Ventures Associate Director - Immunology & Inflammation

Schrdinger; United States; On-site; USD 170,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare (dentist/vision)

401k

Pre-tax commuter benefits

Flexible work schedule

Parental leave program

Paid vacation time

Catered meals in office

Job summary

Schrödinger seeks a Ventures Associate Director in Immunology and Inflammation to join our Therapeutics Group. The role focuses on sourcing and incubating biotech opportunities by leveraging a deep immunology background and venture experience to evaluate early-stage programs.

You will engage with academic and clinical experts, map competitive landscapes, and help shape development plans and financing pathways for promising concepts.

Qualifications

• PhD in Immunology, Autoimmune Disease, Inflammation, Molecular Biology, Pharmacology, or related field with postdoctoral training.
• At least one year in a recognized venture fellowship or as an analyst/associate in life sciences.
• Hands-on experience with scientific due diligence, market sizing, and deal memo prep.

Responsibilities

• Perform hypothesis-driven scientific diligence on early-stage immunology and inflammation mechanisms.
• Evaluate preclinical data packages, MOA validity, differentiation, tractability and IP landscapes.
• Engage with KOLs, academics, and clinical experts to validate theses and feasibility.
• Map emerging paradigms across academia, tech transfer offices, and clinical advances.
• Source high-quality deal flow by building relationships with founders and venture teams.
• Partner with internal teams to incubate biotech concepts from ideation to seed financing.
• Assist in crafting development plans, target product profiles, and regulatory pathway mapping.

Skills

Immunology expertise

Venture experience

Scientific diligence

Communication skills

Education

PhD in Immunology or related biomedical discipline

Job description

Schrödinger seeks a Ventures Associate Director in Immunology and Inflammation to join us in our mission to transform the discovery of therapeutics and materials!

Schrödinger has pioneered a physics-based software platform that enables discovery of high-quality, novel molecules for drug development and materials applications more rapidly and at lower cost compared to traditional methods. The software platform is used by biopharmaceutical and industrial companies, academic institutions, and government laboratories around the world. Our multidisciplinary drug discovery team also leverages the software platform to advance collaborative programs and its own pipeline of novel therapeutics to address unmet medical needs.

As a member of our Therapeutics Group, you'll leverage your deep research background in immunology, autoimmune biology, and inflammation, as well as your venture experience, to source, evaluate, and incubate the next generation of therapeutic hypotheses and transformative biotech opportunities.

Who will love this job:

• A scientific investor who enjoys bridging the gap between breakthrough science and commercial venture creation
• A researcher with a successful track record of high-impact, peer-reviewed publications and deep expertise in immune pathways, inflammatory cascades, and/or mechanisms of inflammaging
• A skilled synthesizer ofcomplex biological literature who can ask incisive questions and spot critical flaws or hidden potential in early-stage data
• A business strategist who understands early-stage biotech financing, valuation drivers, IP strategy, and drug development lifecycles
• An excellent written and verbal communicator who can translate complex scientific concepts into actionable insights for non-technical investors and stakeholders
• An entrepreneurial thinker who's comfortable with ambiguity is excited to build novel therapeutics that address significant unmet medical needs

What you'll do:

• Perform rigorous, hypothesis-driven scientific diligence on the landscape of early-stage mechanisms and stealth startups in immunology, autoimmune diseases, chronic inflammation, and age-related immune dysfunction
• Critically evaluate preclinical data packages, mechanism-of-action validity, therapeutic differentiation, target tractability, and intellectual property landscapes
• Engage with key opinion leaders, academic principal investigators, and clinical experts to validate scientific theses and therapeutic feasibility
• Track and map emerging paradigms across academic research institutions, tech transfer offices, and clinical advancements in immunology and inflammation
• Source high-quality deal flow by building relationships with founders, venture teams, and incubator ecosystems
• Partner with our internal therapeutic team, venture partners, and founders to prioritize and incubate new biotech concepts from ideation through seed stage financing
• Assist in crafting development plans, defining target product profiles, mapping the competitive landscape for the target-disease pair and regulatory pathways, and shaping early operational strategy for new co-created ventures
• Support ongoing portfolio companies with strategic analysis, board meeting preparation, and follow-on financing efforts

What you should have:

• PhD in Immunology, Autoimmune Disease, Inflammation, Molecular Biology, Pharmacology, or a closely related biomedical discipline, as well as relevant postdoctoral training
• At least one year of of work with a recognized venture fellowship program (e.g., Flagship, Arch, Third Rock, Atlas, Corp VC Fellowships, or incubator role) or direct experience as an analyst/associate at a life sciences venture fund or biotech company creation studio
• Practical, hands-on experience conducting scientific due diligence, market sizing, competitive landscape mapping, and deal memo preparation

Pay and perks:

Schrödinger understands it's people that make a company great. Because of this, we're prepared to offer a competitive salary, equity-based compensation, and a wide range of benefits that include healthcare (with dental and vision), a 401k, pre-tax commuter benefits, a flexible work schedule, and a parental leave program. We have regular catered meals in the office, a company culture that is relaxed but engaged, and over a month of paid vacation time. Our Office Management team also plans a myriad of fun company-wide events. New York is home to our largest office, but we have teams all over the world. Schrödinger is honored to have been included in Crain's New York Best Places to Work, BuiltIn's NYC Best Place