Director of Research and Development

Reporting to: CEO

Location: Duchenne UK offices, Shepherd’s Bush, London

Contact: Recruitment@duchenneuk.org 

DUK is an ambitious, dynamic and impactful charity. Following their sons’ diagnosis of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), Emily Reuben and Alex Johnson founded Duchenne UK (DUK) in 2012.

DMD is a devastating progressive condition diagnosed in early childhood which causes all the muscles in the body to gradually weaken. There are currently only very limited treatment options for DMD, so Emily and Alex set up DUK to change this.

Since 2012, we have raised more than £30 million to end the devastating impact of DMD.

Job Description:  

We are seeking a well-networked, highly motivated candidate who can lead, drive and be accountable for the implementation of the R&D strategy and delivery of R&D programmes and projects. The candidate must be driven and able to seek out new partnerships with academia, pharma, and other key relevant organizations in the UK and global life sciences ecosystem.

This post is part of the Senior Leadership Team (SLT), reports directly to the CEO and has responsibility for leading the Research and Development (R&D) team, including the technology and data team.

Research and Development

• Work with the Founders to develop and implement the charity’s R&D strategy.
• Identify new drug targets and therapeutic approaches that exhibit potential to transform the treatment of DMD, and drug development.
• Design, implement and manage the governance and due diligence framework for R&D, seeking advice and updating relevant boards.
• Accountable for DUK’s technology and data development strategy, including the development, launch and long-term delivery of the DUK data platform, and working with the CEO and Board of Trustees on commercialisation preparedness.
• Accountable for DUK’s strategic partnership with the John Walton Muscular Dystrophy Research Centre at Newcastle University.
• Partner with the Director of Income Generation to develop appropriate income strategies and support on funding applications.
• Provide scientific expertise, guidance and strategy to successfully bring programmes to Go/No Go decisions.

Strategy

• Provide strategic insight and vision as part of the SLT, providing reports and updates where required to the Board of Trustees
• Accountable for finance and operational controls of all projects, including budget, reporting, risk management and compliance.
• Establish and maintain robust programme management processes and resources.

Leadership

• As part of the SLT, work collaboratively with colleagues to reach DUK’s organisational objectives.
• Be an inspiring ambassador for DUK and ensure it is reflected in the strategies, outputs and behaviour of the R&D team.
• Create an R&D team which is ambitious and passionate about DUK, providing leadership, coaching and setting priorities and targets.
• Provide line management to direct reports, setting and monitoring individual KPIs while motivating the team to be innovative and professional in its thinking and delivery.
• Build strong working relationships with stakeholders at all levels.

Essential qualifications & experience

• MD or PhD, or equivalent
• Ideally, an interest in DMD with knowledge of the causes, symptoms and potential targets for developing treatments.
• Demonstrable understanding of clinical and/or translational development.
• Experience of developing and leading a high-performing team, including coordinating and managing projects and priorities, and supporting professional and personal development.

Please send your application to Recruitment@duchenneuk.org via the ‘Apply’ button above.

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