Associate Director, Pharmacogenetics Specialist

We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced individual to join our team as an Associate Director of Pharmacogenetics within the Translational Genetics and Phenomics team. The successful candidate will have extensive experience in genetics and/or pharmacogenetics and should have experience of working in different therapeutic areas.

The Associate Director will lead scientific efforts to evaluate and prosecute opportunities to understand the role of genetics in influencing response to drugs in clinical studies. They will collaborate with stakeholders across Human Genetics and Genomics (HGG), Precision Medicine, Clinical Development and therapy areas to design and undertake pharmacogenetics experiments that are aligned to clinical development program needs to support decision-making.

The ideal candidate will have a PhD in a scientific discipline with 5+ years of relevant research experience. They should have a track record of innovation and scientific excellence in genetics with experience of pharmacogenetics, preferably in an industry setting. The candidate should have demonstrated evidence of effective delivery of complex projects and experience of working in and leading multidisciplinary teams to answer complex scientific questions.

The Associate Director will be responsible for identifying and enabling opportunities to use genetic data from clinical studies to address further scientific questions. They will work with agility to adapt to changing priorities and timelines, including the provision of pharmacogenetics support to clinical teams. The candidate should stay up to date with the latest scientific advancements in pharmacogenetics and drive the development and implementation of innovative and evolving pharmacogenetic scientific approaches to support and impact the pipeline.

The successful candidate will have experience of working in a regulated environment with understanding of the drug development process. They should have a thirst for continual professional self-development, with a focus on scientific excellence. The Associate Director will be a collaborative-minded individual who partners with stakeholders across HGG, Precision Medicine, Clinical Development and therapy areas to support pipeline progression and pharmacogenetics-informed decision-making.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead scientific efforts to evaluate and prosecute opportunities to understand the role of genetics in influencing response to drugs in clinical studies.
• Collaborate with stakeholders across HGG, Precision Medicine, Clinical Development and therapy areas to design and undertake pharmacogenetics experiments that are aligned to clinical development program needs to support decision-making.
• Identify and enable opportunities to use genetic data from clinical studies to address further scientific questions.
• Work with agility to adapt to changing priorities and timelines, including the provision of pharmacogenetics support to clinical teams.
• Stay up to date with the latest scientific advancements in pharmacogenetics and drive the development and implementation of innovative and evolving pharmacogenetic scientific approaches to support and impact the pipeline.
• Stay up to date with relevant regulations and guidelines concerning the collection and storage of genetic samples and analysis of genetics data from international clinical studies.
• Support and optimize processes required for pharmacogenetics including, for example, oversight of sample vendors and internal guidance documents.
• Identify opportunities and lead external collaborations to advance the science of pharmacogenetics.
• Foster a culture of partnership, innovation, and continuous learning within the team.

Why you?

Basic Qualifications:

We are looking for professionals with these required skills to achieve our goals:

• PhD in a scientific discipline with ideally 5+ years of relevant research experience.
• Track record of innovation and scientific excellence in genetics with experience of pharmacogenetics, preferably in an industry setting.
• Demonstrated evidence of effective delivery of complex projects.
• Experience of working in and leading multidisciplinary teams to answer complex scientific questions.
• Exposure to a range of different types of human genetic and genomic data, including genotyping and sequencing data and their integration with other genomic data (e.g., proteomics).
• Experience of working in and leading scientific collaborations with external partners.
• Experience of processes required in pharmacogenetics; for example, incorporating genetics into clinical studies, management of genetic samples and data, guiding or undertaking data analyses.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills to effectively convey complex concepts in genetics to different audiences.
• Experience of educating and upskilling others in genetics and/or pharmacogenetics.
• Experience of working in a regulated environment with understanding of the drug development process.
• Thirst for continual professional self-development, with a focus on scientific excellence.

Preferred Qualifications:

If you have the following characteristics, it would be a plus:

• Experience of working in a range of disease areas.
• Experience of return of individual participant genetic results.
• Strong project management skills with ability to prioritise and a focus on delivering results.
• Initiative to identify and implement creative solutions.
• Familiarity with biomarker development requirements and associated regulatory processes.

Closing Date for Applications

Please take a copy of the Job Description, as this will not be available post closure of the advert.

When applying for this role, please use the 'cover letter' of the online application or your CV to describe how you meet the competencies for this role, as outlined in the job requirements above. The information that you have provided in your cover letter and CV will be used to assess your application.

At GSK, we have bold ambitions for patients, aiming to positively impact the health of 2.5 billion people over the next 10 years. R&D is committed to discovering and delivering transformational vaccines and medicines to prevent and change the course of disease. Science and technology are coming together in a way they never have before, and we have strong tech-enabled capabilities that allow us to build a deeper understanding of the patient, human biology and disease mechanisms, and transform medical discovery. We are revolutionising the way we do R&D. We're uniting science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together.

Find out more:

Our approach to R&D.

Why GSK?

Uniting science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together.

GSK is a global biopharma company with a special purpose – to unite science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together – so we can positively impact the health of billions of people and deliver stronger, more sustainable shareholder returns – as an organisation where people can thrive. We prevent and treat disease with vaccines, specialty and general medicines. We focus on the science of the immune system and the use of new platform and data technologies, investing in four core therapeutic areas (infectious diseases, HIV, respiratory/ immunology and oncology).

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