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(Associate) Director, R&D and Clinical FP&A

South San Francisco, CA

The Opportunity

The unprecedented convergence of multi-modal data, advanced disease modeling, and computational power is revolutionizing drug discovery. insitro is harnessing this moment to redefine how medicines are developed for complex diseases. Our AI/ML-enabled platforms integrate and scale data to rapidly discover novel biological insights to redefine complex diseases and identify new targets and drugs.

To enable this vision we're seeking a highly motivated (Associate) Director of R&D and Clinical FP&A to be the strategic financial partner to our Research, Development, and Clinical organizations. This is a critical FP&A role that will own the financial planning, analysis, and decision support for our entire R&D and clinical trial portfolio. You'll be instrumental in shaping our financial strategy as we transition into a clinical-stage company, providing the insights needed to allocate resources effectively and drive our programs forward. This is a highly visible role with significant interaction with senior leadership across the company.This role will report to the Director of Corporate and Strategic Finance and will be hybrid with the expectation of being onsite 3 days a week.

 

Responsibilities

  • Strategic Business Partnership: The primary finance business partner for our R&D and Clinical leadership. This includes hands-on, on-the-ground work with a wide range of scientific and operational teams—including Drug Discovery, Program Management, Research Operations, Therapeutic Area (TA) colleagues, Pre-Clinical Development, and Clinical Operations & Development —to provide financial guidance and strategic support
  • Financial Planning & Analysis: Support annual and mid-year budgeting and long-range planning processes for all R&D and clinical programs, ensuring accuracy and efficiency. Develop robust financial models to forecast & track evolving clinical trial costs, R&D departmental expenses, and headcount. Partner in the purchase order (PO) approval workflow to ensure spend is reviewed against budget, capturing both in- and out-of-budget items as part of the financial oversight process. Work to develop and maintain a rolling latest estimate based on evolving needs of the organization
  • Clinical Trial Finance: A strong partnership with the Clinical Team (Clinical Trial Managers, Clinical Operations, Vendor Management) to be fully integrated into the study budget from inception through completion. Manage the development of multi year clinical trial cost forecasting models and scenario analysis to support strategic and program level decision making. Provide business support to the clinical teams to help create transparency around key parameters in critical business areas, including enrollment rates, clinical accruals & costs per patient
  • Pre-Clinical Program Finance: Act as a finance business partner to pre-clinical program teams, collaborating closely with project leads, functional heads, and program managers to develop budgets, review performance, and deliver analytics in support of portfolio reviews and decision-making
  • Performance Reporting: Prepare and present monthly and quarterly financial reports for the R&D and Clinical leadership, providing insightful variance analysis and commentary on performance against budget and forecast to communicate conclusions and recommendations to senior leadership. Support commentary and analysis provided to the BoD regarding performance of all R&D and clinical functions
  • Accounting Collaboration: Partner with the Accounting team to manage the month-end close process for R&D and clinical activities, with a focus on ensuring the accuracy of clinical trial accruals and prepaid expenses. This will include supporting the preparation of pre-clinical and clinical accounting journal entries and reconciliation
  • Decision Support: Provide data-driven financial analysis to support key portfolio decisions, business development activities (e.g., collaborations, licensing deals), and other strategic initiatives
  • Process Improvement: Drive development and implementation of key process improvement initiatives. Proactively engage with Finance colleagues and business partners to develop continuous process improvements to planning, analyses and reporting

 

About You

  • Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, or a related field. An MBA or CPA is highly preferred
  • 8+ years of progressive experience in financial planning and analysis (FP&A)
  • Biotech or pharmaceutical industry experience is required. Direct experience supporting R&D and/or Clinical Development organizations is required
  • Deep understanding of the drug development lifecycle, from early-stage research through clinical trials
  • Demonstrated experience with clinical trial forecasting, including modeling complex vendor contracts and patient-related costs
  • Experience with project reporting, operational accounting and financial reporting is required
  • Exceptional financial modeling and analytical skills, with the ability to translate complex operational data into clear financial insights
  • Expert proficiency with Microsoft Excel/Google Sheets
  • Strong familiarity with PowerPoint/Google Slides/ThinkCell is a plus
  • Familiarity with Neuro and Metabolism TAs is a plus
  • Experience with ERP systems (i.e Oracle Cloud or equivalent ) and planning tools (i.e Anaplan or equivalent) is a strong plus but not required
  • Ability to build strong relationships with Finance and non-Finance business partners. The candidate should be a proactive leader exhibiting strong influencing capabilities and a willingness to maintain open and transparent communication across the organization
  • Ability to actively manage the execution of projects that involve cross-functional stakeholders
  • A proactive, self-starting mentality with the ability to manage multiple projects in a fast-paced and dynamic environment. You thrive on ambiguity and love building from the ground up

 

Compensation & Benefits at insitro

Our target starting salary for successful US-based applicants for this role is $183,000 - $237,000. To determine starting pay, we consider multiple job-related factors including a candidate's skills, education and experience, market demand, business needs, and internal parity. We may also adjust this range in the future based on market data.

This role is eligible for participation in our Annual Performance Bonus Plan (based on company targets by role level and annual company performance) and our Equity Incentive Plan, subject to the terms of those plans and associated policies.

 

In addition, insitro also provides our employees:

  • 401(k) plan with employer matching for contributions
  • Excellent medical, dental, and vision coverage as well as mental health and well-being support
  • Open, flexible vacation policy
  • Paid parental leave of at least 16 weeks to support parents who give birth, and 10 weeks for a new parent (inclusive of birth, adoption, fostering, etc)
  • Quarterly budget for books and online courses for self-development
  • Support to attend professional conferences that are meaningful to your career growth and role's responsibilities
  • New hire stipend for home office setup
  • Monthly cell phone & internet stipend
  • Access to free onsite baristas and cafe with daily lunch and breakfast for employees who are either onsite or hybrid
  • Access to free onsite fitness center for employees who are either onsite or hybrid
  • Access to a free commuter bus and ferry network that provides transport to and from our South San Francisco HQ from locations all around the Bay Area

 

insitro is an equal opportunity employer. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.

We believe diversity, equity, and inclusion need to be at the foundation of our culture. We work hard to bring together diverse teams–grounded in a wide range of expertise and life experiences–and work even harder to ensure those teams thrive in inclusive, growth-oriented environments supported by equitable company and team practices. All candidates can expect equitable treatment, respect, and fairness throughout the interview process.

 

Please be aware of recruitment scams: we never request payments, all recruitment communications are from @insitro.com, and if in doubt, contact us at info@insitro.com.

#LI-Hybrid

About insitro
 
insitro is a drug discovery and development company using machine learning (ML) and data at scale to decode biology for transformative medicines. At the core of insitro’s approach is the convergence of in-house generated multi-modal cellular data and high-content phenotypic human cohort data. We rely on these data to develop ML-driven, predictive disease models that uncover underlying biologic state and elucidate critical drivers of disease. These powerful models rely on extensive biological and computational infrastructure and allow insitro to advance novel targets and patient biomarkers, design therapeutics and inform clinical strategy. insitro is advancing a wholly owned and partnered pipeline of insights and therapeutics in neuroscience and metabolism. Since launching in 2018, insitro has raised over $700 million from top tech, biotech and crossover investors, and from collaborations with pharmaceutical partners. For more information on insitro, please visit www.insitro.com.

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