Senior Director - Safety Science and Discovery to CVRM Safety

Are you an experienced Leader for Safety Science in the early phases of Drug Discovery, and looking for your next challenge? Would you like to bring your scientific excellence and leadership skills to CVRM Safety and become a key player in the discovery of safe innovative medicines? If yes, this might be your next career step!

We are now looking to recruit a Senior Director for Safety Science and Discovery to lead and strengthen the Safety Science and Discovery team within the Cardiovascular, Renal and Metabolism (CVRM) Safety department. The position will be placed at our vibrant R&D site in Gothenburg, Sweden.

In this role you will play an important part in the CVRM Safety department, within the larger global Clinical Pharmacology & Safety Science (CPSS) function. The Director for Safety Science and Discovery leads a global team of Discovery Safety Specialists and Safety Scientists, and is responsible for the safety aspects of the entire CVRM portfolio. The team develops and applies innovative scientific strategies to drive the design and selection of safe medicines for patients suffering from CVRM diseases, across all modalities.

What you will do:
As true Drug Hunting partners to BioPharma R&D, you are in this role responsible for leading the Discovery Safety team and the safety strategies from target selection to candidate delivery with the strive to deliver molecules with the Right Safety profile. Included in your responsibilities is also to develop and apply innovative safety solutions and safety research to meet strategic needs of the discovery project portfolio of small molecules, peptides, antibodies, cell therapies, anti-sense/siRNA, precise genome editing, gene therapy, and to pursue innovative science and technologies in order to optimize and influence safety assessment of novel drugs. As well as:

* Design and build in vitro and in vivo strategies to predict, assess, and mitigate target- and drug-related safety risks and implement through internal and external experimental capabilities.
* Engage with specialists across our organization to develop, refine and implement innovative experimental strategies and use the data to assess and/or provide mechanistic understanding of safety issues (e.g. advanced in silico, in vitro and in vivo models, data and AI, advanced imaging, systems modelling).

Guiding and developing our hard-working and excellent team of talent discovery safety specialists and discovery safety in vitro scientists is also an important focus.

Essential in the role:

* PhD or a higher degree in toxicology, cell biology, pharmacology, systems biology or related field, and a strong scientific track record. Relevant on the job experience will also be considered.
* A track record in the leadership, management and development of individuals and teams.
* Experience with design of strategies and/or execution of in vitro and/or in vivo experiments to settle the safety and/or efficacy of therapeutics (experience with small molecules, oligonucleotides, AAV and regenerative therapies is preferred, but also antibodies, peptides etc will be considered an advantage).
* Preferably >6 years' experience of safety in the drug discovery phase (from project conception to candidate drug selection).

Desirable in the role:

* Leadership skills and experience from handling a large and dynamic project portfolio in the pharmaceutical industry.
* A publication record consistent with scientific excellence demonstrated during post-doctoral, academic and/or industry research.

Our new colleague is a highly motivated, creative and innovative scientist and leader with a flexible, collaborative and team-oriented mindset. You like to solve problems in a goal-focused fashion and you have strong communication and presentation skills. Along with this, you have a social personality and will enjoy to contribute to our open, positive, collaborative working climate.

Why AstraZeneca?
We truly believe that everyone contributes with a unique set of competence. Your curiosity and passion for personal development combined with support from colleagues and other leaders, will ensure you maximise your skills, abilities and contribution. Be encouraged and supported to think creatively in our dynamic environment. Here we are free from fear of failure, free to ask the right questions and make bold decisions.

So, what's next! If you want to be a part of pushing the boundaries of science with us - apply today.

We look forward to get to know you better, but remember to send in your application no later than 3rd April, 2022.

For more information about the position please contact hiring manager Mikael Persson, Executive Director, Global Head of CVRM Safety, mikael.persson@astrazeneca.com

Additional information:
Our AstraZeneca Gothenburg site: https://www.astrazeneca.com/our-science/gothenburg.html
Make a move to Gothenburg: https://www.astrazeneca.se/om-oss/verksamheten-i-sverige/goteborg/relocate-to-gothenburg.html
About BioPharmaceuticals R&D: https://www.astrazeneca.com/r-d.html