Gilead Sciences, Inc. Posted November 7, 2026

Director, GI/Liver Biomarkers & Translational Research

Foster City, United States Full time
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About this opportunity

At Gilead, we’re creating a healthier world for all people. For more than 35 years, we’ve tackled diseases such as HIV, viral hepatitis, COVID-19 and cancer – working relentlessly to develop therapies that help improve lives and to ensure access to these therapies across the globe. We continue to fight against the world’s biggest health challenges, and our mission requires collaboration, determination and a relentless drive to make a difference.

Every member of Gilead’s team plays a critical role in the discovery and development of life-changing scientific innovations. Our employees are our greatest asset as we work to achieve our bold ambitions, and we’re looking for the next wave of passionate and ambitious people ready to make a direct impact.

We believe every employee deserves a great leader. People Leaders are the cornerstone to the employee experience at Gilead and Kite. As a people leader now or in the future, you are the key driver in evolving our culture and creating an environment where every employee feels included, developed and empowered to fulfil their aspirations. Join Gilead and help create possible, together.

Job Description

Role Overview

Gilead Sciences is seeking an exceptional scientific leader to own end-to-end biomarker and translational strategy across a portfolio of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and liver programs. This player-coach role requires recognized scientific expertise, demonstrated productivity and the ability to translate human biology and biomarker evidence into high-impact clinical development, regulatory and portfolio decisions.

The Director will establish the GI/liver biomarker roadmap, lead the most complex and strategically important programs and create leverage across assets by integrating tissue, clinical and multi-omic evidence. The role is expected to support several early and late stage programs, with assignments evolving as portfolio priorities change.

This is a site based role at our global headquarters in Foster City, CA.

Key Responsibilities

·    Own and continuously evolve the integrated GI/IBD and liver biomarker and translational strategy across multiple clinical-stage assets, aligning evidence generation with disease-area, asset, regulatory and portfolio objectives.

·    Lead the most complex programs from early clinical development through Phase II/III, defining decision criteria for target engagement, dose, proof-of-concept, patient selection, response, safety, differentiation and lifecycle opportunities.

·    Provide hands-on scientific leadership for analysis and interpretation of blood, stool, intestinal and liver tissue, endoscopic, histologic, imaging, pathology and multi-omic datasets.

·    Create cross-asset frameworks for forward and reverse translation, including integrated biopsy strategies and analyses of response, resistance, relapse, patient heterogeneity and mechanisms of action.

·    Lead biomarker and translational contributions to protocols, analysis plans, investigator brochures, clinical study reports, briefing documents, regulatory submissions and health authority interactions.

·    Partner with senior leaders across Clinical Development, Research, Clinical Pharmacology, Biostatistics, Bioinformatics, Diagnostics, Clinical Operations and Regulatory; clearly articulate scientific opportunities, uncertainties, trade-offs and recommendations.

·    Oversee biomarker execution, assay and vendor strategy, budgets, timelines, resources and delivery across several concurrent studies; anticipate risks and establish mitigation plans.

·    Establish collaborations with investigators, KOLs, pathologists, consortia and technology partners; represent GI/liver biomarker science at advisory boards, scientific meetings and external forums.

·    Lead publication and evidence-dissemination strategy and maintain an active external scientific presence that strengthens the credibility and differentiation of the portfolio.

·    Develop direct reports and matrix team members, elevate scientific and operational standards, and build reusable capabilities, analytics and best practices across the biomarker organization.

·    Contribute to portfolio prioritization, resource planning and long-range capability strategy; present clear business and scientific cases to governance and executive audiences.

Qualifications and Experience

Basic Qualifications

·    PhD, MD, MD/PhD, PharmD or equivalent advanced degree in immunology, gastroenterology, hepatology, inflammation biology, translational medicine, pharmacology or a related discipline.

·    Typically 12+ years of relevant biotechnology, pharmaceutical, clinical development or human translational research experience, including substantial leadership of clinical-stage biomarker programs.

·    Demonstrated ownership of biomarker and translational strategy across multiple complex programs, with clear examples of influencing dose, proof-of-concept, patient population, go/no-go, regulatory or portfolio decisions.

·    Recognized scientific expertise in human immunology and immune-mediated inflammatory disease, with strong GI/IBD expertise and meaningful knowledge of liver inflammation, injury and/or fibrosis.

·    Proven and sustained scientific productivity and innovation, demonstrated by impactful peer-reviewed publications, patents, influential translational or clinical datasets, invited presentations, external recognition, major development milestones or comparable achievements.

·    Extensive experience with biomarker-rich clinical trials, regulated development, assay externalization, clinical sample operations, complex data integration and regulatory documentation or interactions.

·    Demonstrated ability to lead and influence senior stakeholders, independently structure multiple large-scale assignments, manage resources and communicate cohesive strategy to governance and executive audiences.

