Description
About the role
Sana Biotechnology is growing, and we are hiring new team members who believe in the potential of engineered cells as medicines, who want to challenge status quo, and who lead with the desire to work on novel ideas. As the Head of Computational Biology, you will report to the VP of Translational Technologies and will provide leadership and technical expertise in computational biology, bioinformatics and genomics. We are looking for a manager with deep computational biology expertise in the development of cell or gene therapies and genomics methods (NGS-based). You embrace being a player-coach.
Sana applies computational biology and other data-driven approaches to all steps of the drug development process at every level of the organization. Given the expanding scope of the computational biology group's operations, you will build on the existing team to achieve this goal. You will promote computational biology as an important part of the drug development process from Research through Development and CMC. You will oversee and lead bioinformatics analysis, computational biology methods development, code documentation and review, and meta-analyses of data including assessment of off-target genome editing, single cell RNA-seq and ATAC-seq, and genetic cell characterization. The Head of Computational Biology will partner with the analytical genomics and computational engineering teams to establish a collaborative and efficient workflow & environment across the teams.
What you'll do
- Provide mentorship, strategic leadership and technical expertise in computational biology and contribute to the development of an integrated genomics and informatics environment
- Expand and lead a team of scientists responsible for applying computational biology and statistics to allow data-driven decisions across Sana's portfolio
- Lead the development and deployment of computational methods and workflows for analyzing data including NGS
- Live the Sana value of thrive as a team - pitch in to help the team be successful at all levels (IC through management to meet corporate goals)
- Apply new tools or data-mining techniques for integrative analysis and visualization of large datasets
- Influence the development of cell and gene therapy R&D strategies to enable rapid progression of novel therapeutic concepts
- Ensure documentation of code, workflows, reports, and analyses of your team
- Manage projects in parallel to meet short timelines while maintaining scientific quality and rigor
- Provide transparency on project status, potential roadblocks for execution, and new strategies to Technology Sciences leadership
- Influence scientists and engineers cross-functionally to design studies that are powered and controlled to meet experimental and business goals
- Communicate to a broad audience with a range of technical, analytical, and biological expertise and present strategic roadmap to leadership teams across Sana
- Engage in crucial conversations by providing and receiving feedback supporting the growth and development of team members
- Demonstrate ability to engage and effectively influence team members across multidisciplinary teams while prioritizing multiple projects and meeting deadlines
- Drive curiosity, scientific rigor and excellent problem-solving skills across a fast-paced performance driven environment
- Innate ability to assess talent that will help grow the organization and add to Sana's culture
What we're looking for
- PhD/MS in Computational Biology, Bioinformatics, Statistics, Computer Science with 15+ yrs experience in academic research and/or industry; expert knowledge of scientific principals and concepts
- 5+ years of experience managing a team of more than 5 full-time employees with a range of experience (straight from grad school through 10+ years of industry experience)
- Direct experience developing and analyzing gene editing methods (e.g. GUIDE-seq, SITE-seq, UDiTaS)
- Experience analyzing gene or cell therapy, single cell, genetics, and genomics data
- Experience developing bioinformatics workflows for NGS-based genomics assays
- Strong understanding of biological concepts with statistical and quantitative data analysis experience
- Technically proficient in Python and R, version control, and workflow languages (e.g. Nextflow)
- Experience applying new tools for the integrative analysis and visualization of multi-dimensional datasets
- Excellent verbal, written, analytical, and presentation skills; communicate a clear vision down, up, and across
- Ability to influence cross-functionally and to be sought after as a technical expert within the computational biology domain
- Engage in crucial conversations by providing and receiving feedback supporting the growth and development of team members
- Demonstrate ability to engage and effectively influence team members across multidisciplinary teams while prioritizing multiple projects and meeting deadlines
- Drive curiosity, scientific rigor and excellent problem-solving skills across a fast-paced performance driven environment
- Innate ability to assess talent that will help grow the organization and add to Sana's culture
What will separate you from the crowd
- IND/BLA experience
- Gene editing experience
- Biology background in cell and gene therapy, genetics, or stem cells
What you should know
- Working safely in person on a predictable and regular in-person basis is an essential job function for this position, and the Company requires that all individuals working in-person be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, including receipt of a vaccine booster shot if recommended by the CDC
How we work together
- Lead from every seat - we seek to understand, act with honesty, and engage in the crucial conversations
- Thrive as a team - we hire amazing people, are intensely curious, and cultivate inclusion and personal connectivity
- Make it happen - we value vigorous debate, alignment around our decisions, and resilient execution
Get to know us
At Sana, we believe that a diverse workforce strengthens us as a company and helps us to achieve our mission to meaningfully change the outcome of many human diseases. This belief is a pillar of our business and is critical to our success. Our goal is that Sana is the place for talented people to bring their authentic selves to work, to have a great career and to deeply, positively impact patients.
Core to our values, we believe there is nothing more important than the health and wellness of you and your family. For benefit eligible employees, we cover 100% of the cost for employee health coverage and offer generous time-off, parental leave, short- and long-term disability, employer paid basic life insurance, additional voluntary life insurance protection, financial wellness programs including financial planning resources, a 401(k) Plan with an immediately vested employer match, Tuition Reimbursement and Student Loan Repayment, Employee Stock Purchase Plan, commuter subsidy and a variety of wellness offerings to support each person individually.
We are committed to providing a workplace free of discrimination and harassment based on race, color, religion, age, gender, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental or sensory disability (including the use of a trained guide dog or service animal by a person with a disability), genetic information, actual or perceived HIV or Hepatitis C infection, medical condition (cancer or a record or history of cancer and genetic characteristics), marital status, sexual orientation, sexual preference, pregnancy (including childbirth and related medical conditions), disability, veteran status, political ideology, social class (including caste/caste identity), taking or requesting statutorily protected leave, status as a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking, or any other basis prohibited by applicable law.
To perform this job successfully, you must be able to perform each job responsibility satisfactorily. The job description listed above is representative of the knowledge, skills, and/or abilities required for this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the functions described above.
