Director, Biology

Director, Biology

About Alterome:

Redefining precision oncology, one alteration at a time.

Alterome is a clinical-stage precision oncology company built on rigorous science and relentless execution. In four years, we’ve taken two internally discovered first-of-their-kind alteration-specific cancer therapies from idea to clinic, driven by a team that blends deep biology and chemistry expertise with advanced computational and physics-based drug design.

Job Summary:

The Director, Biology provides scientific and operational leadership for biology activities supporting assigned discovery and preclinical programs. This role leads the biology strategy supporting therapeutic programs from target validation through IND‑enabling studies, with a strong emphasis on cross‑functional integration, scientific communication, and adaptable execution. The role requires deep expertise in translational biology, pharmacology, and disease biology, relevant biological model systems, demonstrated success driving therapeutic hypotheses into IND enabling studies, and partners closely with Medicinal Chemistry, DMPK/PK, Toxicology, and Informatics teams to ensure biology questions, study designs, and data outputs are clear, decision‑enabling, and aligned with evolving program needs. This position leads a high performing team, manages external academic and CRO partnerships, shapes the biology strategy supporting the portfolio, and influences investment decisions related to pipeline programs across stages of development. Success in this role requires balancing scientific rigor with flexibility in workflows, enabling rapid learning and efficient advancement of pipeline assets.

Your Responsibilities:

• Define and execute the overarching Biology strategy, spanning target validation, disease biology, pharmacology, and translational biology, IND-enabling studies and mechanistic deconvolution across therapeutic areas.
• Provide biological hypotheses, study rationale, and data interpretation supporting program staging and gating decisions. Make timely, data‑driven scientific decisions in ambiguous or data‑limited situations, balancing rigor, speed, and resource considerations.
• Optimize the preclinical portfolio by evaluating new opportunities, competitive landscapes, and external science; provide scientific input on modality selection and biological feasibility of programs.
• Oversee design, execution, and interpretation of complex biochemical, cellular, and in vivo studies to validate therapeutic hypotheses and advance programs toward IND enabling studies.
• Ensure scientific rigor, statistical robustness, data integrity, and compliance with IACUC/GLP and other applicable guidelines.

• Interface with Medicinal Chemistry, DMPK/PK, Toxicology, and Translational teams; Translate biological questions and results into clear, actionable study designs and data packages that enable rapid cross‑functional decision‑making; Actively communicate and incorporate input from other functional teams to refine biology strategy and experimental execution.

• Provide biology leadership for IND enabling packages, regulatory interactions, and scientific contributions to submissions (e.g., Investigator Brochures, pharmacology sections).
• Lead, mentor, and develop scientists, setting clear expectations for scientific quality, collaboration, and clear/efficient communication; Foster a culture of openness to feedback, continuous improvement, and strong cross‑functional partnership. Represent Biology in scientific strategy discussions, and cross functional leadership forums.
• Develop and manage key collaborations with CROs, academic labs, KOLs, and industry partners to accelerate biological research and translational insights and expand biological capabilities.
• Contribute to scientific publications, participate in conferences, and serve as a scientific representative for the company.

What is Required:

• D. or M.S. in biology, pharmacology, or related discipline.
• 10 years (for Ph.D.) or 15 years (for M.S.) of biotech/pharma experience with a demonstrated track record of advancing programs toward IND enablement.
• Proven expertise across in-vitro/in-vivo pharmacology, mechanistic biology, target selection/validation, and translational research.
• Deep expertise in translational biology, disease-relevant model systems, mechanistic pharmacology, and biomarker strategy, ideally within oncology drug discovery
• Experience managing and developing scientific teams; experience working closely with Medicinal Chemistry and DMPK/PK teams in small‑molecule discovery programs
• Strong strategic thinking, problem solving abilities, and ability to work with management teams through data driven recommendations.
• Successfully managing external collaborations and CROs with needed efficiency and flexibility.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate complex biological concepts clearly to cross‑functional and senior stakeholders.

Alterome Offers:

We provide our employees with medical, dental, and vision coverage, life insurance, a 401k w/company matching, competitive compensation (including equity), paid holidays, flexible time off, home office set up, full-service gym on-site (with showers and towel service!), professional development opportunities, phenomenal company culture, and more! Our office is centrally located in San Diego, CA at the intersection of the 15 and 56 Freeways. This is a hybrid role with three days per week in the office required - out of state candidates will not be considered at this time.

Salary Range: $230,000 - $250,000/year based on skills and experience.