Director, Pharmacology

Cellarity; Somerville (MA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 248,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare coverage

Annual incentive program

Retirement benefits

Job summary

Cellarity is seeking a Sr. Director, Pharmacology to lead preclinical pharmacology strategy across discovery programs and translate biology into in vivo outcomes.

You will oversee CRO studies and collaborate with biology, chemistry, DMPK, and translational science to advance programs from early discovery through candidate selection. Ideal candidates have a PhD in biology or pharmacology with 10–15+ years in biotech/pharma drug discovery, strong data integration and communication skills, and a

Qualifications

• Excellent written and verbal communication across scientific audiences.
• Ability to integrate diverse data into clear program narratives.
• Strong judgment to shape translational strategy across multiple programs.
• Experience coordinating across biology, chemistry, DMPK, and external partners.
• Track record of influencing decision-making in a matrixed environment.

Responsibilities

• Lead preclinical pharmacology strategy across multiple discovery programs, translating in vitro data to in vivo outcomes.
• Interpret PK/PD data and exposure–response relationships to inform decisions.
• Integrate data across biology, pharmacology, medicinal chemistry, and DMPK to craft program narratives.
• Oversee outsourced pharmacology studies and CRO relationships to ensure scientific rigor.
• Partner with internal teams to define critical experiments and determine additional studies needed.
• Provide strategic input to cross-functional program discussions from early discovery through candidate selection.
• Represent pharmacology in internal meetings, communicating risks and recommendations clearly.
• Contribute to broader translational approaches as the preclinical pipeline expands.

Skills

Communication skills

Data integration

Scientific judgment

Cross-functional collaboration

Narrative building

Education

PhD in biology/pharmacology

Tools

CRO management

Job description

What ifyou could join a rapidly growing company and play a critical role in bringing new medicines to patients through looking at and treating disease in a revolutionary way.

What this position is all about:

What if you could join a fast-moving research organization and help shape translational strategy across a growing preclinical pipeline? Cellarity is seeking a highly strategic Sr. Director, Pharmacology to connect biology, pharmacology, DMPK, and translational science across inflammation and hematology programs. Reporting to the Sr. Director of Lab Science, this role will partner closely with biology, chemistry, DMPK, toxicology, external CROs, and scientific leadership to drive programs from early discovery through candidate selection.

What you would be responsible for:

• Lead preclinical pharmacology strategy across multiple discovery programs, with a focus on translating in vitro biology and functional assay data into meaningful in vivo outcomes.
• Drive PK/PD interpretation, exposure-response assessment, target coverage analysis, and translational biomarker strategy to inform program decisions.
• Integrate data across biology, pharmacology, medicinal chemistry, and DMPK to build clear scientific narratives and guide candidate advancement.
• Oversee outsourced pharmacology studies and manage external CRO relationships to ensure studies are scientifically rigorous, well interpreted, and aligned to program objectives.
• Partner with internal scientific teams to define critical experiments, interpret data packages, and determine what additional studies are needed to advance programs with confidence.
• Provide strategic input to cross-functional program discussions from early discovery through candidate selection.
• Represent pharmacology at internal scientific and program meetings, communicating findings, risks, and recommendations with clarity and precision.
• Contribute to the development of broader translational approaches as the organization continues to expand its preclinical pipeline.

What experiences will you need:

• PhD in biology, pharmacology, or a related scientific discipline, with 10-15+ years of relevant experience in biotech or pharmaceutical drug discovery and development.
• Strong foundation in preclinical pharmacology with demonstrated experience translating biology into in vivo efficacy and PK/PD insight.
• Experience connecting in vitro findings to in-vivo outcomes, including target engagement, exposure-response relationships, and translational biomarker strategy.
• Exposure to DMPK and ability to partner effectively with DMPK scientists on program interpretation and advancement.
• Proven track record of working across biology, chemistry, pharmacology, and external collaborators to influence drug discovery strategy.
• Experience managing and interpreting outsourced pharmacology studies through CROs.
• Strong scientific judgment, data integration skills, and the ability to build decision-enabling narratives from diverse datasets.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to influence scientific teams and leadership in a matrixed environment.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, highly collaborative research environment with broad program visibility.

What will set you apart:

• Experience in hematology, particularly in combination with oncology.
• Experience supporting inflammation or immunology programs.
• Strong publication record spanning pharmacology, translational biology, medicinal chemistry, chemical biology, or drug discovery.
• Experience working in smaller, cross-functional biotech environments.
• Demonstrated ability to grow into broader translational leadership over time.

Company Summary:

Cellarity’s mission is to fundamentally redesign the way drugs are created for the sake of bringing new hope to patients. By shifting the focus from a single target to the underlying cellular dysfunction, we unravel the complexity of disease biology and create medicines that were never before possible. The company has developed unique capabilities that link biology and chemistry with high dimensional -omic data from which we design medicines against the cellular signature of disease. The Cellarity platform allows us to uncover new biology in diseases even in the absence of known causal targets. Cellarity is a privately held, clinical-phase drug discovery startup using AI and single-cell omics to develop life-changing medicines that are unreachable by traditional methods of drug discovery. Cellarity is a product of Flagship Pioneering's venture creation engine, which has conceived and created companies such as Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA), Generate: Biomedicines, and Lila Sciences.

Cellarity is committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status.

The salary range for this role is $180,000 - $248,000. Compensation for the role will depend on a number of factors, including a candidate’s qualifications, skills, competencies, and experience. Cellarity currently offers healthcare coverage, annual incentive program, retirement benefits and a broad range of other benefits. Compensation and benefits information is based on Cellarity’s good faith estimate as of the date of publication and may be modified in the future.

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