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Responsible for leading the engineering, process development, and translational advancement of TCR engineered T cell therapies from candidate nomination through clinical readiness. The role drives vector design, cell engineering, and preclinical development of next-generation TCR-T cell therapies incorporating viral and non-viral ex vivo engineering as well as in vivo T cell therapy strategies, with a blend of mechanistic discovery tightly coupled to IND-enabling preclinical development. The team lead coordinates with and serves as a critical bridge between research and clinical teams ensuring safe, scalable, and regulatory-aligned products.

• Develop effective in vivo T cell engineering strategies and delivery vectors.
• Lead optimization of vector design (viral and non-viral) to be used for in vivo and ex vivo generation of armored TCR-T cells.
• Collaborate with director of Vector Production and Quality to ensure seamless transition of preclinical products into a scalable clinical process.
• Evaluate TCR constructs for stability, reactivity, and manufacturability in collaboration with engineering and translational staff.
• Oversee development and optimization of ex vivo TCR-T manufacturing processes inclusive of transduction/transfection, expansion and formulation. Establish scalable workflows for rapid ex vivo cell engineering to enhance product potency.
• Conduct IND-enabling studies integrating in vivo pharmacology, safety, potency and mechanism-of-action datasets.
• Serve as a liaison between discovery and manufacturing teams to enable technology transfer and feasibility.
• Collaborate with manufacturing team to assess product and process performance, troubleshoot issues, and drive enhancements in clinical cell therapy manufacturing.
• Collaborate with the quality team to develop bespoke assays to assess product potency.
• Ensure documentation standards consistent with future IND submissions in all IND-enabling studies.

• Master's Degree or Ph.D. in an appropriate field. Equivalent work experience will be considered.

• 10 years of experience in T cell engineering or cell/gene therapy development with demonstrated experience in lentiviral vector systems, non-viral gene engineering platforms, human T cell functional biology, in vivo gene delivery approaches.
• Approximately 3 years or related experience in advanced translational academic center or pharmaceutical environment, with evidence of leading IND-enabling preclinical development (industry preferred).
• Track record of leading cross-functional scientific teams.

• In-depth knowledge of interpreting TCR-T cell biology, receptor engineering, and gene modification platforms.
• Knowledge of vector design principles, optimization, and safety switch technologies.
• Demonstrates ability to apply analytical methodologies for cell therapy characterization.
• Familiarity with institutional and federal regulatory documentation and compliance standards.
• Demonstrates understanding of translational development pathways from preclinical through early-phase clinical trials.
• Ability to build scalable and reproducible identification pipelines for personalized TCR therapy programs.

Ability to work flexible hours, evenings and weekends, when requested for special projects.

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