Senior Director, External Research & Development

insitro is searching for a Senior Director of External Research & Development to serve as the primary leader for all aspects of insitro's external research and development portfolio. This critical role holds ultimate accountability for establishing and implementing the company’s external R&D strategy, including defining and optimizing the successful interaction and management of all preclinical and research CRO alliances.

As the strategic owner of this function, you will collaborate cross-functionally with senior leaders across Research, Drug Discovery, Technical Operations, Corporate Development & Strategy, Finance, and Project Management to ensure seamless alliance and outsourcing management.

Reporting to the Chief Technical Operations Officer, this role is open to remote and local candidates; either onsite (3 days per week) in our South San Francisco office or hybrid (~1 week per month) in our office with additional travel (up to 25% time) required to oversee domestic and international partnerships

• External R&D Strategy: Lead the comprehensive external research strategy and set the direction for CRO alliance management, ensuring alignment with corporate goals and supporting the research portfolio. Represent insitro at senior-level partnership meetings and negotiations and ensures that business partnerships are managed in support of the research portfolio to enable effective delivery

• Partner Network Management: Build, manage, and pursue innovative relationships with a strategic network of high-quality CROs and outside partners, ensuring the highest scientific and ethical standards

• Project Execution & Oversight: Accountable for the successful scoping, monitoring, and execution of externally sourced projects across the vendor network according to project goals, spend, and timelines. Ensure strong partnership and communication with internal stakeholders

• Governance & Compliance: Establish effective governance and partnership models (including KPIs/metrics), and collaborate with Legal and Procurement on partner selection, negotiation, and agreement execution

• Process & Team Leadership: Lead a team to embed industry-leading processes and principles in vendor management, ensuring adherence to contractual obligations and SOPs

• Operational Review & Improvement: Oversee and regularly review the total scope of outsourced services (scientific, financial, and operational) to ensure effective resource management and identify opportunities for continuous improvement

• Education & Experience: Typically possess a Bachelor's degree and 18+ years, or advanced education (e.g., PhD in a scientific discipline) and 12+ years of relevant experience (may include doctoral experience)

• R&D Knowledge: Excellent understanding of biotech/pharma R&D, preclinical research, clinical development, trial methodology, GCP, quality, and relevant regulatory standards and policies

• CRO Strategy: Excellent understanding of the CRO landscape, including vendor capabilities and limitations, with in-depth experience soliciting, evaluating proposals, negotiating SOWs, and promoting strategic relationships

• External Management: Experience building an external R&D strategy and managing collaborations with scientists, CROs, consultants, and pharmaceutical partners in a matrix environment

• Scientific Expertise: Strong knowledge of a broad range of nonclinical studies (Toxicology, DMPK, Bioanalytical, Biology, Pharmacology), with Clinical Pharmacology and biomarker experience preferred

• Communication & Influence: Exceptional interpersonal, communication, and influencing skills with the ability to see issues from multiple viewpoints and understand stakeholder needs

• Leadership & Sourcing: Proven ability to lead cross-functional groups, execute sourcing strategies, negotiate contracts, and manage 3rd party supplier relationships in an ambiguous, complex work environment

• People Management: Direct people management experience with demonstrated competencies in growth mindset, mentoring, coaching, and a strong desire to promote the professional development of others

Our target starting salary for successful US-based applicants for this role is $264,000 - $298,000. To determine starting pay, we consider multiple job-related factors including a candidate's skills, education and experience, market demand, business needs, and internal parity. We may also adjust this range in the future based on market data.

This role is eligible for participation in our Annual Performance Bonus Plan (based on company targets by role level and annual company performance) and our Equity Incentive Plan, subject to the terms of those plans and associated policies.

In addition, insitro also provides our employees:

• 401(k) plan with employer matching for contributions

• Excellent medical, dental, and vision coverage as well as mental health and well-being support

• Open, flexible vacation policy

• Paid parental leave of at least 16 weeks to support parents who give birth, and 10 weeks for a new parent (inclusive of birth, adoption, fostering, etc)

• Quarterly budget for books and online courses for self-development

• Support to attend professional conferences that are meaningful to your career growth and role's responsibilities

• New hire stipend for home office setup

• Monthly cell phone & internet stipend

• Access to free onsite baristas and daily lunch for employees who are either onsite or hybrid

• Access to a free commuter bus network that provides transport to and from our South San Francisco HQ from locations all around the Bay Area

insitro is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.

We believe diversity, equity, and inclusion need to be at the foundation of our culture. We work hard to bring together diverse teams–grounded in a wide range of expertise and life experiences–and work even harder to ensure those teams thrive in inclusive, growth-oriented environments supported by equitable company and team practices. All candidates can expect equitable treatment, respect, and fairness throughout the interview process.

Please be aware of recruitment scams: we never request payments, all recruitment communications are from @insitro.com, and if in doubt, contact us at [email protected].

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About insitro

insitro is a drug discovery and development company using machine learning (ML) and data at scale to decode biology for transformative medicines. At the core of insitro’s approach is the convergence of in-house generated multi-modal cellular data and high-content phenotypic human cohort data. We rely on these data to develop ML-driven, predictive disease models that uncover underlying biologic state and elucidate critical drivers of disease. These powerful models rely on extensive biological and computational infrastructure and allow insitro to advance novel targets and patient biomarkers, design therapeutics and inform clinical strategy. insitro is advancing a wholly owned and partnered pipeline of insights and therapeutics in neuroscience and metabolism. Since launching in 2018, insitro has raised over $700 million from top tech, biotech and crossover investors, and from collaborations with pharmaceutical partners. For more information on insitro, please visit www.insitro.com.