Associate Director / Director, Biotherapeutics Engineering

Xilio Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company discovering and developing tumor-activated immuno-oncology (I-O) therapies with the goal of significantly improving outcomes for people living with cancer without the systemic side effects of current I-O treatments. The company is using its proprietary platform to advance a pipeline of novel, tumor-activated clinical and preclinical I-O molecules that are designed to optimize their therapeutic index by localizing anti-tumor activity within the tumor microenvironment, including tumor-activated cytokines and antibodies (including bispecifics) and immune cell engagers (including tumor-activated cell engagers and tumor-activated effector-enhanced cell engagers). Learn more by visiting www.xiliotx.com and follow us on LinkedIn (Xilio Therapeutics, Inc.)

SUMMARY: 

We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced Associate Director or Director in Biotherapeutics Engineering to design and optimize biologics-based drugs, incorporating structural biology expertise as well as innovative computational methods. The successful candidate will have a strong background in structural biology, protein engineering and antibody discovery workflows. A solid background in applying machine learning techniques and molecular modeling to improve the biophysical and biological properties of biotherapeutics is highly desired. The candidate is expected to have expertise in leading cross-functional teams, generating key data, and driving projects from in silico concepts to in vivo proof of concept (PoC). If the successful candidate has management experience and continued interest in people management, the role may be offered as Associate Director, overseeing three direct reports.

Job Responsibilities:

  • Manages a team of scientists in biologic therapeutic engineering and platform development activities. Ability to manage group resources in order to ensure deliverables within timelines.
  • Represent group as project team representative and provide communication of project-related needs to Biotherapeutic Engineering (BE) group.
  • Serve as a subject matter expert in BE, including protein engineering, sequence identification, and innovative biologic designs. Provide scientific and technical inputs to support various projects from early discovery to development.
  • Apply state-of-the-art in silico biotherapeutic engineering tools, CCG-MOE or Schrodinger-Maestro and/or others, to design and optimize biologics-based drugs.
  • Apply cutting-edge generative AI, machine learning and molecular modeling techniques to help identify novel binders and/or enhance the properties of biologics-based drugs, including target engagement, developability, immunogenicity, and protease specificity.
  • Lead or co-lead research project team, accountable for defining project strategy, ensuring effective execution of activities to meet project goals and timelines.
  • Represent Protein Engineering at project team meetings.
  • Support writing and reporting of key experiments in IND filings.
  • Capture detailed experimental information in electronic lab notebook (ELN) entries.

Skills, Qualifications, and Requirements:

  • PhD in Structural Biology, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering or a related field and a minimum of 7-9 years of relevant post-graduate experience in industry or academic setting.
  • Experience with leading a committed team of scientists and communicating timelines and priorities. Experience with CRO project management.
  • Strong expertise in biotherapeutics engineering, with a focus on antibody-based therapeutics and computational methods for drug design and optimization is required.
  • Expertise in protein design, humanization and bioinformatics, including molecular modeling (homology modeling and molecular dynamics simulations) using in silico tools such as MOE, Maestro, NAMD, Schroedinger or VMD, etc. is required.
  • Strong analytical and problem-solving skills for computational analysis of protein, DNA, and mRNA sequences is required.
  • Demonstrated experience in applying machine learning techniques to improve the properties of biologics-based drugs is desired.
  • Knowledge of generative AI/machine learning algorithms (RFDiffusion, Alphafold, Chroma, etc.) and experience in data mining using APIs is desired.
  • Experience in cloud computing and/or in writing code (SQL, R, python) for data wrangling and analytics is desired
  • Familiarity with antibody discovery methodologies including in vitro display- and immunization-based methodologies is highly desired
  • Proven track record of leading cross-functional teams and successfully delivering projects from in silico concepts to in vivo proof of concept is preferred.
  • Excellent leadership and communication skills to effectively lead cross-functional teams and collaborate with stakeholders is required.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

At Xilio Therapeutics, we foster a culture of equity, diversity and inclusion.  We consider all qualified applicants without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, religion, national origin, ancestry, ethnicity, disability, veteran status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected under applicable law.  We will make reasonable accommodations, absent undue hardship, for qualified individuals with known disabilities. If you are an individual with a disability who requires accommodation with the hiring process or to perform any essential functions of the position for which you are applying, please reach out to careers@xiliotx.com.

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