Pre-Clinical Project Manager

Conditions of Employment: Proof of Eligibility to work in Switzerland (Swiss work permit or Swiss / European citizenship or graduated within the last 6 months from a Swiss academic institution)

So, if you think you are a strong fit for this position, please apply today!

Please send your CV and Cover Letter to Write an email. Please specify the position you are applying for and use the “PC-PM” identifier in your cover letter and email subject line.

The position comes with an excellent compensation and benefits package.

About the job

We are seeking highly motivated candidates to join our Pre-clinical and translational development team in Lausanne and contribute to pre-clinical drug development across different programs. In this role you will be directly reporting to senior company leadership.

You will be joining a highly dynamic scientific team and will focus on generating and experimentally executing actionable pioneering hypotheses to drive novel platform and therapeutic applications.

HAYA seeks candidates who are creative, scientifically bold, independent, goal-oriented, excellent communicators, motivated to learn new skills and work collaboratively in a fast-paced entrepreneurial environment.

Primary responsibilities

• Organizing, overseeing and managing non-clinical studies with Contract Research Organizations (research and GLP) to support the product development
• Driving preclinical projects and projects related activities: applying project management skills in planning, initiating, risk assessing, executing and tracking of project activities, timelines and budget
• Presentation of pre-clinical development activities to company leadership and stakeholders
• Accurately writing preclinical protocols, study reports to support interaction with authorities and regulators
• Primary point of contact for communication for internal and external collaborators regarding pre-clinical in vivo studies
• Preparation of and participating in internal and external scientific meetings and communications
• Actively maintaining a preclinical databases related to samples and materials
• Ensure adherence to regulatory guidelines in the context of preclinical studies

Requirements

The ideal candidate for this position needs:

• Master or Ph.D. in pharmacology, biochemistry, molecular biology (or equivalent).
• At least 2 years of project management experience in a drug development or pre-clinical study management setting in industry
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English.
• Very good time management skills and ability to multi-task and prioritize work under pressure
• Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail
• Experience with nucleic acid therapeutics (e.g. antisense or siRNAs) is a plus.
• Knowledge of the drug development process and implications related to disciplines like pharmacology, ADME, formulation, drug safety, histopathology and IP.
• Background and knowledge of fibrotic diseases and experience fibrotic disease models is a plus (e.g. kidney fibrosis, lung fibrosis, cancer associated fibroblasts)
• Proficiency with NGS technologies and data-sets.

Core Values

• Creativity & Innovation. Scientifically curious and bold. Generates new and creative approaches to problem solving. Positive ‘can-do’ attitude. Views the toughest challenges as the greatest opportunities for personal growth and company innovation. Able to challenge convictions and dogma.
• Teamwork. Fully engaged in facilitating personal and team success. Reaches out to peers and cooperates with the team to establish an overall collaborative work environment. Often solicits and responds well to constructive feedback. Possesses good written and oral communication skills with the ability to clearly and concisely convey ideas and opinions.
• Flexibility/adaptability. Adjusts quickly to changing strategic and tactical priorities. Comfortable with ambiguity. Self-starter mentality.
• Fast-acting/efficient. Proactive and quick decision making with a strong work ethic to produce high-quality results while fostering a positive work environment. Focuses on key tasks and priorities. Demonstrates tenacity and willingness to go the distance to get something done.
• Integrity. Does not cut corners. Does what is right not just what is politically expedient. Speaks plainly and truthfully. Earns trust and maintains confidences. Expects a high level of personal performance and team performance. Follows-through on commitments.
• Critical thinking. Learns quickly. Demonstrates ability to proficiently understand new information and to independently pursue and achieve meaningful outcomes. Able to structure and process qualitative/quantitative data and draw key conclusions.

HAYA Therapeutics is a precision medicines company developing RNA-guided programmable therapeutics targeting the regulatory genome for serious health conditions including cardiovascular disease and cancer. The company is using its innovative cell-state modifying platform to gain novel insights into the biology of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs), - the ‘dark genomes’ information processing features and ‘source code’.

HAYA’s lead therapeutic candidate is HTX-001, an antisense oligonucleotide targeting Wisper, which is a tissue and cell-specific cardiac lncRNA known to play a role in heart failure. The company is also developing a pipeline of lncRNA-targeting candidates for the cell-specific treatment of diseases in other tissues, including the lungs and the microenvironment of solid tumor cancers.

Headquartered at the life sciences park Biopôle in Lausanne, Switzerland with laboratory facilities at JLABS @ San Diego, HAYA is led by a world-class team of experts in programmable and precision RNA-targeted therapeutics and is supported by a strong investor consortium. HAYA’s mission is to identify and develop breakthrough disease-modifying therapeutics with the potential for greater efficacy, safety, and accessibility than existing treatments.