Director, Translational Medicine

Meet Life Sciences; California; Hybrid; USD 250,000 - 360,000; Full time

Job summary

Meet Life Sciences Ltd. in California seeks a Director, Translational Medicine to lead strategy across preclinical and early clinical programs focused on inflammation and unmet medical needs.

You will connect mechanism, biomarkers, human disease biology, and clinical development while guiding external partners and cross-functional teams. This leadership role combines strategic direction with hands-on execution in a virtual-but-local model.

Qualifications

• PhD/MD/MD-PhD in biomedical or life sciences.
• 10+ years in biotech/pharma incl. director-level leadership.
• Proven track record bridging preclinical and early clinical development.
• Experience directing external translational assays.
• Deep knowledge of immunology, inflammation, and translational biomarkers.
• Experience with regulatory-enabling activities and early-phase programs.
• Strong data interpretation and omics analysis skills.
• Publications and/or patents.
• Startup or small biotech background.

Responsibilities

• Lead translational medicine strategies for preclinical and early clinical programs.
• Define biomarker strategies spanning discovery to regulatory work.
• Integrate human biology, disease biology, and data to inform planning.
• Partner with internal functions, CROs, and academic collaborators.
• Deliver translational content for regulatory submissions and protocols.
• Oversee external partners developing translational assays.
• Analyze complex preclinical and early clinical data and omics datasets.
• Communicate risks, opportunities, and recommendations to senior leaders.
• Contribute to publications, conferences, and IP.
• Build scalable processes for operations and growth.

Skills

Strategic leadership

Translational medicine

Cross-functional leadership

Biomarker strategy

Omics analysis

Regulatory exposure

Scientific communication

External partnerships

Education

PhD, MD, or MD/PhD

Job description

Director, Translational Medicine

Overview

Lead translational medicine strategy across preclinical and early clinical programs focused on inflammation and serious unmet medical needs. You will connect mechanism, biomarkers, human disease biology, and clinical development to help advance innovative therapies toward patients. This is a high-impact leadership opportunity for a scientifically rigorous professional who enjoys combining strategic direction with hands-on execution.

About our client

Our client is a clinical-stage biotechnology organization developing therapies for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. The organization values rigorous science, collaboration, and entrepreneurial problem-solving, and this role will help strengthen the translational foundation supporting its clinical pipeline.

The opportunity (Role summary)

You will lead translational strategy from discovery through early clinical development, ensuring that preclinical evidence, biomarker plans, and clinical hypotheses are aligned. You will partner with research, clinical development, clinical operations, regulatory teams, and external collaborators while representing translational medicine on cross-functional program teams.

This role follows a virtual-but-local model, with remote work available alongside weekly in-person meetings at the client’s headquarters.

Key responsibilities

• Lead translational medicine strategies for preclinical and early clinical programs.
• Define biomarker strategies spanning discovery, regulatory-enabling work, and clinical development.
• Integrate human biology, disease pathophysiology, and preclinical data to inform target validation, indication selection, dose rationale, and clinical plans.
• Partner with internal functions, contract research organizations, and academic collaborators to advance translational studies.
• Deliver translational content for regulatory submissions and clinical protocols.
• Oversee external partners developing and running assays and biomarker programs.
• Analyze complex preclinical, translational, early clinical, and omics datasets.
• Communicate translational risks, opportunities, and recommendations to senior leadership.
• Contribute to scientific publications, conference presentations, and intellectual property.
• Build scalable processes that support operational excellence and organizational growth.

What you’ll bring

• PhD, MD, or MD/PhD in a relevant biomedical or life sciences discipline.
• 10+ years of relevant biotechnology or pharmaceutical industry experience, including Director-level or equivalent leadership.
• Demonstrated success bridging preclinical research and early clinical development.
• Experience directing external organizations to develop and run translational assays.
• Deep knowledge of immunology, inflammation, human disease biology, and translational biomarkers.
• Experience with regulatory-enabling activities and early-phase clinical programs, including healthy-volunteer studies.
• Strong data interpretation, hypothesis-generation, and omics analysis skills.
• Scientific contributions through publications and/or patents.
• Prior experience in a startup or small biotechnology environment.
• Excellent communication, organization, project management, and cross-functional leadership skills.