Program Manager, Preclinical Development

Loyal is a Series-A stage company developing drugs to help companion dogs live longer, healthier lives. We apply innovative approaches to tackling aging as a disease that can be slowed and improved with medicines. Loyal is an early stage start-up and is well funded by top venture capitalists and angels.

Loyal is hiring a Program Manager, Preclinical Development. You’ll join to oversee project progression and status of preclinical development pipeline projects to ensure timely execution of research projects. Your reporting and feedback to internal stakeholders will ensure that our preclinical research programs are executed efficiently, rapidly, and to the highest quality. This role is for someone who has 99th-percentile organizational skills, is familiar with coordinating across complex technical teams, has excellent ability for scientific and logistical and problem solving, and who possesses high attention to detail.

Loyal is an early-stage company, which means there are no stringent hierarchies, silos or bureaucracy. While you will be ultimately responsible for overseeing the status, progress and coordination of Loyal pipeline research projects, you will have ample opportunity to work with, learn from, and influence other sides of the company.

Loyal is founded and led by a first-gen, female CEO – we encourage and look forward to diverse applicants.

Education & Qualifications:

• • 2+ years experience managing preclinical drug development programs or projects
  • M.S. or Ph.D in a STEM field (biology, metabolism, neuroscience, analytical sciences, etc.) is a plus
  • In-depth understanding and experience managing a highly effective teams
  • Adaptability, creativity and high-performer in risk-assessment and strategic thinking
  • Detailed eye for logistics, timelines and strategic planning
  • Comfortable in a fast-paced startup environment with a dynamic team
  • Clear and respectful communication skills
  • Previous experience working with and/or managing external vendors and contract research organizations

Your daily work will include:

• • Oversee and support the Loyal Preclinical Development Team and the execution of several development pipeline and early stage research projects
  • Assist the team in troubleshooting & creative problem solving in order to achieve company goals and timelines
  • Maintain and scale company communications to ensure operational excellence of the preclinical drug development team
  • Work closely with team to ensure scientific research plans abide by key company timelines
  • Work cross-functionally with the Computational Biology, Consumer, Clinical Development/Operations and Drug Development teams to prioritize and synergize timelines
  • Persistent and respectful management of internal teams and external partners
  • Clearly communicate status, challenges and progress to the leadership team and internal stakeholders

While not necessary, we’d be especially excited if you have:

• • At least 3-4 years industry experience in drug development and 2 years managing scientific programs and/or projects
  • Demonstrable interest or previous work in program management
  • Dog person

How You Work & Think

• • Gladly participate in a team-oriented culture
  • Ability to navigate cross functional teams and triage issues and roadblocks respectfully
  • Good understanding of how to motivate the team towards ambitious goals and deadlines while also promoting realistic expectation of timelines
  • You need minimal supervision and are able to adapt to the dynamic of a startup environment
  • Detail oriented, disciplined, naturally seek ownership and responsibility, and happy working on a mix of the fascinating and the mundane
  • Professional and clear communicator with the ability to distill out the important information for the relevant stakeholders no matter how complex the scenario
  • Diligent communicator of scientific and logistical topics and challenges
  • Loves to learn and is excited to self-teach topics as relevant to the company and projects
  • Ability to meet or beat rapid deadlines and work well under pressure
  • Concise, logical thinker who can communicate complicated topics with ease
  • Growth mindset, value transparency, seek out feedback and iteration cycles

Reasons You Might Not Like this Role:

• • Fast-paced, rapidly scaling startup environment
  • Ambitious deadlines
  • Multitasking/cross-functional coordination across multiple teams
  • Build and troubleshoot processes from scratch

Health | Good health is critical to every other human (and animal!) experience. We believe health is a fundamental right and are dedicating our lives to maximizing health and developing better medicines for the worst diseases.

Seeking & Feedback Loops | Uniquely in biology, there is a predetermined truth of whether a specific drug will work or not — we just have to catch up with biology! We seek out this truth and do not shy away from inconvenient truths. This holds for personal development too: we are always searching for feedback loops and embody a perpetual growth mindset.

Transparency | We believe full transparency in thoughts, opinions, intentions, and actions (both good ones and mistakes) is a better way to build a business and work together.

Morality & Empathy | We are developing medicines that may one day be given to a living animal, medicines that if designed badly could hurt that animal instead of help. This is a huge responsibility and should be respected as such. Our work needs to adhere to the strictest moral code and always integrate empathy for the patient.

Kindness | Great business(wo)men do not need to be ruthless — you can execute excellently with kindness.

Dog gifs | We love them.