Executive Director, Research – Technology & Innovation for Inflammation Discovery

Job description

Career CategoryResearchJob DescriptionJoin Amgen’s Mission of Serving Patients At Amgen, if you feel like you’re part of something bigger, it’s because you are. Our shared mission—to serve patients living with serious illnesses—drives all that we do. Since 1980, we’ve helped pioneer the world of biotech in our fight against the world’s toughest diseases. With our focus on four therapeutic areas –Oncology, Inflammation, General Medicine, and Rare Disease– we reach millions of patients each year. Amgen is advancing a broad and deep pipeline of medicines to treat cancer, heart disease, inflammatory conditions, rare diseases, and obesity-related conditions. As a member of the Amgen team, you’ll help make a lasting impact on the lives of patients as we research, manufacture, and deliver innovative medicines to help people live longer, fuller happier lives. Our award-winning culture is collaborative, innovative, and science based. If you have a passion for challenges and the opportunities that lay within them, you’ll thrive as part of the Amgen team. Join us and transform the lives of patients while transforming your career. Executive Director, Research – Technology & Innovation for Inflammation Discovery What you will do Let’s do this. Let’s change the world. In this vital role as Executive Director, Research – Technology & Innovation for Inflammation Discovery, you will lead early discovery inflammation research at Amgen from target identification through preclinical assessment to IND and FIH. The Executive Director, Inflammation will provide strategic, scientific, and organizational leadership across Amgen’s Inflammation Research portfolio, with accountability for advancing high-impact programs from early discovery through clinical and regulatory support. This role will shape and execute disease-area strategy, guide portfolio prioritization, and lead cross-functional teams to deliver innovative therapeutic approaches for diseases that are driven by immunological and inflammatory mechanisms. The Executive Director will serve as a senior scientific leader within Inflammation Research, representing the function across governance forums, portfolio reviews, and strategic initiatives. The role requires deep expertise in immunology and inflammatory disease biology, experience leading therapeutic programs with knowledge of both large and small molecule drug discovery, and the ability to influence senior stakeholders across Research, Development, Regulatory, Translational Medicine, and Commercial organizations. The Executive Director will develop and lead the execution of an AI-enabled discovery strategy focused on leveraging innovation in myeloid, lymphoid, epithelial and/or stromal cell biology for development of novel interventions. This leader will direct the comprehensive integration of multimodal data, including human genetics, omics data, high-throughput screening outputs and advanced computational methodologies to inform target discovery and validation, innovative purpose-built modalities, and pipeline advancement of therapeutics aimed at modulating inflammation and improving outcomes for patients with immune-mediated diseases. This role will report into the Vice President of Inflammation and will reside in our South San Francisco office. Key Responsibilities Lead strategic and scientific direction for a portfolio of inflammation and autoimmune disease programs, including early discovery, preclinical development, and clinical-stage support. Provide senior scientific leadership for immune and structural cell biology and related therapeutic strategies, including program prioritization, indication strategy, target biology, and translational rationale. Oversee the advancement of pipeline programs through key decision points, ensuring robust biology and mechanistic insight, clear development hypotheses, and fit-for-purpose data packages. Represent Inflammation Research in cross-functional and governance forums and portfolio strategy discussions. Identify and evaluate new therapeutic opportunities including external innovation and internal pipeline expansion. Lead highly matrixed teams across sites and functions, fostering collaboration, accountability, scientific rigor, and delivery through organizational change. Provide expert guidance to senior management on high-impact scientific, portfolio, and organizational issues. Develop and execute a research strategy which builds on Amgen’s strengths and unique capabilities in inflammation-related drug development, emphasizes breakthrough innovation, and establishes near-term and long-term objectives Recruit, develop and retain world class scientists and build research teams that are skilled in AI-enabled target and drug discovery Provide technical guidance and mentorship to scientific talent, including direct and indirect reports, while strengthening team capabilities Create a cohesive, inclusive, creative and high-performing scientific culture. Contribute to broader site and functional leadership initiatives, including culture, sustainability, operational excellence, and cross-functional engagement. Maintain strong internal and external scientific presence through publications, presentations, collaborations, and thought leadership in immunology and inflammation. Partner with Research and Development colleagues as needed to support clinical strategy, regulatory submissions, protocol development, and responses to preclinical or scientific questions. Scope and Impact This role will have broad impact across the Inflammation Research portfolio and adjacent strategic areas. The Executive Director will be expected to influence portfolio direction beyond individual programs, drive resolution of complex scientific and operational challenges, and contribute to long-term strategic planning for the therapeutic area. The role will include leadership of multiple direct and indirect reports and accountability for matrixed program teams across research, translational, clinical, regulatory, partnering and portfolio functions. What we expect of you We are all different, yet we all use our unique contributions to serve patients. The executive candidate we seek is an experienced leader with the following qualifications. Basic Qualifications: Doctorate degree & 6 years of immunology discovery research experience OR Master’s degree & 10 years of immunology discovery research experience OR Bachelor’s degree & 12 years of immunology discovery research experience AND 6 years of managerial experience directly managing people and/or leadership experience leading teams, projects, programs, strategies and/or directing the allocation of resources Preferred Qualifications: PhD and/or MD with specialization in a relevant biological sciences discipline Immunology research credentials with expertise in leading programs and people and publications; this could come from various relevant areas including Immunology, Rheumatology, Gastroenterology, Pulmonology, Dermatology, Neuroscience, Systems Biology, Computational Biology or AI/ML Biology. A scientist with a passion for biological discovery and pursuit of novel Immunotherapeutics with an exemplary track record of success emanating from current leadership experience in academia or the biopharmaceutical industry Experience as a target and drug hunter combined with scientific excellence A deep curiosity to understand tissue and disease pathobiology as it relates to clinical unmet need and drug discovery Ability to make scientific connections across functions and therapeutic areas Ability to recruit, retain and develop top talent Experience with mentorship and career development of colleagues and reports They will also embody the Amgen leadership attributes which are: Inspire: Create a connected, inclusive, and inspiring work environment that empowers talent to thrive Accelerate: Enable speed that matches the urgency of patient needs by encouraging progress o