-molecule therapeutics and computational tools to advance women’s health. Our approach is precise modulation of nuclear hormone receptor signaling at the tissue and sub-tissue level, enabling tolerable and effective solutions to unmet needs.

Our lead asset is a once-weekly, hormone-free oral contraceptive in lead optimization, a uterine estrogen receptor antagonist that offers a more targeted approach to preventing pregnancy than current oral and hormonal options, with the goal of mitigating side effects while improving convenience. Across our portfolio, we are working to better understand, model, and address the biological differences that contribute to the differential and disproportionate burden of disease experienced by women.

We're looking for an exceptional scientist and leader to join our founding team and direct our preclinical discovery and development programs. If you thrive with high agency, want your work to directly shape a company's trajectory, and are an innovator seeking to bring the frontier of drug development to women's health, this is the opportunity for you.

This role is for someone with gold hands, sharp scientific intuition, and the drive to do what could be the most important work of their career. We are seeking the kind of scientists who live at the most ambitious edge of their field, think across disciplines, and ultimately want to build and lead companies of their own someday.

Core Qualifications (Required)

• PhD in pharmacology, reproductive biology, endocrinology, toxicology, cell/molecular biology, pharmaceutical sciences, or a closely related field.
• Significant experience in small-molecule drug discovery and preclinical development, ideally including experience in biotechnology or pharmaceutical development.
• Deep hands-on expertise across both in vitro and in vivo pharmacology, with the ability to independently design, execute, troubleshoot, and interpret experiments.
• Demonstrated experience moving a therapeutic program from discovery or lead optimization toward IND-enabling development.
• Experience developing, validating, and transferring assays, including building new assays when established methods are insufficient.
• Experience designing and interpreting pharmacology, pharmacokinetic, toxicology, and translational studies.
• Working knowledge of GLP requirements and experience contributing to, overseeing, or preparing programs for GLP studies.
• Experience with reproductive and developmental toxicology, including Embryo-Fetal Development / DART Segment I studies or closely related reproductive toxicology programs.
• Excellent scientific writing skills, including demonstrated experience developing competitive grant applications, scientific proposals, regulatory materials, or other complex technical submissions.
• Ability to synthesize data across disciplines and make clear program-level decisions under uncertainty.
• Strong scientific communication skills across technical and non-technical audiences.

What You’ll Design / Build / Own

• Lead development and execution of preclinical drug development plans end-to-end, with a pipeline focus on sex-specific biology.
• Define, evolve, own, and communicate the Company’s scientific vision, innovation strategy, and long-term research roadmap to internal and external stakeholders.
• Identify emerging opportunities, enabling technologies, research priorities, and external innovation that will strengthen the Company’s portfolio and competitive position.
• Determine the fastest and most rigorous path through development, including creative approaches to indication selection, regulatory strategy, translational evidence, and lifecycle development.
• Build robust technical capabilities and SOPs that become core company infrastructure.
• Contribute directly to IND-enabling data packages and associated scientific writing, positioning programs for clinical and commercial success.
• Identify appropriate NIH, DoD, foundation, and other grant opportunities across our portfolio; lead scientific strategy and writing for major applications; and, where appropriate, serve as PI.
• Recruit and lead Tessering’s scientific organization as capital and programs expand.
• Develop and define company culture and our standards for rigor, strategy, and velocity.
• We move fast and focus on what matters most, taking smart risks and learning quickly from the data.
• We are resourceful and scrappy, doing more with less and finding creative ways around obstacles.
• We thrive in ambiguity and are energized by tackling complex, undefined problems.
• We are mission-driven and relentless about improving outcomes for patients.

What We Offer

Compensation & Equity

• Founding-team-level equity and substantial long-term upside; cash compensation aligned with pre-seed/seed stage, growing as the company grows.
• Co-author publication support.
• Professional development budget for conferences, courses, and continuous learning.

Impact & Growth

• Shape a category-defining company from the earliest stage with maximum ownership.
• Learn and engage with world-class advisors, clinicians, and researchers, build an unparalleled network.
• Directly impact seminal, underserved areas of women’s health.