Senior Project Manager, Biologics R&D – Lead Program

The posting, as Xaira wrote it

About Xaira Therapeutics

Xaira is an innovative biotech startup focused on leveraging AI to transform drug discovery and development. The company is leading the development of generative AI models to design protein and antibody therapeutics, enabling the creation of medicines against historically hard-to-drug molecular targets. It is also developing foundation models for biology and disease to enable better target elucidation and patient stratification. Collectively, these technologies aim to continually enable the identification of novel therapies and to improve success in drug development. Xaira is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, and London.

About the Role

We are seeking a Senior Project Manager, Biologics R&D to serve as project manager of record for our lead T-cell engager program, as it advances from late-stage research through development candidate nomination and IND-enabling studies. You will partner closely with the Program Team Lead, who owns program strategy and scientific direction, you will own program execution - the integrated plan, timelines, risk management, budget tracking, and the operational machinery that turns strategy into decisions and deliverables. The ideal candidate will have hands-on experience in biologics R&D, with the ability to own timelines, track deliverables, and partner closely with scientific leads to keep the program moving forward.

This is a role for an experienced antibody-biologics project manager who operates independently: you know the research-to-development transition firsthand, you can pressure-test functional timelines rather than transcribe them, and you drive teams to decision-ready data on schedule.

Key Responsibilities

Project Planning and Execution

• Own day-to-day planning and execution of the program, ensuring execution of key activities from late-stage research through IND-enabling work across research, nonclinical, CMC, and regulatory workstreams.
• Build and maintain project timelines that capture critical path, major milestones, dependencies, and deliverables.
• Partner with scientific leads and functional stakeholders to align on scope, priorities, resources and progress, pressure-testing functional timelines and assumptions against standard durations and failure modes for biologics early development (e.g., developability, cell line development, GLP toxicology).

Milestone Management & Decision Support

• Collaborate with scientific teams to define key project milestones, decisional experiments and translate into actionable, resource-informed timelines.
• Frame and compile project data, timelines, risks, value-realization, and trade-offs to support informed decision-making, including development candidate nomination criteria and go/no-go decision packages, framed early and driven to on-time delivery against the baselined plan.
• Coordinate and facilitate planning and documentation of decisive experiments, and update project plans based on results and n

[…]
zational skills; able to translate complex scientific ideas into clear plans.

• Excellent communication, time management collaboration, and stakeholder management skills.
• Experience with basic project tracking tools (Smartsheet, Confluence, Google Workspace, etc).
• Working familiarity with project and program management principles as defined by the Program Management Institute (PMI) or similar bodies. PMP, CAPM, or PMI-ACP certifications are a plus, but note hands on experience matters more than the credential itself.
• Please note that this position will be required to be on-site in the SSF office. Remote candidates will not be considered.

Preferred Attributes

• Comfortable managing projects in a start-up environment which is fast-paced, cross-functional, and where processes are still being built.
• Demonstrated ability to lead without authority and influence diverse teams.
• Passion for science and dedication to improving patient outcomes through innovative biologics development.

Compensation

We offer a competitive compensation and benefits package, seeking to provide an open, flexible, and friendly work environment to empower employees and provide them with a platform to develop their long-term careers. A Summary of Benefits is available for all applicants. We offer a competitive package that includes base salary, bonus, and equity. The base pay range for this position is expected to be $148,000 - $185,000 annually; however, the base pay offered may vary depending on the market, job-related knowledge, skills and capabilities, and experience.

Xaira Therapeutics an equal-opportunity employer. We believe that our strength is in our differences. Our goal to build a diverse and inclusive team began on day one, and it will never end.

TO ALL RECRUITMENT AGENCIES: Xaira Therapeutics does not accept agency resumes. Please do not forward resumes to our jobs alias or employees. Xaira Therapeutics is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes.