Lead in TIL Reprogramming

Weill Cornell Medicine - Qatar; New York (NY); On-site; USD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Weill Cornell Medicine - Qatar is seeking a leader for a focused team to advance tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapies. The successful candidate will reprogram and optimize TILs, balancing deep biological insights with disciplined product development.

This role demands a Ph.D. holder with over 10 years of experience in TIL biology, leadership experience, and strong communication skills. The position will integrate innovation with clinical translation in a collaborative, diverse environment.

Qualifications

• Over 10 years of hands-on expertise in TIL biology.
• Experience in T cell immunology and genetic engineering.
• Familiarity with regulatory compliance standards.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage a team focused on TIL therapies.
• Design strategies to enhance TIL function.
• Drive innovations in TIL manufacturing.

Skills

Leadership in project management

Expertise in TIL biology

Knowledge in regulatory documentation

Communication and collaboration

Education

Ph.D. in immunology, cancer biology, or related field

Tools

Gene engineering tools

Data management systems

Job description

*As required under NYC Human Rights Law Int 1208-2018 - Salary range for this role when Hired for NYC Offices

Position Summary

Responsible for leading a focused team advancing next-generation tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapies. This role seeks to reprogram and optimize TILs through integrated media, pharmacologic, and gene engineering strategies to enhance potency, persistence, and clinical efficacy. This position sits at the interface of deep biological discovery and disciplined product development, translating mechanistic insights into scalable processes and IND-ready cell therapy candidates. The successful candidate will play a key role in disrupting current TIL paradigms and advancing transformative therapies from concept to early clinical development.

Job Responsibilities

• Recruit, lead and manage a small, multidisciplinary team focused on tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) reprogramming and optimization.
• Design and execute strategies to enhance TIL function including through media and metabolic interventions (nutrients, cytokines); drugs targeting key pathways; gene engineering approaches (CRISPR, viral/non-viral editing, synthetic circuits).
• Drive process innovation and disruption, challenging current TIL manufacturing paradigms to improve potency, persistence, scalability, and cost.
• Integrate deep mechanistic discovery (e.g., T cell biology, tumor microenvironment, translatome/epitope discovery) with translational objectives.
• Develop and optimize robust, scalable workflows for TIL expansion, activation, and modification suitable for clinical translation.
• Lead preclinical development, including: In vitro functional assays and high-dimensional profiling, in vivo biodistribution and persistence, efficacy and toxicity analyses, biomarker strategy development.
• Translate discoveries into disciplined product development, defining target product profiles and critical quality attributes (CQAs); establish data-driven decision frameworks to prioritize candidates and advance programs through stage gates.
• Contribute to and coordinate IND documentation, including authorship of relevant sections (CMC, pharmacology/toxicology summaries, investigator brochure inputs).
• Collaborate cross-functionally with process development, CMC, regulatory, clinical, and close external partners.
• Mentor team members and foster a high-performance, innovative, and translationally focused culture.

Education

• Ph.D. in immunology, cancer biology, bioengineering, or related field, with postdoctoral training and relevant experience in T cell therapy an appropriate field.

Experience

• More than 10 years of hands‑on expertise in TIL biology and methods, T cell immunology, genetic T cell engineering, CRISPR screening, molecular biology, mouse models, and clinical translation.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Proven ability to lead projects/teams and translate discovery into preclinical development, with familiarity in process development and scalability for cell therapies.
• Working knowledge of IND-enabling studies (pharmacology, tox) and regulatory documentation, with strong communication and cross-functional collaboration skills.
• Familiarity with institutional and federal regulatory documentation and compliance standards.
• Effectively manages biospecimen handling and sample integrity practices.
• Knowledge of data management systems and electronic data integrity principles.

Working Conditions/Physical Demands

Ability to work flexible hours, evenings and weekends, when requested for special projects.

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