Director, Ophthalmology Discovery

At Johnson & Johnson, we believe health is everything. Our strength in healthcare innovation empowers us to build a world where complex diseases are prevented, treated, and cured, where treatments are smarter and less invasive, and solutions are personal. Through our expertise in Innovative Medicine and Med Tech, we are uniquely positioned to innovate across the full spectrum of healthcare solutions today to deliver the breakthroughs of tomorrow, and profoundly impact health for humanity.

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Job Function:
Discovery & Pre-Clinical/Clinical Development
Job Sub Function:
Biological Research
Job Category:
People Leader
All Job Posting Locations:
Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
Job Description:

Johnson and Johnson is recruiting for a Director within the Ophthalmology Discovery team located in Cambridge, MA to support drug discovery of novel therapeutics for retinal disease.

Our expertise in Innovative Medicine is informed and inspired by patients, whose insights fuel our science-based advancements. Visionaries like you work on teams that save lives by developing the medicines of tomorrow.

Our Specialty Ophthalmology team is focused on helping the 2.2 billion people worldwide that are affected by vision impairment. Innovating tirelessly to develop transformational treatments that preserve and restore vision. Bring your passion for health to our patient-informed team to help unlock treatments through data, science and compassion.

Join us in developing treatments, finding cures, and pioneering the path from lab to life while championing patients every step of the way.

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The successful candidate is expected to apply their expertise in retinal drug discovery to contribute to our pipeline growth and progression in line with the therapeutic area strategy. The successful candidate will provide strategic recommendations and drive program prioritization, in collaboration with the Senior Director, Ophthalmology Discovery. As people and/or project leader he/she will lead and oversee team members and pipeline projects, implementing a CREDO-based courage & care culture.

The successful candidate will promote team cohesiveness and enhance our capabilities through innovative idea generation and a strong connection with experts and advances in the field. The candidate will work closely with other cross-functional teams supporting pre-clinical programs and play key roles in evaluating drug development strategy in retina.

Primary responsibilities for this role include but are not limited to:

• Leverage own extensive experience in preclinical retinal drug development to develop, lead and guide team members to advance programs in the discovery pipeline.
• Drive effective decision-making and prioritization while considering impact to timeline, FTEs/budget, and risks.
• Lead, mentor, and motivate team members. Provide effective leadership including individual performance goal setting, hiring, managing the development of individual team members, recognize and reward employee contributions, planning and facilitating team activities.
• Drive collaboration with functional partners, communicate proactively, and maintain effective relationships with key stakeholders. Frequently update progress and align on strategic priorities with internal partners, cross-functional teams and third-party collaborators.
• Collaborate with and lead/participate in cross-functional teams and governance activities to facilitate IND-enabling, clinical Phase I/II-enabling activities.
• Lead projects in early or late discovery pipeline and facilitate transition into clinical development by working with precision measures and biomarker colleagues and mentor junior project leaders in these activities. Communicate program progress and issues to senior management, to internal governance and approval committee as necessary, and at national and international conferences as appropriate.
• Other duties, as necessary

Education:

• PhD or MD/PhD in Ophthalmology, Biological Sciences, Biomedical Engineering or Neuroscience with at least 10 years of relevant experience in industry, post-graduate academics and/or clinical experience is required.

Required:

• Knowledge of retinal biology, physiology and pathophysiology, together with a demonstrated understanding of preclinical drug development, as applied to ocular diseases is required
• Expertise in drug development and ocular delivery involving multiple platforms (small molecules, oligonucleotide therapeutics and/or biologics) is required
• Proven leadership and problem-solving skills in preclinical drug development with an emphasis on pipeline projects are required
• Detail-oriented, highly organized, able to manage multiple tasks,…