Senior Manager, Projects and Programs - Research

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 Project Manager, Biologics R&D to support the planning and coordination of biologics programs and projects from early-stage discovery through IND-enabling studies. This role is well-suited for a candidate with a strong scientific background who has transitioned into a project or program management role or who has taken on cross-functional project management responsibilities within research settings. The ideal candidate will have hands-on experience in biologics R&D, with the ability to manage timelines, track deliverables, and partner closely with scientific leads to keep projects moving forward.

This position emphasizes scientific understanding, team coordination, and milestone tracking, making it a strong fit for someone with a bench science background who has taken on increasing responsibility for project organization and cross-functional collaboration. This role is as comfortable managing single projects as they are multiple projects driving to the same program objective or milestone.

Key Responsibilities

Project Planning and Execution

Support day-to-day planning and coordination of biologics research programs, ensuring execution of key activities from discovery through IND-enabling work.

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.

Milestone Management & Decision Support

Collaborate with scientific teams to define key project milestones, decisional experiments and translate into actionable, resource-information timelines.

Help compile project data, timelines, risks, value-realization, and trade-offs to support informed decision-making.

Coordinate and facilitate planning and documentation of decisive experiments, and update project plans based on results and next steps.

Cross-Functional Project Coordination

Facilitate cross-functional collaboration across research to ensure effective communication and documentation of decisions, alignment of priorities and timelines.

Schedule and run cross-functional meetings, ensuring clear agendas, effective documentation, and follow-up on action items.

Monitor interdependencies across functions and proactively identify, flag and resolve conflicts across workstreams.

Operational Support & Project Monitoring

Track project status, risks, and mitigation strategies; provide updates to internal stakeholders. Provide related insights and recommendations

Coordinate with functional leads to understand resource needs and potential impacts to timelines.

Contribute to scenario planning and contingency thinking for critical path activities

Identify operational challenges and recommend improvements to enhance efficiency and coordination.

Resource Coordination & Timeline Scenarios

Work closely with functional and team leads to understand resourcing needs, identify gaps and timeline impacts.

Develop scenario plans for critical path development decisions to support contingency and investment planning to address potential delays, bottlenecks, or shifts in scope.

Qualifications

Advanced degree (MS, PhD, or equivalent) in life sciences or a related field strongly preferred.

Minimum of 6+ years of industry experience, including hands-on biologics research with demonstrated project or timeline management responsibilities.

Proven track record of managing projects & programs from research through IND filing.

Deep understanding of biologics R&D processes, including nonclinical, CMC, and regulatory components.

Strong analytical, planning, and organizational 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 (Excel, Smartsheet, MS Project, Asana, Google Suite, 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.