Translational Medicine Group Leader - Cell and Gene Therapy (Senior Director)

Do you want to be part of an inclusive team that works to develop innovative therapies for patients? Every day, we are driven to develop and deliver innovative and effective new medicines to patients and physicians. If you want to be part of this exciting work, you belong at Astellas!

Astellas Pharma Inc. is a pharmaceutical company conducting business in more than 70 countries around the world. We are committed to turning innovative science into medical solutions that bring value and hope to patients and their families. Keeping our focus on addressing unmet medical needs and conducting our business with ethics and integrity enables us to improve the health of people throughout the world. For more information on Astellas, please visit our website at www.astellas.com.

This position is based in Northbrook, Illinois. Remote work from certain states may be permitted in accordance with Astellas' Responsible Flexibility Guidelines. Candidates interested in remote work are encouraged to apply.

Purpose and Scope:

The primary purpose of the Translational Medicine Group Leader is to lead the development and implementation of the Translational Medicine strategy within a defined disease or primary focus area. This position is responsible for developing the translational strategies for Astellas assets, taking accountability for day-to-day delivery aligned with approved plans/budgets. Incumbent will develop and execute, through self and others, the translational science/medicine programs with mechanistically-based biomarker and patient selection strategies for Astellas.

Essential Job Responsibilities:

• Leads a team of Translational Medicine scientists, within a defined disease or primary focus area, to advance Astellas therapeutic area pipeline from Candidate Nomination (CN) to Proof-of-Concept (POC) to commercial launch.


• Develops a portfolio level Translational Medicine strategy informed by disease insights and benchmarked against key competitors.


• Partners with Primary Focus (PF) Development to contribute to design of overall development strategy and trial design, incorporating biomarker endpoints.


• Represents Translational Medicine on PF-LT and provides scientific and strategic guidance to portfolio and asset teams, including business development strategic partnerships.


• Builds and maintains strong internal and external collaborations including partnership with Research to drive increased quality of CN candidates.


• Drives innovation and incorporates new approaches and cutting-edge technologies to increase PTRS and efficiency.


• Provides optimal project resourcing and supports delivery of portfolio by targeting key project issues aligned with overall portfolio prioritization.


• Mentors and supports team members to develop high levels of productivity and engagement whilst also responsible for performance management of the group.


• Reports to Head of Translational Medicine and expected to dedicate 50% of time as GTML


• Performs other duties as assigned or special projects as needed.