Executive Director, Discovery

The Position:

As Executive Director of Discovery you will bring your track record as an innovative scientific leader and be responsible for driving Veracyte’s early‑stage discovery engine, driving the identification and development of novel biomarkers, technologies, and platforms that advance our mission to transform cancer care. You will integrate laboratory‑based cancer biology, genomic technologies, and state‑of‑the‑art bioinformatics—including multi‑modal artificial intelligence (MMAI)—to identify novel molecular diagnostics that have the potential to move from the lab into patient care.

This role is critical to Veracyte’s mission of delivering clinically impactful genomic solutions that improve outcomes for patients worldwide. With hundreds of thousands of patients already served, Veracyte continues to build diagnostic innovations grounded in rigorous scientific discovery and advanced analytics.

This leader must bring deep hands‑on experience in cancer biology, genomic technologies, and computational analysis, combined with a proven ability to translate complex biological signals into diagnostic product concepts. The role requires demonstrated excellence in managing laboratory‑based discovery programs, developing high‑quality datasets, and guiding teams that produce robust, reproducible evidence suitable for downstream development under design control.

The Executive Director, Discovery, is a key R&D leadership role and will participate in shaping scientific strategy, portfolio planning, and discovery operations that fuel product innovation. This individual will also provide scientific leadership during early-stage business development opportunities.

Key Responsibilities:

• Set the strategic direction for Discovery, ensuring alignment with Veracyte’s scientific vision and business objectives.


• Oversee the design, execution, and interpretation of laboratory experiments related to cancer biology, functional genomics, molecular profiling, and biomarker discovery.


• Guide the integration of wet‑lab and dry‑lab discovery, ensuring strong scientific foundations for new diagnostic concepts.


• Advance multimodal data strategies, including combining genomics, transcriptomics, cell biology, digital pathology, clinical data and other data layers using bioinformatics and MMAI approaches.


• Develop and maintain rigorous scientific standards for data quality, experimental design, analysis frameworks, and reproducible research practices.


• Partner closely with cross‑functional teams—including Product Development, Clinical Affairs, Medical, and Data Science—to transition validated discovery work into development pipelines.


• Recruit, develop, and mentor high‑performing teams of laboratory-based scientists.


• Foster a culture of scientific excellence, collaboration, urgency, and transparent communication.


• Build and manage scientific collaborations with academic groups, consortia, and technology innovators in genomics and AI.


• Provide scientific leadership at conferences, advisory boards, and partnership meetings to highlight Veracyte’s discovery capabilities.


• Manage budgets, resource allocation, and long‑range laboratory and computational infrastructure planning.

Who You Are:

Qualifications:

• Ph.D. in Molecular Biology, Cancer Biology, Genetics, Genomics, Bioinformatics, Computational Biology, or a related field.


• 13+ years of experience in biotechnology, diagnostics, or academic cancer research with increasing scientific leadership responsibility.


• Demonstrated track record of integrating experimental cancer biology with computational analytics to uncover clinically meaningful biomarkers.


• Deep expertise in genetics and genomics, including NGS­-based technologies, functional genomics assays, single‑cell methods, or spatial profiling.


• Proven ability to design and execute discovery programs that lead to molecular diagnostics or clinically actionable insights.


• Hands‑on leadership experience building and managing laboratory teams generating high‑quality experimental data.


• Proficiency in bioinformatics, statistical analysis, and modern machine‑learning approaches; experience with multimodal AI is preferred.


• Strong understanding of oncology disease mechanisms and the challenges inherent to developing diagnostic biomarkers.


• Experience collaborating across R&D, clinical, regulatory, and product development functions.


• Excellent leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to translate scientific discovery into strategic business value.


• Demonstrated success working in fast‑paced, interdisciplinary environments with evolving priorities.

#LI-Onsite, #LI-Hybrid

For candidates based in our San Diego office, the salary (or hourly range is $262,000-$284,000

For candidates based in our South San Francisco office, the salary or hourly range is $288,000-$315,000.