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Grant Writer

Position Description

Juvena Therapeutics seeks an experienced professional to join its drug discovery and development team as a Grant Writer. The selected individual will identify, define, and develop funding sources to support existing and planned program activities as well as coordinate and manage the development, writing, submission, and tracking of grant proposals to third-party entities. The position is responsible for collecting and reporting data on the performance of program activities that are funded by third-party public and private sources in accordance with the grant funder’s reporting requirements, including deadlines, deliverables, and budgets. In addition, the individual will have the opportunity to develop expertise in the preparation of a wide range of documents, supporting nonclinical and clinical development. Reporting to the Director of Translational Biology, this position requires a high level of collaboration and coordination with scientists, project/program managers, and senior leadership at Juvena Therapeutics as well as with grant-funding organizations. 

Candidates should be excited to join a company focused on the discovery and validation of novel disease-modifying biologics that promote tissue regeneration through a unique platform that discovers secreted proteins that can promote disease-modifying effects and translates them into engineered regenerative biologics for a variety of chronic and age-related diseases.   

The position is full-time starting as early as possible. This is the perfect opportunity for someone interested in the exciting and fast-paced environment of a growing biotech startup company and looking to make a significant difference in improving the human healthspan.

Company Summary

Juvena Therapeutics is on a mission to discover and develop biologics for rare and chronic degenerative diseases by mining the secretomes of human pluripotent stem cells through a machine learning (ML)-enhanced platform. Juvena’s approach integrates proteomics, transcriptomics and imaging with phenotypic human in vitro disease model screening and extensive preclinical validation to mine stem cell secretomes as a rich source of new medicines for chronic and rare diseases. We are advancing leads for muscular dystrophies and muscle atrophy, and validating hits across metabolic and pulmonary diseases with a goal to identify and develop two new assets in new disease indications over the next two years. Since our launch in mid-2018, Juvena has discovered dozens of hits for neuromuscular, skeletal, metabolic and pulmonary diseases, including several muscle regenerative protein therapeutic candidates with potent human in vitro and mice in vivo efficacy. Juvena is advancing a developmental candidate for Myotonic Dystrophy Type 1, a rare autosomal dominant, progressive muscle-wasting disease, in IND-enabling studies. 

Juvena Therapeutics has secured venture capital, NIH, and CIRM funding to develop our top lead to a clinical-stage investigational new drug, to build our stem cell secretome database, and to leverage our discovery platform to rapidly identify and validate novel protein-based drug candidates for multiple rare and chronic diseases across metabolic and pulmonary therapeutic areas. At Juvena we embrace a diversity of backgrounds, experience and approaches that all combine to lead us to world-class scientific results in an inclusive environment.

Position Location and work permit requirement

640 Galveston Dr. Redwood City, 64063. Hybrid is also possible. 

Candidates must be legally authorized to work in the US.

Major Responsibilities

• Manage grant proposals within Juvena’s strategic plan and product roadmap and
  • Understand Juvena’s strategic plan and product roadmap to fully understand funding needs.
  • Research and present to Juvena leadership new grant-funding sources in support of the product roadmap.
  • Work with Juvena leadership to prioritize program/product funding needs.
  • Identify specific project opportunities within Juvena that align with grant-funding priorities.
  • Develop and standardize administrative components of applications to communicate the high capacity of researchers to minimize duplication of grant proposal preparation.
• Collaborate with Juvena Principal Investigators (PI), project/program managers, and leadership to
  • Develop and present grant preparation workshops, tipsheets, and SOPs at Juvena to improve grant-funding opportunities.
  • Work with cross-functional teams to ensure production of high-quality written grant proposals.
  • Manage  application creation, submission, and tracking through the granting agency portals
  • Perform literature searches as needed and summarize data for incorporation into grant proposals.
  • Develop and adhere to Juvena style guide, templates, and SOPs for grant proposal development.
  • Develop, commit to, help enforce, and support timelines for all assigned grant proposals.
• Collaborate with potential grant-funding organizations in order to
  • Create presentations for funders when they visit Juvena (virtually or in person) or showcase our programs.
  • Build collaborative relationships with grant-funding agencies and organizations.
• Project manage the grant proposal process, including (but not limited to)
  • Develop tasks and timelines in accordance to grant submission deadlines.
  • Organize preparatory materials required for grant proposal, including
    • In vitro research (concluded, ongoing, planned studies)
    • In vivo research (concluded, ongoing, planned studies)
    • Clinical trials (concluded, ongoing, planned trials)
    • Budgets, including amounts and timing of
      • In vitro studies cost
      • CMC costs
      • In vivo studies cost
      • Clinical trial costs
      • Other costs
      • Anticipated grant fund awards
      • Coordination of grant awards between funding organizations
  • Collaborate with Juvena’s Principal Investigators (PI) to formulate, write, and edit scientific and administrative components of grant proposals and progress updates.
  • Provide drafts of grant proposals to Juvena’s assigned PI in the format required for the granting organization.
  • Proofread, comment on, and copy edit final proposals from assigned Principal Investigators.
  • Support PIs for whom English is a second language in developing strong proposals.
  • Responsible for establishing document timelines and strategies and follow-through of report completion and publishing in accordance with internal processes by working with program management.
  • Participates in the development/improvement of document standards, templates and processes
  • Provide Medical Writing support for nonclinical and clinical study reports, manuscripts, posters, and presentations, as needed 

Qualifications

• Foundational Qualifications
  • Talent for translating complex scientific topics into clear, concise, and compelling content.
  • Ability to build and steward relationships with key leaders within grant-funding organizations.
  • Experience with generating narrative/text from both data and published literature.
  • Proficient in the use of MS Office Suite, Google Workspace Suite (Docs, Sheets, Slides, Drive), and OneDrive.
  • Strong oral and written communication skills. Demonstrated advanced writing skills with strong command of English language and grammar.
  • Efficient, organized, and able to handle short timelines in a fast-paced environment.
  • Ability to work both independently and collaboratively.
  • Ability to identify issues, ask questions, and propose solutions.
  • Degree in Communications, English, Journalism, and/or a related field with a proven history of working in the drug research/development/pharma industry; or, graduate degree in a scientific field (pharmacology, biology, chemistry) with a proven history of highly effective written and verbal communication skills.
  • BA/BS and 1-2+ years of relevant experience (less with advanced degree).

Preferred Qualifications

• Background in performing internet research on drug development, drug research, and/or biologics.
• Previous experience with Grant Writing and Persuasive Communications within a drug research, drug development, and/or clinical trial organization.
• Strong figures creation and editing skills (Ai, Ps, pptx)
• Strong scientific background in cellular immunology, biologics or related field.
• Experience with in vitro, in vivo, and clinical trial grant proposals.
• Proven track record of obtaining grants from public and/or private funding organizations.

Compensation

$110-150k, commensurate with experience, Medical/Dental/Vision, paid holidays, partial 401K matching, and generous stock options

Apply for the Position

Apply to this Job through the following means: 

• LinkedIn job posting
• Website job posting

Please email your CV and Cover Letter to apply@juvenatherapeutics.com with the title of the position as the subject line.