·    Track record of mentoring and developing scientists and elevating standards across cross-functional or matrix teams.

Preferred Qualifications

·    Direct leadership of biomarker strategies in Crohn’s disease and/or ulcerative colitis, including endoscopic, histologic, intestinal tissue, blood and stool assessments.

·    Experience in liver inflammation, fibrosis, noninvasive biomarkers, imaging and/or liver histopathology.

·    Experience spanning first-in-human through registrational development and direct participation in FDA, EMA or other health authority interactions.

·    Expertise integrating single-cell, spatial, transcriptomic, proteomic, cellular, genetic, pathology, imaging and clinical data into portfolio decisions.

·    Knowledge of companion diagnostic strategy and evidence requirements.

·    Established relationships with investigators, KOLs, consortia or technology innovators in GI/IBD, liver disease or human translational immunology.

Leadership Profile

A scientifically distinguished, hands-on portfolio leader who sets a compelling direction, operates with rigor and creativity, mobilizes teams through influence, develops talent and consistently converts complex evidence into development and business impact.

The salary range for this position is: $243,100.00 - $314,600.00. Gilead considers a variety of factors when determining base compensation, including experience, qualifications, and geographic location. These considerations mean actual compensation will vary. This position may also be eligible for a discretionary annual bonus, discretionary stock-based long-term incentives (eligibility may vary based on role), paid time off, and a benefits package. Benefits include company-sponsored medical, dental, vision, and life insurance plans*.

For additional benefits information, visit:

https://www.gilead.com/careers/compensation-benefits-and-wellbeing

* Eligible employees may participate in benefit plans, subject to the terms and conditions of the applicable plans.

For jobs in the United States:

Gilead Sciences Inc. is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment, and is dedicated to fostering an inclusive work environment comprised of diverse perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences. Employment decisions regarding recruitment and selection will be made without discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex , age, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, genetic information or characteristic, gender identity and expression, veteran status, or other non-job related characteristics or other prohibited grounds specified in applicable federal, state and local laws. In order to ensure reasonable accommodation for individuals protected by Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Act of 1974, and Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, applicants who require accommodation in the job application process may contact ApplicantAccommodations@gilead.com  for assistance.

For more information about equal employment opportunity protections, please view the  'Know Your Rights' poster.

NOTICE: EMPLOYEE POLYGRAPH PROTECTION ACT

YOUR RIGHTS UNDER THE FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT

Gilead Sciences will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, (c) consistent with the  legal duty to furnish information; or (d) otherwise protected by law.

Our environment respects individual differences and recognizes each employee as an integral member of our company. Our workforce reflects these values and celebrates the individuals who make up our growing team.

Gilead provides a work environment free of harassment and prohibited conduct. We promote and support individual differences and diversity of thoughts and opinion.

For Current Gilead Employees and Contractors:

Please apply via the Internal Career Opportunities portal in Workday.

Job details

Seniority
Director
Function
Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
Foster City, United States
Employment type
Full time

How this role compares

Computed from every other active Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research role in our database, not just this employer's listings.

We currently track 232 comparable Director Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research roles across 44 biopharma companies.

232Comparable roles tracked
214Currently active
44Companies hiring similar roles
15Countries represented

Salary context

114 of 232 peers report a salary range (USD, annualized)

Peers share this role's job function and a matching or adjacent seniority level -- not necessarily the same therapeutic area or country.

This roleSubject $243,100/yr – $314,600/yr
Peer group range $110,300 – $322,650 (median $205,000)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 232 comparable roles

United States177
China15
United Kingdom9
India6
Austria4
Switzerland4

+ 9 more countries

Seniority mix

232 of 232 peers have a known seniority level

Principal146
Director62
Senior Director24

Therapeutic area mix

43 of 232 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Oncology18
Immunology14
Cardiovascular / CVRM6
Neuroscience3
Vaccines & Infectious Disease2

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The closest matches from our peer group, ranked by how similar they are, not how well you'd qualify for them -- treat this as market context, not a guaranteed shortlist; a weak match is labeled as one below.

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How we calculate "similar"

No black box, no LLM guesswork: a deterministic score built from four normalized attributes. Here's this role's own peer group at different match levels, so you can see the mechanism, not just the result.

Every comparison starts from the same 100-point budget: 25 for working in the same function, 40 for the same therapeutic area, 20 for the same or adjacent seniority, 15 for the same country. A dimension we can't confirm on both sides contributes nothing, never a guess, never a free pass.

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Unmatched or unknown dimensions score exactly the same: 0 points, never a partial guess. A role we know almost nothing about beyond its function bottoms out at 25%; it never inflates to 100% just because there's little to compare against. Seniority uses a defined ladder (Associate → Manager → Associate Director → Senior → Principal → Director → Senior Director → Executive/VP) so "Director" and "Senior Director" count as adjacent, but "Director" and "Executive/VP" do not.