Associate Director, Diagnostic Proteomics
AstraZeneca

Associate Director, Diagnostic Proteomics

Gaithersburg, MD

Do you have expertise in, and passion for, Histology, Proteomics and Clinical Biomarker Development? Would you like to apply your expertise to impact the clinical development of oncology drugs with innovative biomarkers in a company that follows the science and turns ideas into life changing medicines? Then AstraZeneca might be the one for you!

About AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca is a global, science-led, patient-focused biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the discovery, development and commercialization of prescription medicines for some of the world's most serious diseases. But we're more than one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies. A place built on courage, curiosity and collaboration - we make bold decisions driven by patient outcomes. Empowered to lead at every level, free to ask questions and take smart risks that write the next chapter for our pipeline and Oncology team. Make a meaningful impact that brings real benefits to society. By applying your knowledge of data, you will help to redefine our industry and ultimately save lives. Work with experts who share a common goal: to accelerate the potential of medicines and the science of tomorrow.

Business Area

Translational Medicine supports programs in all phases of development and focuses on making measurements on human samples to understand why, and identify which, patients benefit from particular treatments, what doses and schedules of treatments to use and the mechanisms underlying the development of resistance to treatment.

In oncology studies Translational Medicine are responsible for the biomarker strategy and implementation which includes all exploratory analyses of global clinical trial samples and prospective testing for trial recruitment where required. Join the team dedicated to Oncology, with an ambition to eliminate cancer as a cause of death. It's our big vision that unites and inspires us. With multiple indications and high-quality molecules at all stages of our innovative pipeline, we keep pushing forward. Fusing cutting-edge science with the latest technology to achieve breakthroughs. Backed by investment, we are aiming to deliver 6 new molecular entities by 2025. We are empowered to be bold, take calculated risks and use our intelligence and courage to always follow the science. This approach has enabled us to successfully deliver 7 new Oncology medicines in as many years. We are focused on identifying and treating patients earlier, where there is greater curative potential. With the greatest number of early stage cancer trials in the industry, we are getting closer to finding cures every day.

What you'll do

AstraZeneca is seeking an Associate Director to lead the Imaging and Tissue Processing sub-team within the Diagnostic Proteomics group located in Gaithersburg, MD. The Associates Director should have experience in histopathology laboratory procedures, automated tissue microdissection technologies, and familiarity with computational pathology, proteomics workflows, and bio-repository databases to support translational studies involving biomarker quantitation from clinical samples (e.g., tumor biopsies) to accelerate clinical development of AZ's oncology drugs. This position requires an individual with outstanding scientific and technical experience as well as excellent communication and collaborative skills. The individual must be able to work in a fast-paced clinical and product development organization to translate fundamental insights using proteomics into targeted and biomarker hypotheses that can be implemented into clinical trials. The successful candidate is expected to drive the publication of cancer biomarker data in top-tier scientific journals.

• Lead the Imaging and Tissue Processing sub-team by providing lab scientists with direct coaching in sample preparation, and participate in scientific and operational strategy meetings and planning within the Diagnostic Proteomics group.
• Develop, validate and implement cell-enrichment/tissue dissection technologies compatible with MS-based FFPE proteomics.
• Employ state-of-the-art tissue microdissection technologies combined with computational image analysis for generating high-quality tissue samples for protein biomarker development.
• Ensure high-quality data generation by applying strict QC process. Stay current with the latest histology and imaging technologies to improve the protocols
• Process clinical samples (e.g., FFPE tissue, frozen tissue, biopsy punches, plasma, cell lines) for translational and clinical proteomics studies.
• Analyze data, summarize results, and present key results at functional reviews and project reviews

Essential for the role

• M.Sc. with 10-15 years of experience or Ph.D. with 5-10 years of experience in clinical biomarker development involving histology imaging in pharmaceutical industry.
• Experience in pathology-guided laser microdissection for cancer biomarker development in clinical setting.
• Experience in working closely with bio-bank and computational pathologists.
• Strong theoretical understanding of histology and practical knowledge of processing human and PDX model tissue samples for bottom-up proteomics.
• Extensive experience in histology instrumentation, automation, tissue databases, trouble shooting, standardization and pipeline development.
• Ability to prioritize and focus on what matters the most and to drive projects in a highly multidisciplinary environment with multiple stakeholders.
• Experience in management of lab scientist (s).
• Strong written and oral communication skills

About Our Gaithersburg Oncology Hub

Our Gaithersburg, Maryland facility creates life-changing medicines for people around the world. This campus employs more than 3,500 experts in our field and is only a short drive from Washington, DC. This modern and vibrant scientific campus is the home of R&D and Oncology in the US. Here, we play host to some of the most cutting-edge technology and lab spaces, all designed to inspire collaboration and cross-functional science. We are dedicated to creating a culture of inclusion and collaboration.

The Gaithersburg site offers a variety of amenities to help keep our employees happy and healthy. This includes a fitness center, employee healthcare clinic, electric vehicle charging stations, dry cleaning, full-service cafeteria and copy center, game rooms, community garden and more. This is where you'll find newly-designed, activity-based work spaces to suit a variety of working styles while increasing collaboration between teams.

So, what's next-

Are you already envisioning yourself joining our team? Good! We can't wait to hear from you!

If you're curious to know more, please contact Bobbi Poole, our Talent Acquisition Partner.

Closing Date: February 3, 2023

Competitive remuneration and benefits apply

We offer a competitive Total Reward program including a market driven base salary, bonus and long term incentive. We have a generous paid time off program and a comprehensive benefits package.

Where can I find out more?

Our Social Media, Follow AstraZeneca on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/1603/

Follow AstraZeneca on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/astrazenecacareers/

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AstraZeneca embraces diversity and equality of opportunity. We are committed to building an inclusive and diverse team representing all backgrounds, with as wide a range of perspectives as possible, and harnessing industry-leading skills. We believe that the more inclusive we are, the better our work will be. We welcome and consider applications to join our team from all qualified candidates, regardless of their characteristics. We follow all applicable laws and regulations on non-discrimination in employment (and recruitment), as well as work authorization and employment eligibility verification requirements.

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

AstraZeneca embraces diversity and equality of opportunity. We are committed to building an inclusive and diverse team representing all backgrounds, with as wide a range of perspectives as possible, and harnessing industry-leading skills. We believe that the more inclusive we are, the better our work will be. We welcome and consider applications to join our team from all qualified candidates, regardless of their characteristics. We comply with all applicable laws and regulations on non-discrimination in employment (and recruitment), as well as work authorization and employment eligibility verification requirements.

AstraZeneca requires all US employees to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 but will consider requests for reasonable accommodations as required by applicable law.

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