Clinical Translational Scientist

Job description

**Valius overview** At Valius, we believe that the future of cancer care will be defined by “maximalist” diagnostics: deep, comprehensive assessments of DNA, RNA, and protein designed to give patients and their care teams the best possible understanding of how their tumor works and what its vulnerabilities are. We’re building the diagnostics and bioinformatics company to power this future, starting by applying this approach to patients with challenging cancers. In our first year, we worked with over 75 of these patients and, in many cases, identified plausible therapeutic targets which had not been discovered previously. This coming year, we’re on track to scale our patient volume significantly, all while bringing new diagnostic modalities (e.g., single-cell transcriptomics) and analytical approaches into clinical care for the very first time. We’ve just raised a $13.5M seed round, led by 8VC and Basis Set Ventures, and are looking for people passionate about changing cancer care to join our growing team. **Clinical translational scientist role** We’re hiring a clinical translational scientist (senior/principal scientist) to work directly with our patients and their care teams to translate complex molecular profile data into clear, evidence-based treatment options. This is a non-traditional translational scientist role: you’ll operate at the intersection of oncology, molecular genomics, and clinical evidence interpretation, delivering high-trust guidance that is scientifically rigorous, clinically grounded, and compassionate. This role will be expected to work out of our beautiful San Francisco office four days a week. You may come from a variety of backgrounds, but you should have: - Strong oncology fluency across modalities and tumor types - A deep understanding of the oncology therapeutic landscape - Expert ability to interpret clinical trial evidence and apply it to real-world patient contexts - Exceptional communication skills with patients, clinicians, and scientists across disciplines **What you’ll do** - **Develop treatment strategies:** Prioritize SOC, trials, and other therapeutic options (including off-label/expanded access when appropriate) based on patient molecular data. - **Interpret evidence with rigor:** Synthesize trial data, biomarker subgroup performance, design limitations, and real-world feasibility to evaluate therapeutic options; communicate uncertainty transparently with patients. - **Partner with computational biology:** Work with our computational biologists to integrate and synthesize patient molecular data (tissue/liquid; variants, expression, scRNAseq, IHC/mIF as relevant). - **Collaborate internally:** Work with clinical, scientific, and product teams to deliver expert analysis to our patients and help develop Valius’s scientific offering. - **Contribute to internal knowledge bases:** Draft therapy/biomarker evidence summaries, indication briefs, trial digests, and interpretation playbooks for use by the scientific team. **What you’ll bring** - Advanced degree or equivalent experience in a relevant discipline (with substantial oncology experience). An exceptional fit may be considered even in the absence of an advanced degree - Deep understanding of oncology therapeutics (targeted therapy, immuno-oncology, ADCs, resistance, sequencing, tumor-type nuance) - Demonstrated strength interpreting clinical trial evidence and explaining clinical relevance (including biomarker subgroups) - Ability to reason from molecular data to therapy hypotheses while respecting evidence strength, contraindications, and real-world practice patterns - Excellent written and verbal communication; ability to present confidently to clinicians and speak clearly with patients - Comfort working in a high-stakes, client-facing setting - Comfort working with ambiguity and evolving evidence in fast-moving therapeutic areas - Commitment to our patient-focused mission - Interest in working for a small, early-stage startup **What we’ll bring** - Competitive salary and equity compensation - Generous refresh grants - Comprehensive benefits (health, dental, vision, 401(k)) - Genuine investment in your professional development - Fun, mission-driven team culture