Exec Director, Reverse Translation in Oncology

Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine; Raritan (NJ); On-site; USD 196,000 - 343,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Vacation -120 hours per year

Sick time - 40 hours per year

Holiday pay -13 days per year

Parental Leave - 480 hours per year

Volunteer Leave - 32 hours per year

Job summary

Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine seeks a Senior/Executive Director for Reverse Translation in Oncology Translational Research. You will lead a lab-based reverse-translation group across Spring House, Cambridge, and San Diego, aligning with Discovery and Medical Affairs to drive mechanistic insights and portfolio strategy.

You will mentor scientists, run omics and organoid models, and shape cross-functional collaboration to accelerate breakthroughs from bench to bedside.

Qualifications

• PhD, MD, or MD/PhD in cancer biology, molecular biology, immunology, pharmacology, or related.
• 10+ years (Sr Director) / 12+ years (Exec Director) in oncology discovery or translational research, including hands-on lab leadership.
• Broad MOA/MOR expertise and a track record turning clinical observations into testable lab hypotheses.
• Built and led wet-lab teams and run omics and functional-characterization platforms.
• Effective at the Discovery-TR interface in a matrix, across multiple disease areas.
• Strong publication record (first/last author) and clear scientific communication.

Responsibilities

• Lead independent studies on high-priority mechanistic questions that cut across the TA, with the mandate and resources to pursue them.
• Prioritize across three question types: disease-focused/cross-MOA, MOA-focused/cross-disease, and shelved programs mined for learnings that inform live assets.
• Develop findings into next-generation hypotheses and combination strategies that feed pipeline growth with Discovery.
• Take in and prioritize active mechanistic questions from the disease-area TR leads across all solid and heme indications.
• Lead laboratory-based research to address why programs work, why they fail, and how resistance develops - returning usable answers on a defined clock.
• Design and test combination strategies that potentiate benefit and break resistance.
• Build and run the lab; consolidate DAS-program scientists under one leader, and structure resources to support deep expertise on the different key anticancer MOAs.
• Own the platform - omics, functional/perturbation biology, and in vitro/in vivo and organoid models - for mechanistic characterization of drugs and TR samples.
• There may be opportunity to grow the team strategically as the mandate expands.
• Serve as a member of the Core SLT for Translational Research, contributing to org-wide scientific strategy and priorities.
• Serve as the scientific link between reverse translation and Discovery, with scope jointly defined with Discovery leadership; may be heavily involved in early-development and Discovery governance meetings.
• Align closely with Medical Affairs and Commercial to connect mechanistic insight to lifecycle and portfolio priorities.
• Drive mechanism-driven, TR-led publications, including the Mechanism Series.
• Mentor scientists and build a culture of rigor and candid scientific debate.
• Measure the group by impact on program and portfolio decisions, not activity.

Skills

MOA/MOR expertise

Wet-lab leadership

Scientific communication

Multiomics

Org leadership

Education

PhD/MD/MD-PhD in cancer biology or related

Tools

Omics platforms

Organoid models

Perturbation biology

Job description

Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine seeks a Senior/Executive Director for Reverse Translation in Oncology Translational Research. You will lead a lab-based reverse-translation group across Spring House, Cambridge, and San Diego, aligning with Discovery and Medical Affairs to drive mechanistic insights and portfolio strategy.

You will mentor scientists, run omics and organoid models, and shape cross-functional collaboration to accelerate breakthroughs from bench to bedside.