Director - Mass Spectrometry

Enara Bio's purpose is to shine a light on unconventional T cell targets to develop cancer immunotherapies designed to provide lasting benefit for broad patient populations. Our proprietary EDAPT platform enables us to discover a novel and differentiated class of cancer-specific targets from the genomic dark matter, which we call Dark Antigens. We are pioneering approaches to exploit these Dark Antigen targets with a range of immunotherapeutic modalities, including bispecific T-cell engagers, adoptive cell therapies and cancer vaccines.

Enara Bio was founded in 2016 and has been well funded to invest in the build out and growth of our R&D efforts and our fantastic team. The company is based in Oxford, UK.

Role Overview

We are seeking an accomplished leader to head our Mass Spectrometry function, a critical component of our antigen discovery pipeline and therapeutic platform. This role will drive mass spectrometry efforts to identify novel targets and characterize our innovative immunotherapies, as we advance our pipeline from research through development and toward the clinic. As part of our mission to develop bi-specific, T-cell engagers targeting cancer-specific Dark Antigens, you will play a key role in shaping our scientific impact.

Key Responsibilities:

Team & Function Management

• Lead and mentor an established team of mass spectrometry scientists, supporting their growth and aligning the team's development with the company's R&D goals.
• Play a key role in shaping the overall research environment, fostering our culture of purpose, authenticity, and autonomy within the team and across Research.

Scientific Leadership

• Utilize our immunopeptidomics pipeline to identify novel, cancer-specific peptide-HLA antigens from genomic dark matter.
• Drive scientific collaboration with computational and wet lab functions to foster innovation in antigen discovery and protein characterisation.
• Enhance existing and establish new, innovative mass spectrometry workflows to address complex challenges in target discovery and protein therapeutic development.
• Provide oversight and enable the team to deliver on MS-based protein analytics to support characterization of our novel biologics and early CMC activities.
• Liaise with academic and industry advisors to routinely seek external feedback on our methods and data, ensuring alignment with best practices and emerging innovations.

Strategic Vision

• As a technical expert, define the strategic role of mass spectrometry in advancing our entire R&D pipeline.
• Advance the field of antigen discovery by combining innovation in mass spectrometry with other multi-omics technologies for the discovery of Dark Antigens.
• Lead efforts to ensure our technology remains at the cutting edge of mass spectrometry.
• Contribute to the broader research strategy, shaping the future direction of R&D and the role of mass spectrometry within it.

Role Requirements

You will need deep expertise in mass spectrometry and immunopeptidomics, with a strong track record of applying these technologies in the biotech or pharmaceutical sector. As well as proven leadership experience, including managing teams in a technical area and providing strategic and team oversight.

Required qualifications and experience

• Advanced Life Sciences degree.
• Extensive experience in Mass-spectrometry including in the industry setting.
• Skilled in building and/or leading teams, with a strong focus on promoting autonomy to support individual growth and development.
• Proven track record of hands-on experience and successful leadership of complex mass-spectrometry projects.
• Ability to drive scientific innovation while aligning team goals with broader company objectives.
• Knowledge/technical experience in:
• Immunopeptidomics and proteomics of tissues and cell lines.
• Complex data analysis and specific software used in mass spectrometry-based proteomics/immunopeptidomics.
• Good data management and infrastructure practices.
• Track record of effectively leading and developing people and teams.
• Ability to communicate effectively with a diverse internal and external audience.

Desirable

• Experience of mass spectrometry-based proteomics analysis for characterisation of recombinant proteins.
• Experience of cross-functional target discovery projects.
• Prior experience in the peptide-HLA biology/immunology/T cell biology.
• Experience of working with other -omics data for target discovery.
• Experience in biologics drug development in a biotech/pharmaceutical setting.

Working Expectations

To fulfil the role requirements, applicants should be committed to spending a minimum of 3 days per week on site in Oxford.

Further information:

We are driven to make a meaningful difference for people affected by cancer.

We are also driven to inspire and foster lasting, impactful careers in science.

We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer. We offer a competitive range of benefits that include a generous pension, health insurance and enhanced leave for new parents.

Everything we do at Enara is centred in our values:

Empowerment: We promote autonomy across Enara rejecting conventional hierarchy. We engage each other through transparency, collaboration and trust. We each take action with a deep sense of personal and shared accountability.

Courage: We push boundaries in all that we do to deliver on our purpose. We make bold decisions, embrace risk and tackle challenges to advance our novel science. Courage is essential for everything we do.

Humility: We are proud of and excited by our novel science, but we acknowledge that we cannot know everything. Our curiosity drives us to continually learn from each other & the outside world irrespective of our role or title. We give and receive feedback with no room for ego.

Growth: We invest in our people, culture and community to foster belonging as a foundation for success. We embrace individual development to create deeper personal fulfilment and drive stronger collective impact.

Applicants should be able to demonstrate proof of the right to work in United Kingdom.

Enara Bio Limited is an equal opportunities employer.