(Sr) Director, Metabolic Disorders

The Opportunity

The heart of insitro’s strategy is the combination and application of machine learning to disease biology at scale, and novel analyses from clinical datasets that address key shortcomings in the target discovery and drug development process. To accomplish that, we are putting together an incredible team of highly talented biologists with a passion for target discovery and advancements, and who want to make a difference to this important problem. 

In this leadership role, you will help build the metabolic disease therapeutic area (TA). Our initial efforts have focused on high density clinical and in vitro datasets for NAFLD and liver fat to generate a distinct pipeline of novel targets for therapeutic intervention. Our future efforts aim to expand this approach in the area of obesity and adiposity to use machine learning to glean deeper insights into the biology of these phenotypes on cardiometabolic disease, and the selection of the best genes for advancement as therapeutic targets. While primarily a target discovery role, there will be opportunities to oversee project advancement up to drug candidate nomination and IND.

Your primary responsibilities will be:

• Provide leadership and strategic vision to a cross functional team of disease biologists, cell biologists, data scientists and statistical geneticists to create a portfolio in a growing disease area
• Manage and motivate a group of PhD level scientists in the metabolic disease functional area
• Contribute to insitro’s strategy in metabolic disease focusing on obesity and liver diseases 
• Conceptualize and design strategies for target discovery using in vitro cellular systems of disease using iPSCs and CRISPR based genomic screening and novel clinical phenotypic strategies to generate high dimensional datasets for analysis by machine learning and statistical genetics
• Lead efforts to follow up on targets with the goal of producing viable therapeutic interventions 
• Lead external collaborations with partners and with other organizations and individuals in efforts related to the metabolic disease area

You will be joining a growing biotech startup that has long-term stability due to significant funding, but yet is very much in formation. A lot can change in this early and exciting phase, providing many opportunities for significant impact. You will work closely with a very talented team, learn a broad range of skills, and help shape insitro’s culture, strategic direction, and outcomes. Join us, and help make a difference to patients and find the next generation of therapeutics!

About You

• PhD in a biological science related field (Pharmacology, Genetics, Biochem etc.) with 10+ years of industry experience in drug discovery. 
• A strong scientific track record in metabolic disease, obesity/adiposity or target discovery.
• Experience managing a high-performance team of scientists, including goal setting, and contributing to a culture of effective, high-quality methods development and reducing those methods to a practical implementation
• Demonstrated track record of leading cross functional project teams, building partnerships and collaborations with data scientists, computational biologists, and statistical geneticists
• Capable of communicating effectively and collaborate with people of diverse backgrounds and job functions, including a track record of collaborating with life scientists
• Strong interpersonal skills that motivates others to excel and achieve their very best

• 401(k) plan with employer matching for contributions
• Excellent medical, dental, and vision coverage (insitro pays 100% of premiums for employees), as well as mental health and well-being support
• Open, flexible vacation policy
• Paid parental leave
• Quarterly budget for books and online courses for self-development
• Support to occasionally attend professional conferences that are meaningful to your career growth and development
• New hire stipend for home office setup
• Monthly cell phone & internet stipend
• Access to free onsite baristas and cafe with daily lunch and breakfast
• Access to free onsite fitness center
• Commuter benefits