Principal Scientist: Target Discovery & Portfolio Strategy

xairatherapeutics; South San Francisco (CA); Hybrid; USD 164,000 - 205,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive compensation and benefits

Equity

Job summary

Xaira Therapeutics is seeking a Principal Scientist in immunology 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 build on Xaira's target discovery and antibody design platforms.

This role involves leading discovery programs, applying multi-omics data, and coordinating with design, engineering, and screening teams to translate

Qualifications

• 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.

Responsibilities

• 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.

Skills

Scientific judgment

Communication skills

Curiosity

Independence

Challenge assumptions

Education

PhD in immunology

Job description

Xaira Therapeutics is seeking a Principal Scientist in immunology 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 build on Xaira's target discovery and antibody design platforms.

This role involves leading discovery programs, applying multi-omics data, and coordinating with design, engineering, and screening teams to translate