Senior Vice President, Translational Science

5AM Ventures; Berkeley (CA); On-site; USD 250,000 - 450,000; Full time

Job summary

Renasant Bio in Berkeley, CA seeks a Senior Vice President of Translational Science to lead programs from late discovery into the clinic, with IND enabling work and early clinical strategy.

You will oversee biology and translational science, guide dose selection, endpoints, and biomarker plans, and partner with the CSO, CMO, and senior leadership to advance programs to patients. This role requires strategic vision and strong cross-functional leadership.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. or MD/PhD in a relevant scientific discipline.
• 15+ years of drug development experience in biotech or pharma.
• Proven track record taking programs to Phase 1/2 in patients.
• Strong leadership and team-building experience.

Responsibilities

• Define and lead the translational strategy for programs from development candidate nomination through Phase 1/2.
• Serve as the translational science voice guiding go/no go decisions.
• Own the translational strategy to bring discovery programs into clinical development.
• Partner with CSO and CMO on dose selection, endpoints and readouts.

Skills

Leadership

Translational science

Drug development

Biotech/Pharma

Education

Ph.D. or MD/PhD in a relevant scientific discipline

Job description

Company Overview

At Renasant Bio, we are driven by a simple goal: to change what’s possible for patients with kidney disease. ADPKD remains one of the most challenging areas in medicine, and we believe it requires bold thinking, rigorous science, and a team committed to doing things differently.

We’re looking for individuals who bring both scientific rigor and creativity to hard problems, and who believe great work is built through respectful, direct collaboration. You communicate with honesty and transparency, adapt quickly as priorities evolve, and hold yourself—and others to a high standard. Above all, you operate with urgency and purpose, grounded in the knowledge that patients are waiting.

Based at Bakar Labs in Berkeley, CA, we are advancing new therapies designed to make a meaningful difference for patients.

The Opportunity

Renasant Bio is seeking a Senior Vice President, Translational Science to lead its programs from late discovery into the clinic. This is a new role, created as the company moves its lead programs toward development candidate nomination and first in human studies and will report directly to the Chief Scientific Officer.

The SVP, Translational Science, will act as one of our senior drug developers overseeing biology and translational science. They will bring the judgment that comes from having taken multiple small molecule programs through preclinical development and into Phase 1/2 trials. They will own the path from Renasant's biology into the clinic, with a primary focus on IND enabling work, early clinical strategy and the first studies in patients, grounded in a strong command of disease models and biomarkers.

Responsibilities

Translational strategy and drug development

• Define and lead the translational strategy for Renasant's corrector and potentiator programs, from development candidate nomination through Phase 1/2.
• Serve as the company's translational science voice, guiding go/no go decisions across biology, translational and related strategies that support our programs
• Own the translational strategy to support bringing molecules from discovery into clinical development
• Partner with our Chief Discovery Officer and Chief Medical Officer on decisions related to dose selection, endpoints and other related readouts.

Regulatory and external engagement

• Contribute to regulatory strategy and represent the science in pre-IND and other interactions with FDA and other agencies.

Leadership

• Lead and continuously develop a highly performing translational science team.
• Serve as a thought partner to the CSO, CDO, CEO and senior leadership team and work closely with research leadership and the Board.
• Communicate program strategy and data clearly to investors, partners and the Board.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. or M.D./Ph.D. in a relevant scientific discipline
• 15+ years of drug development experience in biotech or pharma, with a proven record as a seasoned drug developer.
• Demonstrated success taking multiple programs or proofs of concept from preclinical development into Phase 1 or Phase 2 studies in patients.
• Has successfully accelerated at least one program to the clinic.
• Deep small molecule drug development experience, including pharmacokinetics, pharmacology, toxicology and the path to IND is required.
• Experience spanning multiple therapeutic areas; renal experience is not required but considered ideal.
• Track record of building, managing and developing teams, and managing external partners such as CROs.
• Strong scientific judgment, with the ability to make clear decisions on incomplete data.
• Excellent communication skills with scientific, executive, Board and investor audiences.
• Has served as a trusted thought partner to senior leadership teams.

Preferred

• Experience in rare diseases, genetic or chronic diseases, including programs built on natural history data or surrogate endpoints.
• Biomarker strategy experience, including imaging biomarkers or regulatory biomarker qualifications.
• Direct experience leading regulatory interactions, including pre-IND meetings with FDA.
• Hands on experience designing and running Phase 1 and Phase 2 studies with clinical teams.
• Experience with protein folding correctors, potentiators or ion channel drugs, such as in cystic fibrosis.
• Experience building a function at an early-stage, venture-backed company.

We believe in building an inclusive and balanced team. We also know meeting every single-exact-criteria can get in the way of meeting stellar folks.

Renasant Bio is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate in regard to race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, ancestry, physical or mental disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected.