Principal Scientist, Target Discovery & Portfolio Strategy

Xaira; South San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 164,000 - 205,000; Full time

Job summary

Xaira Therapeutics seeks a Principal Scientist with a strong immunology background to identify new therapeutic opportunities and shape the company’s portfolio. You will integrate internal datasets, human genetics, and published research to prioritize opportunities that address patient needs and support antibody design platforms.

The role requires PhD in immunology with 6+ years' industry experience, along with the ability to translate findings into strategic decisions, communicate across teams,

Qualifications

• PhD in immunology or related field with 6+ years of industry experience in drug discovery or translational development.
• Experience drawing on human genetics, multi-omics, and other human data to evaluate therapeutic hypotheses.
• Strong scientific judgment; able to distinguish causal opportunities from associations.
• Clear communication skills across disciplines and teams.

Responsibilities

• Identify disease areas with unmet needs and evaluate mechanisms and patient subsets.
• Prioritize targets using human genetics and multi-omics data.
• Assess platform fit with design, engineering, and screening teams.
• Evaluate evidence, direction of target modulation, safety risks, and knowledge gaps.
• Develop concise target assessments covering rationale, patient selection, competition, differentiation, and risks.
• Monitor publications and clinical results to inform priorities and opportunities.
• Apply AI tools to analyze multi-modal data.
• Lead discovery programs or platform initiatives.

Skills

Immunology

Genomics & multi-omics

Scientific judgement

Communication skills

Education

PhD in immunology

Job description

About Xaira Therapeutics

Xaira is an innovative biotech startup focused on leveraging AI to transform drug discovery and development. The company is leading the development of generative AI models to design protein and antibody therapeutics, enabling the creation of medicines against historically hard-to-drug molecular targets. It is also developing foundation models for biology and disease to enable better target elucidation and patient stratification. Collectively, these technologies aim to continually enable the identification of novel therapies and to improve success in drug development. Xaira is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, and London.

About the Role

We are looking for a Principal Scientist with a strong background in immunology to identify new therapeutic opportunities and help shape Xaira’s portfolio.

You will integrate internal datasets, human genetics, and published research to prioritize opportunities that address patient needs and build on Xaira’s target discovery and antibody design platforms. This role is ideal for someone who enjoys connecting scientific findings and translating them into strategic decisions.

In this role, you will:

• Identify promising disease areas. Assess unmet needs, disease mechanisms, patient subsets, and the limitations of current treatments.
• Find and prioritize targets. Combine human genetics, functional genomics, genome-scale multi-omics datasets, and patient data to develop strong therapeutic hypotheses.
• Assess platform fit. Work with molecular design, protein engineering, and functional screening teams to identify opportunities where our platforms could offer a therapeutic advantage.
• Evaluate the evidence. Assess causality, the desired direction of target modulation, safety risks, and key knowledge gaps.
• Build clear recommendations. Develop concise target assessments covering disease rationale, patient selection, competition, differentiation, and risks.
• Track emerging science and competition. Follow publications and clinical results, and monitor the competitive landscape to identify new opportunities and inform priorities.
• Use AI tools to analyze multi-modal data.
• Lead discovery programs or platform initiatives.

We are looking for someone with:

• PhD in immunology or a related field with 6+ years of industry experience in drug discovery, target discovery, preclinical drug development, or translational drug development.
• Experience drawing on human genetics, genome-scale multi-omics datasets, and other human data alongside cell biology, disease biology, and clinical findings to evaluate therapeutic hypotheses.
• Strong scientific judgment and the ability to distinguish an interesting association from a credible therapeutic opportunity.
• Clear communication skills and the ability to guide decisions across disciplines.
• Curiosity, independence, and a willingness to challenge assumptions and revise recommendations as the evidence evolves.

Compensation

We offer a competitive compensation and benefits package, seeking to provide an open, flexible, and friendly work environment to empower employees and provide them with a platform to develop their long-term careers. A Summary of Benefits is available for all applicants. We offer a competitive package that includes base salary, bonus, and equity. The base pay range for this position is expected to be $164,000-$205,000 annually; however, the base pay offered may vary depending on the market, job-related knowledge, skills and capabilities, and experience.

Xaira Therapeutics an equal-opportunity employer. We believe that our strength is in our differences. Our goal to build a diverse and inclusive team began on day one, and it will never end.

Voluntary Self-Identification

For government reporting purposes, we ask candidates to respond to the below self-identification survey.Completion of the form is entirely voluntary. Whatever your decision, it will not be considered in the hiringprocess or thereafter. Any information that you do provide will be recorded and maintained in a confidential file.

As set forth in Xaira Therapeutics’s Equal Employment Opportunity policy,we do not discriminate on the basis of any protected group status under any applicable law.

If you believe you belong to any of the categories of protected veterans listed below, please indicate by making the appropriate selection.As a government contractor subject to the Vietnam Era Veterans Readjustment Assistance Act (VEVRAA), we request this information in order to measurethe effectiveness of the outreach and positive recruitment efforts we undertake pursuant to VEVRAA. Classification of protected categoriesis as follows:

A "disabled veteran" is one of the following: a veteran of the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service who is entitled to compensation (or who but for the receipt of military retired pay would be entitled to compensation) under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs; or a person who was discharged or released from active duty because of a service-connected disability.

A "recently separated veteran" means any veteran during the three-year period beginning on the date of such veteran's discharge or release from active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval, or air service.

An "active duty wartime or campaign badge veteran" means a veteran who served on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service during a war, or in a campaign or expedition for which a campaign badge has been authorized under the laws administered by the Department of Defense.

An "Armed forces service medal veteran" means a veteran who, while serving on active duty in the U.S. military, ground, naval or air service, participated in a United States military operation for which an Armed Forces service medal was awarded pursuant to Executive Order 12985.