Vice President, Head of Discovery Data Science

At Genmab, we are dedicated to building extra[not]ordinary® futures, together, by developing antibody products and groundbreaking, knock-your-socks-off KYSO antibody medicines® that change lives and the future of cancer treatment and serious diseases. We strive to create, champion and maintain a global workplace where individuals’ unique contributions are valued and drive innovative solutions to meet the needs of our patients, care partners, families and employees.

Our people are compassionate, candid, and purposeful, and our business is innovative and rooted in science. We believe that being proudly authentic and determined to be our best is essential to fulfilling our purpose. Yes, our work is incredibly serious and impactful, but we have big ambitions, bring a ton of care to pursuing them, and have a lot of fun while doing so.

Does this inspire you and feel like a fit? Then we would love to have you join us!

The role
Genmab is seeking a VP (Vice President), Head of Discovery Data Science as part of the Discovery department. The position is based at the Utrecht office in the Netherlands, for a highly collaborative role across the Discovery organization. The successful candidate will lead the team Discovery Data Science, focused on cross-department data science collaboration, development of innovative data science tools and capabilities and application of computational approaches to antibody development, engineering and large scale biology.

The position offers a unique opportunity to develop, guide, and implement the strategy to weave computation, ML/AI and data-centric approaches through the drug discovery process at Genmab.

You will operate in a multidisciplinary, international environment of world-class scientists with state-of-the-art knowledge of the antibody and oncology field. The objective is to fundamentally transform how antibody therapeutics are discovered and optimized using a highly integrated combination of wet lab, computational biology, and bioinformatics approaches. Genmab is seeking a candidate that can work independently and is motivated, balancing a keen scientific curiosity with a pragmatic can-do attitude and sense of urgency necessary to succeed in drug discovery and development. The successful candidate must be motivated to work in a driven, collaborative, fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment.

Depending on experience and scope, the role may be appointed at the Senior Director or Vice President level.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement a vision and strategy for the Discovery Data Science team, integrating computational, ML/AI, and data-oriented approaches to transform the drug design and discovery process.

• Lead a multidisciplinary team of directors, scientists, data science associates, and other professionals in the discovery, validation, and prioritization of novel targets for the early therapeutic pipeline and antibody-based product development.

• Collaborate with various teams within Genmab, including Product Discovery, Target Discovery, Antibody Development, Formats, and Materials to optimize workflows, drive data-driven decision-making, and enhance technology application across the organization.

• Oversee the creation, expansion, and maintenance of innovative data science tools and computational analyses pipelines.

• Represent the discovery department in cross-company projects to develop data management systems and governance to ensure high-quality data generation and utilization.

• Establish and cultivate external scientific and commercial collaborations and strategic relationships to enhance Genmab's capabilities, expedite the execution of strategies, and meet organizational needs.

• Play a crucial role in talent management, including the recruitment, retention, and professional development of team members, while also ensuring the communication and documentation of scientific results in patents, publications, and regulatory documents.

Requirements

• You hold a PhD degree in biology, immunology, computational biology/immunology field or bioinformatics.

• You are a true leader and expert in biology, preferably in immunology, oncology and/or drug development, with experience in identification of new drug targets strongly preferred. You have prior experience with antibody therapeutics.

• You an expert on computational tools and approaches, including statistics, machine learning and AI, cloud computing and are proficient in programming in R or Python.

• You have an extensive experience in managing teams and get motivated by inspiring people and letting them grow.

• You report scientific results in patents, publications, and regulatory documents.

• You have knowledge and experience with high dimensional data including -omics related data, high-throughput (image) screening data and protein sequence analysis.

• You are proactive and develop a vision that anticipates emerging organizational needs and act to translate that into an array of technology evaluation pilots, external partnership opportunities, and work streams to advance research and development.

• You have facilitation skills to effectively inform senior and executive management of key updates, resource needs and challenges.

• You have a strong external scientific profile, demonstrated through high-quality publications, patents, and presentations, and are comfortable representing Genmab in external scientific forums.

The preferred location for this position is the Netherlands, though other European locations may be considered.

About You

• You are genuinely passionate about our purpose

• You bring precision and excellence to all that you do

• You believe in our rooted-in-science approach to problem-solving

• You are a generous collaborator who can work in teams with a broad spectrum of backgrounds

• You take pride in enabling the best work of others on the team

• You can grapple with the unknown and be innovative

• You have experience working in a fast-growing, dynamic company (or a strong desire to)

• You work hard and are not afraid to have a little fun while you do so!