Head of Target Maturation

Are you an experienced leader in the field of computational biology? Do you have a passion for driving data-first decision making and advancing drug discovery? We are seeking a talented and motivated individual to join us as the Department Head of Target Maturation within the Systems Biology and Target Discovery department in Novo Nordisk's Artificial Intelligence and Digital Research (AIDR) area. If you are ready to lead a team of computational biologists and make a significant impact on our drug discovery efforts, then read on and apply today for a life-changing career. 

The Position 

As the Department Head, you will have the opportunity to lead a team of computational biology professionals and set the scientific research and operational strategy for the team. Your team's objective will be to use computational analysis and machine learning to discover and validate novel drug targets in Novo Nordisk's key disease areas, including diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease.

Your responsibilities will include: 

• Line management of a team of computational biology professionals. 

• Set objectives for the Target Maturation department and deliver results that have a significant impact on AIDR, DSI, and Global Drug Discovery. 

• Review & implement data analyses to support target maturation, working with dept. staff / externals to deliver on discovery campaigns and present results to diverse drug discovery teams. 

• Understand cutting edge computational biology techniques in target discovery through genetics, machine learning and functional genomics. 

• Develop relationships with key stakeholders in Global Drug Discovery, especially Therapy Area scientists, to ensure alignment with the global Novo Nordisk drug discovery strategy and portfolio. 

• Input into the global AIDR Computational Biology strategy, including scientific direction, resourcing discussions, and operations. 

Physical Requirements 

up to 10% overnight travel required, potentially international 

***The role can be located in either Måløv/Hellerup (Denmark) or Oxford/London (United Kingdom).*** 

Qualifications 

• Master’s degree, or PhD is preferred. Bachelor’s degree required. Degree within a computational biology discipline, such as bioinformatics or genomics preferred: 

  • A master’s degree with 8+ years’ relevant experience, or PhD with 5+ years’ relevant experience 

• Relevant experience includes some combination of: 

  • Leadership (direct line management strongly preferred) of a research team in the field of drug target identification / maturation within an industry context (required) 

  • Experience applying computational biology and machine learning to target discovery through genetics or functional genomics. 

  • Experience analysing diverse omics data including one or more of [sc-]RNASeq, epigenetics, or proteomics/metabolomics 

  • Ability and motivation to perform in-depth data analysis and present results and conclusions to project and leadership teams 

  • Experience working in Python/R to curate and analyse data 

  • Experience working in multidisciplinary teams 

  • Excellent written and oral communication skills 

  • Detail oriented with strong presentation and documentation skills 

• Preferred experience includes: 

  • Experience analysing in-vitro and in-vivo omic data to mature hypotheses around candidate drug targets  

  • Experience constructing and interrogating singe-cell resolution transcriptomic data from human tissues/organs 

  • Experience working with cloud compute services such as AWS or MS Azure 

About the Department  

You will be leading the Target Maturation team within the Systems Biology and Target Discovery department, part of Computational Biology in Novo Nordisk’s Artificial Intelligence and Digital Research (AIDR) area. AIDR Computational Biology is a global department with colleagues in China, Denmark, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In this role you will lead an established team focussed on maturing, with our Therapy Area colleagues, candidate drug targets towards the early research pipeline. Our scientists have significant expertise across a diverse set of disciplines in computational biology, bioinformatics, and machine learning, including multi-omic data analysis, functional genomics, systems biology, and high-throughput target screening. Driving data-first decision making in our research pipeline is a key objective for AIDR as we seek to strengthen the Novo Nordisk drug discovery portfolio and deliver new medicines for patients.  The Target Maturation department contributes substantially to this goal and focusses on exploiting large datasets derived from functional omics and the literature to progress promising drug targets. 

The AIDR team sits within the wider Digital Science & Innovation (DSI) organisation. DSI is supporting the digital journey across all our therapy areas in Novo Nordisk Research and Early Discovery (R&ED). In DSI, we work in multidisciplinary teams – in strong collaboration with all areas across R&ED and R&ED IT. We participate in drug development projects across the value chain, from early discovery to pre-clinical development. We engage in external collaborations to ensure access to the latest research and technology enablers, and we automate our labs and processes, and we focus on developing and retaining top talent. 

Contact 

For further information, please reach out to Robert Kitchen, Head of Systems Biology & Target Discovery at [email protected] 

Deadline 

15 July 2024. 

We will screen applications continuously, so don’t hesitate to submit it as soon as possible. You do not need to attach a cover letter to your application, but please include a few sentences about why you are applying in your resume or CV. 

To ensure an efficient and fair recruitment process, please refrain from adding a photo in your CV. 

We commit to an inclusive recruitment process and equality of opportunity for all our job applicants. 

At Novo Nordisk we recognize that it is no longer good enough to aspire to be the best company in the world. We need to aspire to be the best company for the world and we know that this is only possible with talented employees with diverse perspectives, backgrounds and cultures. We are therefore committed to creating an inclusive culture that celebrates the diversity of our employees, the patients we serve and communities we operate in. Together, we’re life changing. 

Novo Nordisk is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, colour, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by local, state or federal laws, rules or regulations.