Head of Biology

Join Aqemia in a pivotal role where you will help shape our rapidly expanding portfolio of small molecule programs across diverse therapeutic areas, beginning with oncology and immuno-oncology. This is a unique chance to build and lead your team from the ground up, working closely with a multidisciplinary group to accelerate the discovery of clinical candidates.

In this role, you will report to the Co-founder & COO and be an integral part of the Drug Discovery portfolio leadership, collaborating with Program Leaders, scientists in the teams, the outsourcing manager, and the COO. We do not have an internal wetlab to keep agility, thus we work with leading Contract Research Organizations (CROs) for synthesis, in vitro assays, and in vivo assays.

Your mission

At Aqemia, you have a rare opportunity to propel our growth by addressing two critical biological challenges:

1. Program selection: Build the biological rationale and strategy to select the most promising internal drug discovery programs.

2. Program progression: Build and refine flowcharts to rapidly achieve valuable in vivo proof-of-concept (POC). Select, challenge, and troubleshoot Contract Research Organizations (CROs) to ensure swift program progression.

How you will achieve this

- Strategic and operational leadership: Set the direction and contribute directly to complex operations alongside our discovery program and technological platform teams.

- Team building: Recruit and lead a highly skilled team of 1-3 exceptional Biology scientists, supplemented by relevant consultants.

What Makes You a Perfect Fit

We are looking for an objective-driven leader who:

- Challenges themselves and others while integrating expertise from internal teams and external consultants.

- Has a passion for bringing new drugs to market with a proactive and can-do attitude.

- Utilizes a fact-based and rigorous approach.

- Values team success over individual achievements and excels in concise, efficient communication.

Your background

• Education: Ph.D. in Biology, Pharmacology, Cell Biology, or a related discipline with over 10 years of industrial experience in the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industry.
• Experience: Proven track record of advancing multiple small molecule programs through various stages from target identification to clinical start.
• Expertise: Practical understanding of key pathways, their link to indications, and addressing unmet medical needs.
• Hands-on skills: Wet lab experience to effectively challenge and collaborate with CROs.
• Leadership: Experience managing scientific teams in discovery programs and working with CROs is a must have.
• Specialization: Experience in oncology and or immuno-oncology is a good addition

You Are Our Promising Candidate

• if, beyond meeting all previous requirements, you also bring:
• Dynamic Environment Experience: Proven track record in fast-paced, innovative, and techbio environments.
• Cross-Disciplinary Expertise: Extensive experience in multidisciplinary and international settings.

Our recruitment process

• 1- Hiring Manager’s interview : you’ll meet directly with your future manager Emmanuelle Martiano, co-founder of the company

• 2 - Business case with Emmanuelle Martiano & 20-yr experience Scientist in Biology

• 3 - Cultural fit interview with Marion our Head of people

• 4 - Final interview with our co-founder and CEO Maximilien

We can sometimes add steps if needed, whether from your side or ours, to tailor the process to the specific profile we are considering.

About Aqemia

• Our mission is to invent fast new drugs by leveraging a unique combination of generative AI and our novel deep physics from 12 yrs of academic research.
• We develop our internal pipeline of small molecules, against cancer to start with, with several programs in optimization in the animal just 2 years after starting them. We also work with Pharma companies to help them design drugs, including a $140M contract with Sanofi to accelerate their drug discovery
• We are a team of 50 people from world-class institutions (AstraZeneca, GSK, Sanofi, Harvard, Ecole Normale Supérieure, Ecole Polytechnique, BCG)
• Our Founders boast : 15+ years experience mainly in research at Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris, not to mention a stint in Oxford and Cambridge / 15+ years experience mainly in strategy consulting at BCG.
• We are part of the French Tech 120
• We are located 1 Bd Pasteur - 75015, with a possibility of up to 2 days of remote work
• Our working language is English
• We work for a mission : joining us means bringing your own impact on changing the way medicines are discovered and be involved in shaping the direction of our fast growing business and team.