Senior Scientist II, Immunobiology

• Senior Scientist II Immunobiology
• Oxford United Kingdom
• Full-time (onsite)

Background:

DJS-Abb Vie is an Abb Vie R&D hub located in Oxford created following Abb Vies acquisition in 2022 of DJS Antibodies. As part of Abb Vie we aim to develop new medicines that improve the lives of patients with immunological diseases.

To achieve this we have built and are now expanding an R&D presence in Oxford that integrates drug design human-centric biology and mechanistic clinical testing. We have discovered and developed multiple novel pipeline candidates in immunological diseases through our onsite capabilities in antibody discovery and translational biology. We also act as a UK and European hub for the wider Abb Vie R&D organisation uncovering novel biology and advancing late-stage assets to the clinic through collaboration with top-tier academic and biotech partners in Oxford and beyond.

This hub model has already delivered several first-in-class drug candidates and clinical assets supported by a broad network of local collaborations spanning drug discovery technologies novel disease biology and innovative clinical trial approaches. The breadth of innovative activity taking place here makes this a unique place to work and a vital part of Abb Vies ambition to turn science into cures.

Purpose:

The role reports into the most senior immuno-biologist on site in Oxford (the Principal Scientist II Immunobiology). The mission of the Oxford Immunobiology group is to uncover and validate novel biology and targets coming from external academic collaborators as well as internal reverse translation clinical sample datasets and ensure that the best targets are translated into new discovery programs. To achieve this the Oxford Immunobiology group be deeply integrated across a range of diverse teams and disciplines.

Within Abb Vie we must be seamlessly integrated with clinical development clinical sciences precision medicine and foundational immunology groups. Outside Abb Vie we must work closely with the academic clinicians and human-centric biologists who work most closely with the patients who suffer with disease. The purpose of this role is to drive these relationships at a scientific level. You will be the Abb Vie lead for numerous academic collaborations spanning post-doctoral projects and human cohort and clinical dataset collaborations and be responsible for keeping projects scientifically aligned to Abb Vie priorities and also identify gaps in the research that can be filled through internal or external experimentation.

You will be responsible for monitoring developments in these external projects and communicating the findings to Abb Vie colleagues across Abb Vie Oxford and the wider R&D organisation including colleagues in Precision Medicine the Genomics Research Centre and Immunology Discovery Research. You will also be an important immuno-biology leader on the Oxford site co-leading the cross-functional enabling biology working group and shaping the array of biological capabilities deciding what to build on-site what to externalise and when to rely on collaborators in other Abb Vie research sites.

You will also be expected to supervise and mentor junior team members from across the Oxford site including the Immunobiology group and the Novel Therapeutics group.

In this role you will gain a unique degree of exposure to a very wide array of industry and academic teams working on clinical sciences and human-centric biology and will directly shape the Abb Vie pipeline through the new targets we work on as well as the positioning of later stage programs. You will have the freedom to propose new ideas and projects and decide on the best channels for communicating new findings with guidance from your line manager as well as the Director Partnerships here in Oxford.

Responsibilities:

• Ensure maximal scientific value and pipeline impact accrues from various external collaborations in Oxford by building peer-to-peer relationships with the external scientists doing the work and sharing findings with colleagues across the Oxford site and the wider R&D organisation.
• Act as a scientific bridge between the Oxford Immunobiology group and various stakeholder groups including the Immunology disease area teams as well as precision medicine and the genomics research centre.
• Propose orthogonal approaches for the Oxford-based immunobiology team to validate observations in clinical datasets and primary tissue assays.
• Co-lead the Enabling Biology cross-site working group ensuring the right biological capabilities exist across the site. Propose and establish key assays models and capabilities for team members to make use of.
• Lead and contribute to biological pathway deconvolution and the development of target validation packages to support program entry into the Abb Vie portfolio.
• Supervise lab-based scientists across the Oxford site including from Immunobiology and Novel Therapeutics.
• Spend a portion of time leading and working from the bench.
• Develop a deep…