New The Skills of Tomorrow: how AI-exposed is every skill in 2026? See the data →

Senior Director, Cancer Vaccine Discovery, Infectious Disease

Virology and Viral Vaccines
Apply →
onsite senior full-time $225,900.80 - $338,851.20 USD Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America

First indexed 3 Jun 2026

Description

The Head of Cancer Vaccines in Infectious Diseases is responsible for leading efforts to develop and deliver strategies to program the immune system to recognize and eliminate malignant cells.

The candidate will build a strategy to leverage the diverse modalities available at AstraZeneca to deploy polyclonal immunity against a range of tumor targets.

The candidate will lead a team of scientists and cross-functional experts to build programs.

The team will explore different strategies to identify novel candidates, validate neo-antigens, deliver mRNA, amplify immunity, driving early clearance and long-term durable surveillance.

The role will be responsible for influencing senior internal stakeholders and manage external and internal collaborations to deliver effective solutions.

In addition, the candidate must recruit, develop, and retain a strong, cutting-edge team,fostering a high-performance, innovative culture; building capabilities across immunology, oncology, and translational sciences; and establishing clear operating mechanisms to accelerate decision-making and delivery.

Typical Accountabilities:

Develop a portfolio of cancer vaccine projects

Develop a strategy to support target discovery and product development and ensure cross functional strategic alignment.

Lead team to deploy immunity to a range of cancers, leveraging the diverse available platforms.

Oversee development of a portfolio of cancer vaccines across early discovery and research pipeline

Establish strategic relationships across the organization and functions

Oversight and accountability of partnerships with academic or outsourced partners

Develop internal and external partnerships to explore combinatorial strategies

Create and foster effective relationships with senior and executive stakeholders in Research, Bioprocess Development, Clinical and Translational Medicine and Global Project Teams to ensure alignment across functions

Responsible for ensuring all projects within their area and their teams clearly and objectively communicate results, as well as their associated risks, uncertainties and limitations

Define the training standards for junior colleagues in line with best practices and principles

Qualifications:

PhD or equivalent in immunology, oncology, molecular biology, biochemistry or a related discipline with 10+ yrs industry experience

Proven experience developing novel immunological approaches to deploy immunity to fight tumors

Proven experience with immune profiling, tumor modelling, systems biology, and/or immune oncology

Experience working in a cross-functional team to maximize expertise and accelerate success

Experience developing and implementing novel methods to support vaccine development

Experience supporting or leading interdisciplinary vaccine discovery or development programs

Proven experience leading and managing junior colleagues

Proven experience developing and controlling budgets

Excellent written and verbal communication, business analysis, and consultancy skills

The annual base pay for this position ranges from $225,900.80 - $338,851.20 USD.

This listing is enriched and indexed by YubHub. To apply, use the employer's original posting: https://astrazeneca.eightfold.ai/careers/job/563877690517654