Head of High Throughput Biology

Eikon Therapeutics is a new biopharmaceutical company employing revolutionary technology at the intersection of chemistry, engineering, computation, and biology to discover novel treatments for life-threatening diseases. Eikon’s discovery platform is built on groundbreaking innovations from its founders (Nobel Prize, 2014), culminating in the creation of microscopes which enable real time, molecular-resolution measurements of protein movement in living cells, thereby unlocking otherwise intractable classes of proteins as drug targets.

**Internal Candidates Preferred and Prioritized**

Position  

As Head of High Throughput Biology at Eikon, you will play a critical role in accelerating our research efforts and ensuring efficient delivery of high-quality data to advance our research drug discovery pipeline and other biology initiatives. As the scientific lead of this function, you will be responsible for overseeing the optimization, validation, execution, data analysis and reporting of cell-based assays in high throughput mode. This includes ensuring robustness, reproducibility, and scalability of assays. You will be an essential part of an interdisciplinary team of highly creative and talented individuals with outstanding expertise in the Company’s core platform technologies.  You’ll collaborate closely with colleagues across disciplines as you drive the transition of development phase assays to production level using automated screening approaches.  This will entail working closely with teams of biologists, chemists, and engineering experts.

About you

You’re an experienced cell biologist with a demonstrated expertise in developing and executing high throughput screens and hit characterization of small molecule compounds. Proficient with high throughput approaches and automation instrumentation, you excel in microscopy-based high throughput assays, including live cell assay development, validation, and troubleshooting, ideally with expertise in single molecule imaging and data analysis. Your expertise extends to statistical analysis, data quality control, and interpretation of results from large and complex data sets. You possess a strong understanding and experience in applying advanced computational techniques in data analysis and reporting. Collaborative and inclusive, you approach problem-solving with generosity and a growth mindset. Your excellent communication skills, conscientiousness, attention to detail, and organizational skills make you an effective manager and mentor to other scientists. Thriving in fast-paced environments, you enjoy using novel technologies to advance small molecule drug discovery and are passionate about discovering effective treatments for patients.

What you will do

• Reporting into the VP of Research Operations you will lead the newly established High Throughput Biology function and establish the vision and operating charter for the group.
• Set scientific and operational objectives for the HTB team and ensure successful execution.
• Oversee and lead a team of researchers, and partner with the Manager of HTS Operations to manage resources and ensure that the team is effective, motivated, and well-supported.
• Mentor team members and foster a collaborative and productive work environment.
• Establish strong collaborations across biology, chemistry, and engineering teams to ensure cross-functional success.
• Have direct accountability for the design, execution, and data analysis/reporting of high throughput screens, hit characterization and lead optimization.
• Develop and optimize data analysis and processing methods and establish data quality control metrics along with approaches for hit calling that can be applied across compound screening data sets.
• Build data analysis and programming skills within the team to ensure capacity to support research programs.
• Collaborate closely with Software Engineering to build infrastructure aligned with FAIR data principles.
• Deliver timely and interpretable results to project teams and distill screening results into reports and presentations for dissemination across the Research organization. 
• Communicate progress, challenges, and outcomes to stakeholders, including cross functional collaborators, project teams, review committees and leadership.
• Accountable for ensuring detailed records of high throughput campaigns and analyzed results are stored and accessible in our laboratory information management system (LIMS)
• Optimize assays and processes to reduce costs.
• Encourage a culture of innovation and continuous learning about the latest research and technology developments in the field.

Qualifications 

• Typically, Postdoc fellowship plus 4 years; or Ph.D. plus minimum 7 years of relevant experience.
• Demonstrated expertise in using automation to run robust high-throughput assays in 384- and/or 1536-well format.
• Proficiency in computational sciences
• Expertise in establishing data processing and analysis methods for large data sets and working with compound databases and LIMS.
• Expertise with various software programs for analyzing large data sets (Spotfire, Vortex, etc., advanced experience in python preferred) and skilled in generating custom software solutions for analyzing complex data.
• Proficiency in mammalian cell culture techniques necessary for high throughput cell-based screening
• Sophisticated analytical and problem-solving skills
• The ability to communicate effectively and to build strong collaborative relationships is essential.
• A genuine interest in growing as a leader, coaching, and mentoring team members is essential.

At Eikon, employee compensation also includes bonus and equity compensation, in addition to several generous benefit programs, including:​

• 401k plan with company matching​
• Medical (premiums covered by Eikon at 95%), dental and vision insurance (premiums covered by Eikon at 100%)​
• Mental health and wellness benefits​
• Weeklong summer and winter holiday shutdowns​
• Generous paid time off and holiday policies​
• Life/AD&D Insurance (premiums covered by Eikon at 100%) and optional supplemental employee-paid life/AD&D policies ​
• Enhanced parental leave benefit​
• Daily subsidized lunch program when on-site​

The expected salary range for this role is $152,000 to $166,250 depending on skills, competency, and the market demand for your expertise.

Eikon is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and will consider all qualified applicants for employment.

In accordance with the Company’s duty to provide and maintain a safe workplace, the Company requires all employees to be Fully Vaccinated with one of the FDA approved COVID-19 vaccines, which includes those vaccines that have received the FDA’s emergency use authorization. You will be expected to be Fully Vaccinated as of your Start Date. If you believe that you are exempt from this requirement under an applicable law or regulations, including Americans with Disabilities Act and California’s Fair Employment and Housing Act, you will need to contact the Company’s Human Resources group. For purposes of this section, Fully Vaccinated means (i) the completion of the vaccination regimen as approved by the FDA (by way of example, 2 doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine and 1 dose of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine), and (ii) timely receiving booster vaccination, as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

We are currently not accepting any new third-party agencies or firms at this time. Please do not forward unsolicited agency resumes to our website, employees or Human Resources. Eikon Therapeutics will not pay fees to any third-party agency or firm associated with unsolicited resumes.