Project Lead, Oncology

At LabGenius, our mission is to accelerate the discovery of next-generation therapeutic antibodies. To do this, we’ve pioneered the development of EVA™ - a smart robotic platform that’s capable of designing, conducting and, critically, learning from its own experiments.

For our wholly-owned pipeline, we’re using our closed-loop discovery engine to establish a pipeline of highly selective T-cell engagers and ADCs for the treatment of solid tumours.

LabGenius has raised >£58M and is backed by top-tier investors, including M Ventures, Octopus Ventures, LG Corp, Atomico, Kindred Capital, Lux Capital and Obvious Ventures amongst others.

The company is headquartered in London (UK) where we’ve established a state-of-the-art antibody engineering facility. The company is staffed by a multidisciplinary team of more than 50 scientists and engineers.

As a key member of our team, the Project Leader, Oncology, will drive the discovery and development of AI-designed antibody therapeutics for oncology. Reporting to the VP of Projects and Portfolio Delivery, this role is essential in addressing unmet medical needs and shaping our therapeutic pipeline.

What you’ll do in this role

• Lead multidisciplinary project teams to plan and deliver novel antibody drug discovery projects, driving science-based decision making through exploratory, and preclinical phases of development to develop new therapies to address unmet medical needs

• Be fully accountable for the delivery of projects under your control, establishing a clear project vision and objectives, and ensuring that projects are developed to scope, budget and timeframe.

• Build and implement a realistic, team-endorsed, project plan and ensure that all changes are communicated to the project team and, where appropriate, to senior management.

• Use your extensive experience in initiating and leading oncology antibody drug discovery projects and advise and contribute as an (immuno-)oncology/disease biology expert to projects and business opportunities.

• Stay up to date with relevant scientific expertise with opportunities to represent LabGenius at external conferences.

What we’re looking for

• Excellent communication skills, able to communicate results both internally and to external collaborators and commercial partners.

• Proven experience in leading multiple oncology based antibody drug discovery programmes across interdisciplinary functions and teams, delivering key milestones on time and within budget, ideally in a fast-moving biotech.

• Qualified as PhD in pharmacology, biochemistry, protein engineering or a related discipline, or equivalent demonstrable experience, with at least 5 years of antibody drug discovery experience gained in the pharmaceutical/biotech industry, and will be able to demonstrate excellent knowledge of the drug development landscape.

• Extensive disease knowledge of oncology and immuno-oncology and experience with different oncology modalities (e.g. ADCs, T-cell engagers)

• A passion for science and innovation, and an interest in seeing cutting-edge machine learning-based approaches applied to the discovery of new biotherapeutics.

• Experience with in vitro and in vivo oncology disease models.

• Strong track record of scientific excellence in oncology/immuno-oncology research demonstrated by high impact publications, presentations and/or grant applications.

Nice to have:

• Previous experience of working effectively within a startup organisation.
• Experience in IND-enabling studies and delivering antibody candidates to the IND stage.
• Market awareness and experience reviewing the competitive landscape.

What you’ll receive from us

Aside from being part of our brilliant, purpose-driven team, you’ll also enjoy:

Financial 💸

• Discretionary performance-linked annual bonus
• A generous stock option plan
• 3x Salary Life Insurance with YuLife
• Health Shield Cash Back Plan on day-to-day health expenses
• 5% pension, with an additional top up on tax savings from us
• Free Will-writing Service

Health 🍏

• Private Medical Insurance, including dental and optical (currently with AXA)
• Discounted gym membership through either AXA or HealthShield
• 24/7 access to GP Services
• Access to the Cycle to Work scheme: to make your commute cheaper, healthier and a whole lot greener
• Easy access to the on-site gym and climbing wall to break a sweat or indulge your inner monkey available at competitive rates

Time-Off ⏰

• 25 days annual leave (plus the bank holidays)
• Up to 20 days paid sick leave (including mental health days - no questions asked)
• 3 days paid emergency leave so it doesn’t eat into your relaxation time
• 1 week paid bereavement leave plus 1 day to attend a funeral
• 1 day paid for moving home

Wellbeing 💛

• Employee Assistance Programme including access to coaching and CBT sessions

Team-building 🤝

• Weekly team lunches through Feedr.
• A programme of social events both company-wide and within your own teams

Diversity & Inclusion

We believe that diversity makes for innovative, exceptional teams.

We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate based on gender, race, colour, religion or belief, national origin, age, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, or any other protected class.

If you don't feel like you meet every single requirement of this role, we still want to hear from you! We encourage you to apply, have a discussion with us about the role or others that we may have at LabGenius either now or in the future, together we can build more inclusive workplaces.