Associate Director, Computational Immunology

Passionate about precision medicine and advancing the healthcare industry?

Recent advancements in underlying technology have finally made it possible for AI to impact clinical care in a meaningful way. Tempus' proprietary platform connects an entire ecosystem of real-world evidence to deliver real-time, actionable insights to physicians, providing critical information about the right treatments for the right patients, at the right time.

The Associate Director of Computational Immunology in the Real-World Data Science org will lead and oversee projects leveraging Tempus’ multi-modal database to support specific biopharmaceutical partners in advancing their drug discovery portfolio, with a focus on immuno-oncology. This role involves designing and implementing research studies, analyzing data, reviewing methods, and providing actionable insights to guide discovery or decision-making to improve outcomes for biopharma. The ideal candidate will possess immunology training, experience in TCR/BCR immune repertoire sequencing, genomic and clinical data analytical skills, a positive and dynamic leadership style, and the ability to communicate complex scientific findings to various stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities:

• Team Management: 
• Lead a dynamic team of computational scientists executing Translational or Real-World Evidence projects integrating molecular and clinical data from Tempus’ multimodal data platform to derive insights for biopharma partners.
• Establish best practices for reproducibility, help identify analytical gaps, and suggest next steps. 

Scientific Execution:

• Design, develop, and execute computational immunology research projects of high complexity.
• Support exploratory research for target discovery and validation in pre-clinical and early phases of drug development.
• Support decisions for early-stage assets such as patient and indication selection, biomarker, and combination strategies.
• Evaluate clinical trial design by testing assumptions, refining eligibility criteria, and characterizing patient outcomes on standard of care.
• Stakeholder Collaboration: 
• Work closely with internal teams, including key account directors, business development, operations, alliance management, and research informatics, to align team initiatives with broader business goals. 
• Support the development of specific account strategies in coordination with the account team to expand accounts into strategic collaborations.
• Reporting & Presentation:
• Oversee the generation of contracted deliverables and executive summaries for biopharma customers. 
• Collaborate with external partners to establish Tempus as a trusted advisor to expand research partnerships. 
• Project Management: 
• Work closely with the alliance manager for the execution, and deliverables of research projects, ensuring that they are completed on time, within budget, and in accordance with contracted specifications.
• Continuous Improvement: 
• Stay current with industry trends, best practices, and advancements in computational oncology research. 
• Apply this knowledge to enhance research methodologies and improve overall research quality on the team.
• Become an expert in our biopharma partners’ strategy, pipeline, and portfolio to proactively determine all areas in the Tempus platform that could add value to the drug development process of our partners.
• Work with Product and Engineering teams to streamline the workflow of computational analyses.
• Build relationships with R&D and commercial executives internally and at partner organizations, enabling identification, development of, and support for additional value-creation opportunities.

Qualifications:

• Education: PhD degree in a quantitative discipline (e.g. Computational Biology, Cancer Biology, Computational Immunology,  Biostatistics/Statistical Genetics, Bioinformatics, or similar). Alternatively, a PhD in Molecular Biology or Immunology combined with a very strong record in computational biology.
• Experience: Minimum 4+ years in drug development leveraging genomic and multimodal data for drug discovery and development.
• Technical/Scientific Skills: Proficient in R, Python, and SQL. Strong understanding of Cancer, Immunology, Clinical Trials, and Real-World Evidence Platforms. Extensive prior experience analyzing genomic data, including whole exome sequencing, whole transcriptome sequencing, TCR/BCR immune repertoire sequencing, and particularly single-cell RNA sequencing.
• Leadership Skills: Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional agile teams and manage complex projects. Strong strategic thinking and problem-solving skills.
• Communication Skills: Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to present complex information clearly and persuasively to diverse audiences. 
• Interpersonal Skills: Ability to build strong positive relationships with internal and external stakeholders. Collaborative and team-oriented with a high degree of emotional intelligence and strong negotiation and mentorship skills.

Preferred Skillsets/Background:

• Strong understanding of molecular data and artificial intelligence in drug discovery with experience in integrative modeling of multi-modal clinical and omics data.
• Previous experience working with large clinical datasets (EHR, claims data, clinical trials, patient registries, etc)
• Previous experience working with large transcriptome and NGS data sets.
• Experience in cancer immunology and TCR-seq
• Prior consulting and/or client-facing experience is highly desirable
• Thrive in a fast-paced environment and willing to shift priorities seamlessly.
• Experience with R package development.
• Strong peer-reviewed publication record.
• Experience with: Pandas, NumPy, SciPy, Scikit-learn, Jupyter Notebooks, RStudio, R Package development,  tidyverse, ggplot, Git, matplotlib, seaborn, HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, D3, Plot.ly, Flask, Dask, Docker, AWS.
• Goal orientation, self-motivation, and drive to make a positive impact in healthcare.

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