Associate Director, Molecular Safety - Stevenage, United Kingdom - Workday

Description

384307 Associate Director, Molecular Safety

This role will be accountable for the application of specialist molecular approaches to generate data to elucidate mechanisms of toxicity, understand species differences, identify novel translational safety biomarkers, and inform project decisions.

The successful candidate will conduct laboratory-based studies with emphasis on high fidelity Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) and Toxicogenomics (including application of gene expression biomarkers), in support of predictive, mechanistic, and translational toxicological investigations for projects in discovery and development.

We create a place where people can grow, be their best, be safe, and feel welcome, valued and included. We offer a competitive salary, an annual bonus based on company performance, healthcare and wellbeing programmes, pension plan membership, and shares and savings programme.

We embrace modern work practises; our Performance with Choice programme offers a hybrid working model, empowering you to find the optimal balance between remote and in-office work.

Discover more about our company wide benefits and life at GSK on our webpage Life at GSK | GSK

In this role you will

• Design, setup, initiate and conduct investigative toxicology studies with minimal supervision including sample organization and preparation, data processing and analysis, specialising in Next Generation Sequencing and Toxicogenomics.
• Develop and implement cellular assays, perform DNA/RNA isolations (from tissues, primary cells, or cell culture systems) for use with assay formats/techniques (e.g., NGS profiling or Toxicogenomics, including library preparations) for the investigation of mechanisms and translation of organ toxicities and safety risks to the clinic.
• Provide high quality data acceptable to appropriate principles of data integrity (DI), including quality control (QC) of study data.
• Understand the disease target, and if applicable the therapeutic area, and the programme/project plan and potential safety issues of assigned projects / studies.
• Collaborate with all areas involved in the study to optimise study efficiency and quality and coordinate multiple areas of work to meet project goals and timelines.
• Prepare study reports and interim summaries within agreed timelines. Demonstrate good judgment at all times; take ownership of issue identification and resolution and immediately report any unexpected finding of toxicological significance according to R&D policy.
• Ensure that all relevant colleagues are kept up to date with all information that affects them by clear, concise timely communication, and provide accurate information to study / report tracking system(s).
• Participate in collaborations (with internal and external partners) to guide the development and deployment of new molecular / toxicogenomic approaches to improve the efficiency, prediction, mechanistic understanding, and translation of drug safety risks.
• Ensure compliance with GSK SOPs and Policies, GLP, and data integrity, safety, and animal welfare guidelines.

Why you?

Basic Qualifications & Skills:

We are looking for professionals with these required skills to achieve our goals:

• BSc in a Life-Sciences related field/Biomedical Sciences.
• Experience of molecular biology, cellular biology and/or investigative safety/toxicology studies and conduct of these, ideally within a Pharmaceutical or Research Institute setting.
• Extensive knowledge of massively parallel sequencing techniques (e.g., ecNGS using Illumina) covering sample preparation, DNA extraction and library preparations, analysis methods and data interpretation along with bio-informatics platforms used to integrate and/or interrogate data to inform mechanism, dose response relationships and in vitro/in vivo translation to humans.
• Knowledge of Toxicogenomic techniques covering sample preparation, single cell or tissue analysis methods and data interpretation.
• Proficiency with a variety of laboratory techniques including DNA/RNA extraction, Library preparation, Massively Parallel DNA sequencing (possibly with single cell WGS), PCR, Nanostring, and other nucleic acid hybridization and gene expression platforms e.g., Affymetrics microarrays, ELISA, etc.
• Excellent written and verbal communication and organisational skills, ideally with evidence of a relevant publication record.
• Ability to work routinely across boundaries and establish cross functional matrix teams internally (e.g., NCS, PreClinical Sciences, Projects) and externally.
• Familiar with platform data and bioinformatics software and working with data analysts/bioinformaticians to leverage and integrate multi-omics approaches to support toxicological MOA and risk assessment (ideally with ability to code in R or Python) and train others.

Preferred Qualifications & Skills:

Please note the following skills are not necessary, just preferred, if you do not have them, please still apply:

• PhD in Molecular biology, Cellular biology, Toxicology and/or other related biological science.
• Advanced understanding of NGS platform applications to toxicology, including mutagenesis and carcinogenesis, with the potential to support adverse outcome pathways and translation from non-clinical species to humans.
• In Toxicogenomics, experience with bio-informatics platforms used to interrogate data to inform mechanisms of toxicity, support adverse outcome pathways, characterise dose response relationships and in vitro/in vivo translation to humans.
• Experience advising on investigative safety and/or advanced sequencing/Omics technologies and designing associated studies, ideally across in vitro and in vivo models and species.

Closing Date for Applications – December 15th, 2023 (COB)

Please take a copy of the Job Description, as this will not be available post closure of the advert.

When applying for this role, please use the 'cover letter' of the online application or your CV to describe how you meet the competencies for this role, as outlined in the job requirements above. The information that you have provided in your cover letter and CV will be used to assess your application.

Why Us?

GSK is a global biopharma company with a special purpose – to unite science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together – so we can positively impact the health of billions of people and deliver stronger, more sustainable shareholder returns – as an organization where people can thrive. Getting ahead means preventing disease as well as treating it, and we aim to positively impact the health of 2.5 billion people by the end of 2030.

Our success absolutely depends on our people. While getting ahead of disease together is about our ambition for patients and shareholders, it's also about making GSK a place where people can thrive. We want GSK to be a workplace where everyone can feel a sense of belonging and thrive as set out in our Equal and Inclusive Treatment of Employees policy. We're committed to being more proactive at all levels so that our workforce reflects the communities we work and hire in, and our GSK leadership reflects our GSK workforce.

As an Equal Opportunity Employer, we are open to all talent. In the US, we also adhere to Affirmative Action principles. This ensures that all qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment without regard to neurodiversity, race/ethnicity, colour, national origin, religion, gender, pregnancy, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, age, disability, genetic information, military service, covered/protected veteran status or any other federal, state or local protected class*(*US only).

We believe in an agile working culture for all our roles. If flexibility is important to you, we encourage you to explore with our hiring team what the opportunities are.

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