Scientific Vice President, Lead Discovery & Optimization

Working with Us

Challenging. Meaningful. Life-changing. Those aren’t words that are usually associated with a job. But working at Bristol Myers Squibb is anything but usual. Here, uniquely interesting work happens every day, in every department. From optimizing a production line to the latest breakthroughs in cell therapy, this is work that transforms the lives of patients, and the careers of those who do it.

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Position:
Scientific Vice President, Lead Discovery & Optimization (LDO)

The Scientific Vice President, Lead Discovery & Optimization (LDO) is a senior scientific and enterprise leader responsible for end-to-end lead discovery and optimization across a broad range of therapeutic areas, target classes, and modalities. The role spans target-to-lead, lead optimization, and preclinical candidate nomination, with accountability for mechanistic pharmacology, evolving discovery platforms, technology enablement, and IND readiness.

This role leads a large, multi-disciplinary cross-site (Lawrenceville NJ, San Diego CA, Cambridge MA, and Bangalore India) discovery organization (100+ scientists), including direct leadership of senior leaders, and plays a critical role in shaping the Lab of the Future by integrating automation, advanced technologies, and AI-enabled discovery workflows with deep biological and pharmacological rigor.

(Senior Executive – In Vitro Pharmacology / Lead Discovery / Mechanistic Pharmacology)

• Provide executive leadership across lead discovery and optimization, with deep oversight of in vitro pharmacology, mechanistic biology, and molecular profiling.
• Drive strategies for complex targets and differentiated, first-in-class or best-in-class mechanisms. Ensure discovery decisions are grounded in molecular quality, differentiated attributes, and mechanistic and translational insight.
• Champion mechanistic pharmacology and disease-relevant biology as core drivers of molecular differentiation and downstream success.

• Oversee discovery efforts across multiple therapeutic areas (e.g., oncology, immunology, cardiovascular, neuroscience).
• Bring experience across diverse target classes, including historically challenging or emerging target categories.
• Maintain strong translational line of sight from in vitro pharmacology through in vivo and early clinical hypotheses.

• Lead the evolution of lead discovery platforms across small molecules, and complex / emerging modalities.
• Foster cross-functional and cross-modality fluency, enabling teams to bridge pharmacology, chemistry, biology, and technology.
• Ensure platforms are scalable, adaptable, and aligned with pipeline needs.

• Set direction for state-of-the-art automation to enable broader profiling, higher-content mechanistic insight, and increased throughput for disease relevant phenotypic screens.
• Partner with technology, data science, and AI teams to embed AI-enabled learning and decision loops into discovery workflows.
• Help define and execute a Lab of the Future roadmap aligned with enterprise discovery strategy.

• Drive sustainable IND delivery through integration of mechanistic rigor, translational insight, and platform maturity.
• Ensure strong alignment with adjacent functions- chemistry, biology, DMPK, safety, and preclinical teams. Influence portfolio and capability investment decisions to support sustainable pipeline flow.

• Lead and develop a 100+ person, multi-layered organization, including direct leadership of senior leaders.
• Build strong talent pipelines, succession plans, and organizational health.
• Operate effectively within a large-pharma, matrixed environment.
• Serve as a visible scientific leader internally and externally.

• PhD (or equivalent) in Pharmacology, Biology, Biochemistry, Chemistry, or related discipline.
• 15+ years of drug discovery experience, including senior leadership roles in large pharmaceutical or advanced biotech organizations.
• Demonstrated experience across multiple therapeutic areas and diverse target classes.
• Proven track record of advancing programs from early discovery through IND.
• Direct experience leading organizations or teams of 40+ people, including people managers.
• Deep expertise in screening, in vitro pharmacology, mechanistic biology, and molecular differentiation.