Director, Cancer Vaccine Preclinical Strategy

AstraZeneca plc; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 175,000 - 263,000; Full time

Job summary

AstraZeneca plc in Boston seeks a Director of Cancer Vaccine Preclinical Strategy to lead a portfolio of modalities, drive immune responses, and translate programs to the clinic. The role requires guiding antigen discovery, vaccine design, and combinatorial approaches to amplify impact.

You will lead cross-functional teams, build IP, foster collaboration with senior stakeholders in Research and Translational Medicine, and accelerate decision-making and delivery.

Qualifications

• PhD or equivalent in immunology, oncology, molecular biology, biochemistry or related discipline with 10+ years industry experience.
• Proven experience developing novel immunological approaches to deploy immunity to fight tumors.
• Experience with immune profiling, tumor modelling, systems biology, and/or immune oncology.
• Experience leading interdisciplinary vaccine discovery or development programs.
• Proven experience leading and managing junior colleagues.

Responsibilities

• Develop a preclinical pipeline for the design, testing, and delivery of cancer vaccine programs.
• Implement a strategy to explore multiple vaccine modalities to train immunity to eliminate tumors.
• Create an approach to evaluate combinatorial modalities to maximize control, clearance, and surveillance.
• Develop a strategy to drive target discovery and evaluation.
• Work with cross-disciplinary teams to guide iterative antigen design and preclinical evaluation.
• Establish strategic relationships across the organization and functions.
• Build animal models for rapid evaluation of emerging modalities.
• Support the development of a regulatory strategy to translate programs to clinic.
• Create and foster effective relationships with senior and executive stakeholders across functions.
• Pioneer AI based strategies to accelerate the pace of innovation at all levels of research.
• Collaborate and guide evaluation of novel business development opportunities.
• Communicate results internally and externally, including risks and limitations.
• Define training standards for junior colleagues in line with best practices.

Skills

Leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Immunology expertise

Communication skills

Education

PhD or equivalent in immunology, oncology, molecular biology, biochemistry or related discipline

Job description

The Director of Cancer Vaccine Preclinical Strategy is responsible for leading efforts to develop and deliver a portfolio of the new modalities to train the immune system to recognize and eliminate malignant cells. The Director will build on previous experience in cancer vaccines to exploit various vaccine platforms to drive long-lived, robust immune responses to prevent, treat, and drive long-lived surveillance of tumors. Building on the current state of the field, the Director will be tasked with developing preclinical strategy, guiding antigen discovery, supporting vaccine design, and developing combinatorial approaches to amplify clinical impact. The candidate will lead work across cross-functional teams to build programs. The Director will be responsible for driving collaboration and influencing internal stakeholders. In addition, the Director will develop and build a cutting-edge portfolio of intellectual property - guiding a team that fosters high-performance and innovation; building capabilities across immunology, oncology, and translational sciences; and establishing clear operating mechanisms to accelerate decision-making and delivery.

Accountabilities

• Develop a preclinical pipeline for the design, testing, and delivery of cancer vaccine programs
• Implement a strategy to explore multiple vaccine modalities to train immunity to eliminate tumors
• Create an approach to evaluate combinatorial modalities to maximize control, clearance, and surveillance
• Develop a strategy to drive target discovery and evaluation
• Work with cross-disciplinary teams to guide iterative antigen design and preclinical evaluation
• Establish strategic relationships across the organization and functions
• Build animal models for rapid evaluation of emerging modalities
• Support the development of a regulatory strategy to translate programs to clinic
• Create and foster effective relationships with senior and executive stakeholders in Research, Bioprocess Development, Clinical and Translational Medicine and Global Project Teams to ensure alignment across functions
• Pioneer AI based strategies to accelerate the pace of innovation at all levels of research
• Collaborate and guide the evaluation of novel business development opportunities
• Communicate results internally and externally, as well as their associated risks, uncertainties and limitations
• Define the training standards for junior colleagues in line with best practices and principles

Qualifications

• PhD or equivalent in immunology, oncology, molecular biology, biochemistry or a related discipline with 10+ yrs industry experience
• Proven experience developing novel immunological approaches to deploy immunity to fight tumors
• Proven experience with immune profiling, tumor modelling, systems biology, and/or immune oncology
• Experience working in a cross-functional team to maximize expertise and accelerate success
• Experience developing and implementing novel methods to support vaccine development
• Experience supporting or leading interdisciplinary vaccine discovery or development programs
• Proven experience leading and managing junior colleagues
• Proven experience developing and controlling budgets
• Excellent written and verbal communication, business analysis, and consultancy skills

The annual base pay for this position ranges from $175,498.40 - $263,247.60 USD. Hourly and salaried non-exempt employees will also be paid overtime pay when working qualifying overtime hours. Base pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including market location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. In addition, our positions offer a short-term incentive bonus opportunity; eligibility toparticipatein our equity-based long-term incentive program (salaried roles), to receive a retirement contribution (hourly roles), and commission payment eligibility (sales roles). Benefits offered included a qualified retirement program [401(k) plan]; paid vacation and holidays; paid leaves; and, health benefits including medical, prescription drug, dental, and vision coveragein accordance withthe terms and conditions of the applicable plans.Additionaldetails of participation in these benefit plans will be provided if an employee receives an offer of employment. If hired, employee will be in an at-will position and the Company reserves the right to modify base pay (as well as any other discretionary payment or compensation program) at any time, including for reasons related to individual performance, Company or individual department/team performance, and market factors.

Date Posted

29-Sept-2026

Closing Date

12-Oct-2026

Our mission is to build an inclusive environment where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants and employees. In furtherance of that mission, we welcome and consider applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of their protected characteristics. If you have a disability or special need that requires accommodation, please complete the corresponding section in the application form.