Chief Scientific Officer

Enigma Search; Redwood City (CA); On-site; USD 300,000 - 600,000; Full time

Job summary

Enigma Search seeks an accomplished Chief Scientific Officer to join the executive leadership team and drive the scientific strategy for a rapidly advancing biologics-focused biotechnology company in California.

The CSO will oversee research, set portfolio priorities, and shepherd programs from target identification through preclinical and translational development into the clinic, with strong emphasis on Immunology & Inflammation and biologics strategy.

Qualifications

• PhD in Immunology or related field strongly preferred; MD with relevant experience may be considered.
• 10+ years in biotech/pharma with increasing leadership responsibility.
• Deep expertise in Immunology & Inflammation and biologics development.
• Experience translating discovery to IND and clinical development.
• Proven ability leading multidisciplinary scientific teams and engaging with KOLs and investors.

Responsibilities

• Set the scientific vision and research strategy for the organization.
• Identify novel therapeutic targets and translational potential across immunology and inflammatory diseases.
• Lead programs from discovery through preclinical and translational development to clinical development.
• Provide leadership for biologic therapeutics development including antibodies and multi-specifics.
• Guide in vivo pharmacology, animal models, and translational science to support human translation.
• Build and mentor a high-performing scientific organization and define portfolio priorities.
• Collaborate with Clinical Development, Regulatory, CMC, and BD to advance programs.

Skills

Immunology & inflammation leadership

Biologic therapeutics development

In vivo pharmacology

Strategic leadership

KOL engagement

Education

PhD in Immunology or related field

MD with relevant scientific/drug development experience

Job description

We are seeking an accomplished Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) to join the executive leadership team of a well-funded, privately held biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of differentiated biologic therapeutics.

The CSO will set the scientific vision and strategy for the organization, lead the research function, and play a critical role in identifying and advancing compelling therapeutic targets and programs. The position requires deep expertise in Immunology & Inflammation (I&I), extensive biologics experience, and a demonstrated ability to translate promising science from target identification through discovery, preclinical development, and ultimately into the clinic.

The ideal candidate may currently be a CSO or a highly accomplished VP-level scientific leader prepared to step into a broader executive leadership role.

Key Responsibilities

• Establish and lead the company's overall scientific vision, research strategy, and therapeutic portfolio.
• Identify and critically evaluate novel therapeutic targets based on mechanism of action, disease biology, competitive landscape, translational potential, and clinical relevance.
• Lead programs from target identification and validation through discovery, preclinical and translational development, and clinical development.
• Provide scientific leadership for the discovery and development of biologic therapeutics, including antibody and multi-specific antibody approaches.
• Determine the appropriate experiments, models, and evidence required to advance programs and make rigorous go/no-go decisions.
• Provide leadership around in vivo pharmacology and animal models, ensuring preclinical strategies appropriately support translation into human disease.
• Build, lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing scientific organization.
• Establish research priorities and provide strategic input into the company's mid- and long-term portfolio strategy.
• Partner closely with Clinical Development, Regulatory, CMC, Business Development, and other functions to successfully advance programs.
• Maintain a deep understanding of the competitive and scientific landscape across immunology, inflammation, biologics, and emerging therapeutic targets.
• Establish and maintain relationships with leading Key Opinion Leaders (KOLs), academic researchers, clinicians, and external scientific collaborators.
• Represent the company's science and pipeline externally with investors, partners, KOLs, and the broader scientific community.
• Communicate complex scientific concepts clearly and confidently, including responding to rigorous scientific and investor questions.
• Support business development, partnering, intellectual property, and external alliance activities.
• Foster a culture of scientific rigor, innovation, collaboration, accountability, and urgency.

Required Qualifications

• PhD in Immunology or a closely related scientific discipline strongly preferred. An MD with significant relevant scientific and drug development experience may also be considered.
• Approximately 10+ years of biotechnology and/or pharmaceutical industry experience with increasing scientific leadership responsibility.
• Deep expertise in Immunology & Inflammation, including broad knowledge of autoimmune and immune-mediated diseases.
• Demonstrated ability to understand and evaluate the relationship between therapeutic targets, mechanisms of action, and underlying disease biology.
• Strong understanding of the current and emerging I&I target landscape and the ability to critically assess which targets warrant therapeutic development.
• Extensive experience discovering and developing biologic therapeutics.
• Strong expertise in target identification, target validation, translational biology, and preclinical drug development.
• Demonstrated experience advancing programs from discovery toward IND and clinical development.
• Significant experience designing and evaluating in vivo models and determining the evidence required to support clinical translation.
• Proven ability to lead multidisciplinary scientific teams and therapeutic portfolios.
• Strong track record of scientific and drug development accomplishments.
• Ability to engage credibly with KOLs, investors, board members, scientific collaborators, and other external stakeholders.
• Strong people leadership skills with a demonstrated ability to build productive and collaborative scientific organizations.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with multiple biologic modalities, including engineered antibodies, bispecific or multi-specific antibodies, Fc-fusion proteins, and other biologic scaffolds.
• Experience with ADCs, single-cell omics, and emerging biologic technologies.
• Broad disease-area expertise across autoimmune, inflammatory, and other immune-mediated diseases, rather than specialization in a single indication.
• Experience working in both large pharmaceutical organizations and small-to-mid-sized biotechnology companies.
• Leadership experience within a successful clinical-stage or venture-backed biotechnology company.
• Strong relationships with leading investigators and KOLs across the immunology field.
• Strong publication and/or patent record.
• Experience communicating scientific strategy and therapeutic programs to investors and boards.

The successful candidate will combine the scientific depth of a leading immunologist with the judgment and execution capabilities of an experienced drug developer.

This individual should be able to evaluate a therapeutic target and clearly articulate why the biology is compelling, how the target relates to disease, what evidence is necessary to validate the hypothesis, and how the program should progress from discovery into development.

The ideal candidate will also bring broad knowledge of the I&I landscape and understand why a particular target or therapeutic approach may succeed in one disease setting but not another.

Beyond scientific expertise, the CSO must be an effective organizational leader who can build and motivate teams, collaborate across functions, develop strong relationships with external scientific leaders, and confidently represent the company's science with investors and other stakeholders.

Company Opportunity

This is an opportunity to join a well-capitalized biotechnology company backed by experienced life sciences investors and leadership with a strong track record in biologic and antibody drug development.

The company is advancing a growing pipeline across Immunology & Inflammation as well as additional therapeutic areas, with its lead program progressing through development toward first-in-human studies.

The organization combines the resources and scientific rigor needed to advance sophisticated biologic programs with the speed and entrepreneurial environment of a smaller biotechnology company.

For an experienced scientific leader, the role provides the opportunity to shape the company's scientific strategy, build and lead the research organization, influence portfolio decisions at the executive level, and play a central role in advancing the next generation of therapeutic programs.