Associate Director, Preclinical Development Operations

Reporting to the Head of Research, the Associate Director will serve as a bridge, operationally linking our Research & Development organizations. The successful candidate will work collaboratively across functions to provide operational support for ongoing drug discovery and development programs through coordination of external activities and relationships, meticulous tracking and documentation of vendor agreements & contracts, and overall project planning and management. From an operational perspective, this individual is expected to be a key member of the Pre-clinical Development Team (PDT) for multiple Frontier drug discovery programs, working closely with, and enabling project team leads to successfully deliver Development Candidate (DC) molecules to IND and beyond.

Requirements

What will you be doing?

• Interface with CRO representatives, consultants and Frontier’s teams, to establish and maintain CRO relationships, external collaborations and activities to progress compounds from DC to IND and Phase I entry.
• Collaborate with management to define new operational strategies, prioritize and drive short-term and long-term program and company goals
• Partner with Finance to track and review spend, ensure timely submission of key documents such as MSAs, SOWs, POs etc., and identify opportunities for cost reduction.
• Work seamlessly with functional area (eg, Process Chemistry, Formulation, Toxicology) leaders and consultants to monitor and maintain compliance with necessary protocols, and scientific and business documents.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for the identification, selection and successful management (including building trust, negotiating price, extracting value and balancing risk) of vendors for  activities in CMC, tox studies etc.

What are we looking for?

• Bachelor’s degree with a minimum of 8+ years of experience or a Master’s degree with equivalent, relevant experience in Pharmaceutical R&D or Technical Drug Discovery Operations environment is required.
• Prior experience with small molecule drug discovery functions (DC to IND stage) is required.
• Experience working in an outsourced environment with multiple stakeholders is required.
• Outstanding interpersonal skills and excellent verbal and written communication skills are essential.
• Exceptional organizational skills and attention to detail, as well as the ability to multi-task and handle multiple projects simultaneously are critical.
• Proven ability to excel in a matrix environment.
• Expertise with MS Office, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and other web/database applications typically utilized in an R&D organization is required.
• Program management training and experience while not essential are a huge plus.

Benefits

• Health Care Plan (Medical, Dental & Vision)
• Retirement Plan (401k, IRA)
• Life Insurance (Basic, Voluntary & AD&D)
• Paid Time Off (Vacation, Sick & Public Holidays)
• Family Leave (Maternity, Paternity)
• Short Term & Long Term Disability
• Training & Development
• Free Food & Snacks
• Wellness Resources
• Stock Option Plan

At Frontier we strive to build a diverse and equitable workplace. The salary range for this role is $170,000 - $220,000. Compensation for the role will depend on a number of factors, including candidates' qualifications, skills, competencies and experience. Frontier offers a competitive total rewards package which includes healthcare coverage, 401k and a broad range of other benefits.

This compensation and benefits information is based on Frontier’s knowledge as of the date of publication, and may be modified in the future.