Associate Director, Preclinical Pharmacology, Fertility

Work Your Magic with us!  Start your next chapter and join EMD Serono.

Ready to explore, break barriers, and discover more? We know you’ve got big plans – so do we! Our colleagues across the globe love innovating with science and technology to enrich people’s lives with our solutions in Healthcare, Life Science, and Electronics. Together, we dream big and are passionate about caring for our rich mix of people, customers, patients, and planet. That's why we are always looking for curious minds that see themselves imagining the unimaginable with us.

United As One for Patients, our purpose in Healthcare is to help create, improve and prolong lives. We develop medicines, intelligent devices and innovative technologies in therapeutic areas such as Oncology, Neurology and Fertility. Our teams work together across 6 continents with passion and relentless curiosity in order to help patients at every stage of life. Joining our Healthcare team is becoming part of a diverse, inclusive and flexible working culture, presenting great opportunities for personal development and career advancement across the globe.

This role does not offer sponsorship for work authorization. External applicants must be eligible to work in the US.

Your Role:

The Associate Director, Preclinical Pharmacology (reporting to the Head of Preclinical Pharmacology, Research Unit Neuroscience & Immunology) serves as the scientific and operational lead for in vivo pharmacology across the Fertility asset portfolio, with cross-disciplinary contributions to Immunology & Inflammation (I&I) and Neuroscience programs.  Working within a cross functional project team, you will lead multiple, high-priority fertility programs, accountable for designing, executing, and interpreting in vitro and in vivo studies that drive candidate selection, dose regimen design, and translational strategy, ultimately contributing to IND-enabling packages and regulatory submissions.

Location:  Hybrid – 3x/week onsite in Billerica, MA required.

Fertility Pharmacology Expertise

- Design, execute, and interpret pharmacology studies supporting GPCR small-molecule agonist and allosteric modulator programs across multiple species.
- Develop and validate reproductive endocrine models including superovulation, folliculogenesis, luteinisation, corpus luteum maintenance, and/or testicular steroidogenesis.
- Establish pharmacodynamic readouts (LH surge, estradiol, progesterone, inhibin B, AMH) and integrate findings with PK/PD modelling teams to define exposure-response relationships.
- Define and execute IND-enabling pharmacology packages; author pharmacology sections of regulatory submissions and contribute to safety pharmacology strategies.
- Drive mechanistic understanding of biased agonism and receptor desensitisation/downregulation in reproductive tissues to inform candidate selection.

Cross-Functional Project Leadership

- Serve as co-project lead for the Fertility asset portfolio within cross-functional project teams (Medicinal Chemistry, DMPK, Clinical Pharmacology, Safety, etc).
- Author and review scientific documents including pharmacology summaries, target validation reports, and pre-IND briefings.
- Manage relationships with academic KOLs and reproductive biology CROs; oversee outsourced study design, execution, and data quality.
- Define and track in vivo pharmacology KPIs, study timelines, and quality indicators to ensure program milestones are met on schedule.

Who You Are

Minimum Qualifications:

- Ph.D. in Reproductive Biology, Endocrinology, Pharmacology, Physiology, or Neuroendocrinology
- 8+ years of drug discovery experience, with at least 5+ years in a pharmaceutical or biotech industry setting.
- Proven track record as an in vivo pharmacology workstream lead on a cross-functional drug discovery team.
- Hands-on experience with rodent reproductive endocrine models (superovulation, ovarian stimulation, luteinisation,
HPG axis manipulation).
- Strong PK/PD modelling and biomarker development background in hormonal/endocrine contexts.
- Experience with IND-enabling study design, execution, and regulatory documentation;
- Demonstrated understanding of neuroendocrine-immune axis biology and its translational relevance.
- Experience managing CRO partnerships and external academic collaborations.

Preferred Qualifications:

- Ph.D. in Reproductive Biology, Endocrinology, Pharmacology, Physiology, or Neuroendocrinology
- 10+ years of drug discovery experience, with at least 7+ years in a pharmaceutical or biotech industry setting, specifically leading fertility programs from hit discovery to developmental candidate
- Postdoctoral experience in reproductive or neuroendocrine pharmacology.
- Direct experince and expertise in GPCR pharmcology, specicallicay small-molecule allosteric modulators or biased agonists.
- Additional expertise in endometriosis in vivo models (ectopic tissue implant, progesterone resistance assays) or
placental/trophoblast invasion models relevant to pre-eclampsia.
- Additional experience with pain biology experience — visceral, inflammatory, or neuropathic pain models.
- Track record of cross-therapeutic area collaboration resulting in novel mechanistic insights or publications

Pay Range for this position: $126,900 – 215,400
The offer range represents the anticipated low and high end of the base pay compensation for this position. The actual compensation offered will be determined by factors such as location, level of experience, education, skills, and other job-related factors. Position may be eligible for sales or performance-based bonuses. Benefits offered by the Company include health insurance, paid time off (PTO), retirement contributions, and other perquisites. For more information click  here .

What we offer: We are curious minds that come from a broad range of backgrounds, perspectives, and life experiences. We believe that this variety drives excellence and innovation, strengthening our ability to lead in science and technology. We are committed to creating access and opportunities for all to develop and grow at your own pace. Join us in building a culture of inclusion and belonging that impacts millions and empowers everyone to work their magic and champion human progress!

Apply now and become a part of a team that is dedicated to Sparking Discovery and Elevating Humanity!