At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead a team to develop human-centric strategies in respiratory biology and translational science.
- Company: Join GSK, a global leader in health innovation with a commitment to patient impact.
- Benefits: Enjoy an agile working culture, competitive salary, and opportunities for professional growth.
- Other info: Be part of a diverse team dedicated to improving lives worldwide.
- Why this job: Make a real difference in respiratory health by driving innovative research and development.
- Qualifications: Deep expertise in respiratory biology and strong leadership skills required.
The predicted salary is between 72000 - 88000 £ per year.
Reporting to the Respiratory and Immunology Research Unit (RI RU) leadership, the Executive Director, Head of Translational Biology (Respiratory) will lead a line of laboratory-based biologists to define and execute human-centric translational biology strategies that increase the probability of success from discovery through clinical transition. This role is accountable for building and leading an integrated biology and translational capability rooted in human disease understanding, spanning target identification, validation, and progression across key respiratory indications, including COPD, bronchiectasis, allergy, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), interstitial lung disease (ILD), and pulmonary hypertension (PH/PAH).
The successful candidate will combine deep expertise in respiratory biology with translational science leadership to ensure that therapeutic hypotheses are grounded in human-relevant biology, with early deployment of predictive model systems, biomarkers, and patient-derived data to enable confident decision-making. Operating within a matrixed global environment, this individual will lead internal and external scientific teams, partner across research, clinical, and precision medicine, and shape a forward-looking respiratory portfolio grounded in mechanistic insight and translational rigor.
Key Responsibilities:
- Provide strategic leadership to define and execute a human-first translational biology strategy, ensuring all programs are grounded in human disease biology and patient-relevant mechanisms.
- Lead the end-to-end integration of biology and translational science to enable high-confidence target validation and clinical translation.
- Drive development and deployment of advanced human-relevant model systems (e.g., primary human cells, organoids, tissue systems, biopsies) to increase predictive value from preclinical to clinical stages.
- Advance disease area strategies across inflammatory and fibrotic respiratory diseases, including COPD, bronchiectasis, allergy, IPF, and ILD, with strong mechanistic insight into disease progression.
- Integrate multi-omics, human tissue data, and clinical insights to deepen disease understanding and inform target and asset differentiation.
People and patients around the world count on the medicines and vaccines we make, so we’re committed to creating an environment where our people can thrive and focus on what matters most. Our culture of being ambitious for patients, accountable for impact and doing the right thing is the foundation for how, together, we deliver for patients, shareholders and our people.
GSK is an Equal Opportunity Employer. This ensures that all qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), parental status, national origin, age, disability, genetic information (including family medical history), military service or any basis prohibited under federal, state or local law.
We believe in an agile working culture for all our roles. If flexibility is important to you, we encourage you to explore with our hiring team what the opportunities are. Should you require any adjustments to our process to assist you in demonstrating your strengths and capabilities contact us at UKRecruitment.Adjustments@gsk.com where you can also request a call.
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