Indapta Therapeutics is a clinical a clinical stage biotechnology company harnessing the natural power of the immune system to fight hematologic and solid cancers with its universal natural killer (NK) cell platform. The company’s allogeneic platform is based on a subset of NK cells, so called g-NK cells that are derived from healthy donors and are deficient in the FceR1g protein.  These cells are particularly potent at killing cancer cells when combined with monoclonal antibodies currently clinically employed to specifically target and kill cancer cells. Indapta is working to bring this unique and powerful off-the-shelf cellular therapy to patients with cancer to overcome the limitations of currently available immunotherapies. The research laboratory for Indapta is based in Houston, TX.

 

Opportunity

We are currently recruiting for a Sr Scientist/Associate Director to lead the Preclinical Research & Early Process Development group who and can play a hands-on role in the lab as well as having team/people leadership expertise. This team performs IND enabling studies, donor screening for the generation of allogeneic product and early process development work for the Indapta’s cell manufacturing process.  The position will report to the VP of Research at Indapta.

 

Responsibilities

  • Day-to -day management of Preclinical Research & Early Process Development team
  • Design experiments and critically analyze and interpret results of experiments and propose next steps.
  • Lead donor screening efforts critical for the generation of allogeneic g-NK cells products
  • Troubleshoot technical problems in the lab and resolve issues.
  • Collaborate with the VP, Research to develop departmental goals that are aligned with corporate goals.
  • Lead the process to develop individual goals for direct reports holding team members accountable to deliver results within expected timelines.
  • Act as a coach and mentor to the team to ensure high performance and engagement.
  • Present data and communicate findings company wide and to outside collaborators and KOLs.
  • Help Maintain GLP practices in laboratory and train new hires. 
  • Create and maintain necessary documentation (SOPs, RTRs, relevant IND sections)
  • Deliver required sections of high quality and on time  

 

Qualifications

  • PhD with 8+ year industry experience with at least 3 years of people leadership experience
  • Ability to maintain a high degree of accuracy and attention to detail, excellent organizational and record keeping skills.
  • Effective team leader for a groups of mixed level PhD and Non-PhD Scientists
  • Excellent critical thinking and problem-solving skills
  • Ability to propose new projects, design proof-of-concept experiments, and lead the execution and analysis of the work
  • Strong collaboration and excellent interpersonal and communication skills
  • Sense of responsibility and willingness to accept temporary responsibilities outside of initial job description within the start-up environment
  • Demonstrated mastery of the following techniques:
    • Multi-parameter Flow Cytometry (panel design, sample acquisition, data processing) and data analysis (FlowJo, Excel, GraphPad Prism)
    • Tissue culture and sterile technique
    • Primary immune cell culture

 

Preferred Qualifications

  • PhD or Postdoc in Immunology, Cancer Immunology, Cancer Immunotherapy
  • Strong background in NK cell biology is a plus
  • Experience in generation of cell products for adoptive cell therapies
  • Experience in protein and cell engineering a plus