Head of mRNA Platform Design Data Science

Key Skills

Big Data Technology, Aartificial intelligence, Data science techniques, Data Analytics

Job Description

Who We Are:

In the race for the future of health – The Sanofi mRNA Center of Excellence (CoE)

At Sanofi, we chase the miracles of science, and we know mRNA has a role to play in the future of health. And while the pandemic has shaken up our industry, creating new opportunities and risks, we believe the acceleration of innovation with mRNA technology means vaccines and treatments for more people faster than before.

That’s why we’re looking for bold, optimistic world-changers to join our mRNA Center of Excellence. We’re investing €400m a year into the new Center, hiring a team of 450 dedicated employees, and focusing on implementing an integrated end-to-end mRNA vaccine capabilities and research with R&D, digital and CMC teams.

Bring your ambition and optimism and join us on our journey to discover and deliver transformative medicine to patients through the advancement of our cutting-edge mRNA technology!

Who You Are:

In this position, you will lead a team of mRNA Data scientists and computational chemists using bioinformatics, molecular modeling and Machine Learning for designing, characterizing, and optimizing target mRNA sequences and lipid-based delivery systems as part of the Data and Computational Science team in the mRNA CoE.

The Team:

We bring end to end data integration and advanced analytics (pre-clinical, biomarkers, process development, CMC, clinical) in the mRNA CoE. Deploying and exploiting digital solutions (AI/machine learning, data, analytics) to integrate the full data value chain, extracting actionable information for a move to a full data driven strategy and decision-making process, to increase probability of success and to accelerate mRNA vaccines and therapeutics development and launch

Job Highlights:

• Be accountable for setting the strategy for mRNA platform design data science for the mRNA CoE
• Be an active member of the mRNA CoE Data and Computational Science Leadership Team
• Coach and lead a global team of mRNA data scientists and computational chemists located in different locations in the U.S. and Europe.
• Act as a scientific expert and together with your team; identify opportunities in the fields of RNA biology/biochemistry/biophysics and AI/ML. Leading efforts to design and optimize mRNA vaccines, optimize formulations and predict performance (e.g. immunogenicity and reactogenicity):
  • Design, develop and validate robust analytical and machine learning approaches to evaluate the performance of mRNA vaccines and therapeutics, support in silico characterization, screening, optimization and analysis of lipid nanoparticles and mRNA - nanoparticle formulations
  • Translate experimental learnings into the development and refinement of computational models for design, optimization, selection, and formulation of mRNA vaccines
  • Contribute to the development of data and computational solutions for the integration of chemical, structural, and biological data to support data analytics and visualization
  • Provide scientific and technical leadership in computational chemistry including structure-based design, QSAR, cheminformatics and modern AI/machine learning approaches.
  • Employs machine learning methods such as deep learning, neural networks, reinforcement learning, graphical and generative models to deconvolve high dimensional experimental and in silico modeling results

• Ensure Maintenance of a well-documented, reusable codebase, and traceable model history
• Ensure awareness of latest developments in relevant fields, evaluates and applies as warranted
• Generates IP and participates in the drafting of patent filings
• Preparation and publication of scientific papers and congress reports.
• Demonstrate good software engineering practices
• Proactively identify, assess, and internalize emerging technologies and methods
• Build and maintain a strong network with CoE and Sanofi collaborators and with the external scientific community

Basic Qualifications:

• PhD in Cheminformatics, Computational Chemistry, Computer Science, Bioinformatics or related field with 5 years industry experience
• 5 years’ experience including PhD activities, High proficiency in computational and statistical analysis, structure activity analysis, cheminformatics, modeling and machine learning algorithms for RNA biology/biophysics/biochemistry (structure, function, engineering). Experience on machine learning applied to in RNA biology or RNA-nanoparticle formulation.
• 3+ Experience leading teams of data and computational scientists (ideally in different geographies)

Preferred Qualifications:

• Expertise in scientific computing (python, R) and cheminformatic software
• High proficiency in machine learning (Deep Learning, Embeddings, Transformers, Reinforcement and Transfer Learning) and algorithmic analysis of data
• Demonstrated record of leading projects and teams transforming algorithms/theory into practical applications delivering robust models that are high performance, interpretable and actionable.
• Excellent communication skills, able to manage effectively multiple level communications up to top management and down to project team members, able to manage cross-sites and cross-functional communications
• International visibility, excellent networking skills and fluent interactions with one or more scientific communities
• Understanding of drug/vaccine discovery and development processes is a plus

The Fine Print:

*Travel 10 to 20% with trips every 3 months to France, in the beginning could be a little more frequently

?As a healthcare company and a vaccine manufacturer, Sanofi has an important responsibility to protect individual and public health. All US based roles require individuals to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as part of your job responsibilities.