Director, Ophthalmology Pharmacology & Translational Science

Tarsus Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; California (MO); Hybrid; USD 188,000 - 264,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Stock equity

Bonus opportunities

Hybrid work

Remote work considered

Job summary

Tarsus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is seeking a Director, Pharmacology to lead scientific strategy across the pipeline, bridging discovery and early clinical development. This role will establish external partnerships, guide translational MOA work, and build a team reporting to the VP, Translational Science in Irvine, CA.

Travel up to 30% may be required. The position emphasizes deep pharmacology expertise, cross-functional teamwork, and a strong entrepreneurial mindset to advance category-creating

Qualifications

• PhD or MD/PhD in Biology, Pharmacology, Molecular or Cell biology or related life sciences field with 10 years experience in a pharmaceutical or biotechnology industry setting.
• Knowledge and solid understanding of emerging research, mechanisms of action and disease models preclinically and clinically.
• Demonstrated experience developing and implementing strategies — including assay selection, qualification, and CRO-based execution — to support proof of concept, MOA, route and dose selection.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, including writing, reviewing, and editing scientific documents.
• Strong interpersonal skills, diplomacy, and positive-influencing abilities.
• Proven influencing and partnering skills to drive decision-making within multidisciplinary, matrixed teams.
• Effective project management skills.
• Strong presentation skills; must be able to provide succinct, strategic, and actionable insights.
• Scientifically independent, proactive self-starter who can lead work independently, anticipate issues, and identify the next step without direction.
• Enterprise and entrepreneurial mindset.

Responsibilities

• Subject Matter Expert in Pharmacology, Pathophysiology and drug target biology.
• Establish and maintain strong external partnerships with key opinion leaders, academic institutions and other external partners.
• Partner with key internal experts across the company — including Clinical Development, Innovation Lab, and Business Development (BD).
• Drive stage-appropriate project translational strategy for a differentiated asset to address unmet patient need with key “Go/No Go” decision points.
• Execute non-clinical experiments to support mechanism-of-action (MOA) related translational questions as well as overall understanding of disease biology, treatment approaches, routes of administration, and target engagement.
• Develop deep internal expertise in disease areas within ophthalmology, which are prioritized by the company.
• Elucidate mechanisms of action, evaluate disease models and preclinical proof-of-concept approaches, and partner with Pharmacokinetics to identify first-in-human dosing requirements.
• Generate clear, testable translational hypotheses addressing mechanism of action and pharmacodynamics, and supporting patient selection.
• Assess relevant models, select and manage CRO partners, and interact with academic experts to evaluate potential assets.
• Partner with BD and bring scientific expertise to evaluate and triage external assets and opportunities, identify key risks and mitigation plans, and build additional evidence to enable Go/No Go decisions.
• Partner with Innovation Lab team to prioritize competing hypotheses, identify possible assets, and enable advancement into clinical development.
• Build open relationships with peers and external partners to ensure best decision making.
• Decision Making - Demonstrates strong decision-making by applying structured analysis to complex challenges, balancing competing priorities and long-term impacts while engaging stakeholders and driving solutions aligned with organizational goals.
• Collaboration and Team Building - Promotes collaboration by aligning diverse teams around shared goals, fostering healthy debate to advance outcomes, and building strong networks that strengthen organizational effectiveness and cross-team learning.
• Outcome Driven - Demonstrates strong outcomes focus by aligning teams around shared priorities, proactively addressing risks and dependencies, and driving cross-functional accountability to sustain progress and deliver results.
• Empowering Others - Fosters empowerment by aligning authority with accountability, developing leaders’ decision-making capability, and creating systems that support performance and growth.
• Emotional Intelligence - Foster trust and psychological safety, navigating complex interpersonal dynamics with compassion and accountability, and adapting leadership style to support others while maintaining composure under pressure.

Skills

Pharmacology expertise

Strategic thinking

Oral and written communication

Leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Project management

Decision making

Entrepreneurial mindset

Influencing skills

Presentation skills

Education

PhD or MD/PhD in Biology, Pharmacology or related life sciences

Job description

Tarsus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is seeking a Director, Pharmacology to lead scientific strategy across the pipeline, bridging discovery and early clinical development. This role will establish external partnerships, guide translational MOA work, and build a team reporting to the VP, Translational Science in Irvine, CA.

Travel up to 30% may be required. The position emphasizes deep pharmacology expertise, cross-functional teamwork, and a strong entrepreneurial mindset to advance category-creating