Senior Director, Oncology Program Lead

Generate Biomedicines; Somerville (MA); On-site; USD 210,000 - 300,000; Full time

Job summary

Generate:Biomedicines is seeking a Senior Director, Scientific Project Lead, Oncology to lead complex, cross‑functional programs from concept through preclinical development and contribute to early strategy. This role blends people management with broad scientific leadership across research, translational, and development functions.

The ideal candidate will drive program direction, partner with executive stakeholders, and ensure rigorous data packages while mentoring a growing team in a

Qualifications

• PhD, MD, or MD/PhD in cancer biology, immuno‑oncology, or another discipline relevant to therapeutic discovery and development.
• 12+ years of relevant experience in biotech, pharma, academia, or a related scientific environment.
• Experience identifying, evaluating, or advancing therapeutic targets and preclinical programs in oncology.
• Experience designing or interpreting preclinical oncology studies, including in vitro functional assays, in vivo efficacy models, and pharmacodynamic or mechanistic studies.
• Experience managing and developing scientists or other technical professionals, combined with a strong record of leading multidisciplinary teams through influence.
• Experience shaping program strategy, influencing senior stakeholders, and synthesizing complex scientific issues into sound decisions and clear governance recommendations, sometimes with incomplete information, while navigating scientific and resource tradeoffs in a matrixed environment.
• Strong operational leadership, learning agility, intellectual curiosity, and comfort operating in ambiguous and evolving environments, with a practical approach to solving problems and unblocking teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead complex, cross-functional programs from concept and early discovery through preclinical development, with accountability for scientific strategy, execution quality, team effectiveness, risk management, and stage-gate readiness.
• Develop and maintain integrated program strategies and plans that align scientific objectives, timelines, dependencies, critical path activities, and resourcing.
• Sets scientific program direction and identify and advance therapeutic opportunities and target proposals by integrating disease biology, Generate’s differentiated platform capabilities, internal and external evidence, translational and clinical rationale, and competitive intelligence.
• Facilitate cross-functional discussions, resolve divergent perspectives, make clear recommendations, own key scientific decisions within the project team structure, and drive timely go/no-go recommendations.
• Drive execution across wet lab, computational, platform, translational, and preclinical workstreams, ensuring scientific rigor, reproducibility, strong documentation, and high-quality data packages.
• Build effective operating mechanisms for program planning, governance preparation, risk tracking, decision-making, and cross-functional accountability.
• Manage, coach, and develop direct reports through clear objectives, regular feedback, performance management, compensation recommendations, and career development; mentor cross-functional team members in partnership with their functional managers.

Skills

Scientific leadership

Cross-functional leadership

Project management

Biology expertise

Strategic thinking

Mentoring

Decision making

Education

PhD in cancer biology

MD or MD/PhD

Tools

Data analysis software

Project management software

LIMS

Job description

Generate:Biomedicines is seeking a Senior Director, Scientific Project Lead, Oncology to lead complex, cross‑functional programs from concept through preclinical development and contribute to early strategy. This role blends people management with broad scientific leadership across research, translational, and development functions.

The ideal candidate will drive program direction, partner with executive stakeholders, and ensure rigorous data packages while mentoring a growing team in a