Associate Director/Director, Program Leader And Manager

About the Company

Hillstar Bio, is a precision immunology company that recently completed a sizable Series A financing with a syndicate of blue chip investors (Droia, Frazier, Novo, LifeArc).

Hillstar aspires to build a portfolio of programs against autoimmune diseases with unmet or underserved medical needs. Its lead program is an antibody designed to selectively target a root cause of Cold Agglutinin Disease (CAD) and Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE). CAD is a chronic, rare (incidence 15/million) but debilitating condition with high morbidity (anemia, fatigue, cold-induced circulatory symptoms). SLE on the other hand, affects an estimated 3 million adults worldwide, with symptoms affecting various organs including joints, kidneys, blood cells, brain, heart, and lungs. Existing treatment options for CAD and SLE have limited effectiveness, carry considerable safety risks, and fail to address key disease symptoms in a large proportion of patients, leading to significant chronic morbidity and excess mortality. By bringing this new precision modality to patients, Hillstar aims to improve on safety and efficacy, as well as durability of response, setting a new gold standard for the management of CAD, SLE, and potentially other serious autoimmune conditions with a common biological origin.

Job Description

Join Hillstar Bio as a strategic leader overseeing our CAD program. Take charge of defining program strategy, leading execution, and ensuring successful cross-functional collaboration. Manage a skilled team towards achieving our first IND milestone, crafting long-term life-cycle plans, and contributing to competitive intelligence.

This pivotal role offers a chance to shape our company culture, make a meaningful impact on patient care, and contribute to the growth of a pioneering organization. We seek a passionate, hands-on leader with a keen strategic mind and a collaborative spirit, ready to thrive in a dynamic, close-knit team environment.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Set the overall strategy for the company’s lead program and be responsible for the program’s successful execution.
• Partner with the team to ensure that functional strategies, plans and team members come together to successfully enable key program objectives.
• Accountable for the successful delivery of key program objectives in collaboration with cross-functional team members to drive the success of our lead asset.
• Own the integrated program plan and program management: establish and manage timelines, tactical plans, and budgets, and ensure successful execution against the plan.
• Partner with the team to develop the integrated development strategy, including preclinical, regulatory, translational, CMC and clinical development plan.
• Provide effective leadership to the asset development team, including managing external consultants and vendors as needed.
• “Look around corners” to anticipate future risk and needs, and ensure the right mitigations and plans are put in place in a timely manner.
• Implement appropriate tools and systems to facilitate efficient program management and ensure team accountability.
• Contribute to competitive intelligence efforts to monitor the evolving landscape and strategic program context and unique value proposition to patients.
• Play a key team role in building and fostering Hillstar’s culture and contribute to its growth.
• Collaborate on various aspects of general business and people operations, as needed.

Requirements

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field; advanced degree preferred.

• 5+ years of experience in drug development, Program Leadership and management, with a track-record of successfully leading drug development teams.
• Expertise in the drug development process and an in-depth understanding of the early development space, including relevant regulatory expectations.
• Strong leadership skills with the ability to effectively lead and inspire a cross functional drug development team; demonstrated track-record of leading through influence as part of a strong and high-functioning team.
• Experience within antibody development or autoimmune disease is a plus.
• Exceptional program management, budgeting, and resource allocation skills.
• Solid understanding of competitive intelligence and the biotech industry landscape.
• Strong scientific acumen, mechanistic understanding of pharmacology and disease biology, and exceptional learning agility.
• Demonstrated ability to think strategically about asset development and business priorities to efficiently manage risk, speed and capital efficiency.

Benefits

Hillstar Bio offers a competitive compensation and benefits package that includes unlimited vacation and market-leading parental leave.

Additional Information

This is a full-time position located in our Boston, MA office. Hillstar is committed to creating a diverse work culture and we are seeking individuals of all backgrounds, orientations, and identities. We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.