Lead and mentor a team of toxicologists and technical/operational staff, fostering scientific excellence and professional growth
Define and execute nonclinical safety strategies across discovery, preclinical, and clinical stages
Provide expert toxicology and safety pharmacology input to cross‑functional development teams
Lead nonclinical sub‑teams as an integrated development head, providing cross‑functional oversight across Toxicology, DMPK, Bioanalytical Sciences, and Clinical Pharmacology to ensure aligned, program‑ready nonclinical strategies
Design, oversee, and interpret GLP, non‑GLP, investigative, and in vitro toxicology studies
Develop safety strategies for new targets, lead optimization programs, and platform technologies
Oversee toxicology and safety pharmacology studies conducted internally and at CROs
Ensure high scientific quality, compliance, and timely delivery of nonclinical study outputs
Author and critically review toxicology sections of regulatory documents (e.g., pre‑IND, IND, IBs)
Partner with biology, DMPK, pathology, pharmacology, clinical, and regulatory colleagues to drive integrated decision‑making
Present nonclinical safety data and risk assessments to project teams and senior R&D leadership
Serve as the primary nonclinical safety representative in regulatory agency interactions
Support product defense and regulatory submissions through robust scientific rationale
Provide strategic guidance on safety issue resolution and investigational toxicology approaches
Contribute to portfolio‑level planning and prioritization of nonclinical safety resources
Build scalable toxicology capabilities to support a growing and diverse pipeline
Requirements
PhD in Toxicology, Pharmacology, Pathology, DVM, or related discipline; board certification (e.g., DABT, ERT) - required
18+ years of experience in pharmaceutical or biotechnology R&D with a strong track record in nonclinical and regulatory toxicology
Deep expertise supporting small‑molecule programs across discovery, IND‑enabling, and early clinical development
Strong working knowledge of national and international GLP guidelines
Demonstrated experience defining and executing nonclinical safety strategies to support diverse pipelines and novel biology
Proven leadership experience building, managing, and mentoring toxicology teams within a collaborative, matrixed environment
Extensive experience preparing and reviewing nonclinical sections of global regulatory submissions and engaging with health authorities (FDA, EMA)
Strong ability to integrate complex nonclinical datasets across toxicology, pathology, DMPK, and pharmacology to inform development decisions
Experience overseeing outsourced toxicology and safety pharmacology studies and managing CRO partnerships
Excellent communication and influencing skills, with the ability to partner effectively across Early Development, Re
Benefits
Health insurance
Additional Information
Centessa Pharmaceuticals plc (Nasdaq: CNTA) new kind of pharmaceutical company with a deconstructed R&D environment that prioritizes data driven decision making led by subject matter experts. Centessa is advancing a portfolio of high conviction programs with strong biological validation.
Our asset-centric model offers a unique R&D logic that has been applied by single asset companies to improve productivity. This operating model has minimal centralized infrastructure, reduced hierarchy, and exclusive focus on data driven capital allocation. Our teams are uniquely incentivized to expeditiously interrogate key scientific hypotheses. We believe the asset-centric model can lead to improved success rates for programs with greater speed and modest costs.
Description of Role
Centessa Pharmaceuticals is seeking an Executive Director/Head of Toxicology to provide scientific and strategic leadership for nonclinical safety across discovery and development programs, with an emphasis on small ‑ molecule therapeutics. This role leads toxicology and safety pharmacology strategy to support target selection, lead optimization, IND ‑ enabling activities, and clinical advancement. Reporting to our SVP, Nonclinical & Translational Development , the Head of Toxicology partners closely with cross ‑ functional teams and represents nonclinical safety in regulatory interactions while building a strong, high ‑ performing toxicology organization.
Centessapharmaceuticalsinc · Boston, MA