Director, Head of Bioinformatics (Cambridge)

COMPANY OVERVIEW

AIRNA is a biotechnology company with a mission to be the leading RNA editing company delivering precision therapies to patients with rare and common diseases.

AIRNA is harnessing advances in genetics to develop transformative RNA-editing medicines that improve human health. Our proprietary platform is based on groundbreaking research by pioneers of the field and company co-founders Thorsten Stafforst (University of Tübingen) and Jin Billy Li (Stanford University) and enables optimal potency, safety, and delivery. AIRNA is advancing a robust pipeline of therapeutic candidates that are designed to provide functional cures for severe or chronic diseases by repairing harmful genetic variants or introducing beneficial variants promote optimal health.

AIRNA has raised $245 million in financing from a world-class syndicate of investors including Arch Venture Partners, Forbion, Venrock Healthcare Capital Partners, RTW Investments, Nextech Invest, and ND Capital. We value teamwork, resilience, excellence, human, and health, and have a diverse team at both our headquarters in Cambridge, MA and our research operations in Tübingen, Germany.

POSITION SUMMARY:

The Head of Bioinformatics will lead the strategic vision, build and manage a high-performing computational biology team, and drive data science innovation across discovery, preclinical, and clinical development programs. This leader will play a critical role in advancing our RNA editing platform by developing robust computational frameworks for guide design, off-target prediction, transcriptome-wide analyses, biomarker development, and clinical data integration.

The ideal candidate combines deep expertise in genomics and RNA biology with demonstrated leadership experience in biotech or pharmaceutical environments, ranging from early discovery to clinical-stage activities.

RESPONSIBILTIES

Scientific & Technical Leadership

• Define and execute the bioinformatics strategy aligned with company objectives and clinical milestones.
• Mine large public domain databases to build innovative analysis strategies to generate focused hypotheses for the identification of new therapeutic targets.
• Apply advanced analytics to large-scale Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) and mutation datasets and interpret genomic information for a variety of Cardiovascular, Thrombotic and Metabolic or Rare genetic diseases.
• Combine molecular biology and epidemiology expertise with data analysis strategies to identify novel gain of function variants.
• Establish machine learning approaches to improve editing efficiency prediction and specificity modeling.
• Build AI based data analysis strategies to identify chemical modification patterns required for efficient endogenous ADAR based RNA editing.
• Lead development of computational tools and pipelines for:
• RNA editing guide design and optimization
• Transcriptome-wide off-target assessment
• RNA-seq, single-cell RNA-seq, long-read sequencing analysis
• Variant detection and editing quantification
• Biomarker discovery and patient stratification
• Oversee analysis of preclinical and clinical sequencing datasets (GLP/GCP compliant environments).
• Integrate multi-omics datasets to support translational and clinical strategy.
• Use data analysis, visualization, storytelling, and data technologies to scope, define and deliver AI-based solutions.

Clinical & Translational Support

• Partner with Clinical Development to support trial design, endpoint strategy, and regulatory submissions.
• Lead bioinformatics contributions to IND/CTA filings and interactions with regulatory agencies.
• Develop and maintain reproducible, auditable pipelines suitable for clinical data reporting.

Team Leadership & Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Build, mentor, and scale a high-performing bioinformatics and computational biology team.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with Discovery, Preclinical, Translational Medicine, CMC, Regulatory, and Clinical Operations.
• Drive a culture of rigor, reproducibility, and data integrity.
• Publish and present findings in peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences.
• Prepare written and oral reports on a regular basis.
• Maintain clear and accurate communication with supervisor, team members, and collaborators.

Support for Infrastructure & Data Strategy

• Collaborate with head of IT for scalable cloud-based data infrastructure and secure data governance frameworks to support bioinformatics.
• Oversee implementation of workflow management systems and version-controlled analysis pipelines.
• Ensure bioinformatics group compliance with data privacy and regulatory standards in collaboration with IT and other stakeholders (e.g., HIPAA, GDPR as applicable).

REQUIREMENTS

• Ph.D. in Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, Genomics, Systems Biology, or related field.
• 10+ years of experience in biotech or pharma, with increasing leadership responsibility.
• Demonstrated expertise in RNA biology, transcriptomics, and NGS data analysis.
• Experience supporting clinical-stage programs and regulatory submissions.
• Strong programming skills (Python, R) and experience with workflow tools (Nextflow, Snakemake, WDL/Cromwell).
• Background in machine learning applied to genomics.
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or Azure).
• Proven track record of building and leading high-performing teams.
• Familiarity with models & AI products applied to a broad range of business use cases related to research and development.
• Innovative and critical thinking, problem solving, cross-disciplinary communications

Preferred

• Experience in RNA therapeutics, gene editing, or nucleic acid drug development.
• Familiarity with ADAR-mediated RNA editing mechanisms.
• Experience with long-read sequencing technologies (PacBio, Oxford Nanopore).

Key Competencies

• Strategic thinking with hands-on scientific depth
• Strong executive communication skills
• Regulatory and compliance awareness
• Collaborative leadership style
• Results-oriented with high scientific rigor

What We Offer

• Opportunity to shape the future of RNA editing therapeutics
• Competitive compensation, equity participation, and benefits
• Salary Range: $220,000 - $260,000
• Collaborative and mission-driven culture

LOCATION:

AIRNA has a hybrid work model, and the role will be based in AIRNA’s corporate headquarters in Cambridge, MA ~3 days per week.