How to Apply to Day One Biopharmaceuticals

9 min read Last updated April 20, 2026 8 open positions
Blake Crosley
Blake Crosley Researched using publicly available information, hiring data, and ATS analysis.

Key Takeaways

  • Day One is a commercial-stage pediatric oncology biopharma with one FDA-approved product (OJEMDA) driving most of the current investment thesis and operational focus.
  • OJEMDA's April 2024 accelerated approval is a genuine clinical milestone but comes with a confirmatory trial requirement and European approval still pending.
  • The company has meaningful pipeline depth (pimasertib, DAY301, DAY201) but near-term value is concentrated in OJEMDA's commercial ramp.
  • Roles are most plentiful in commercial, medical affairs, market access, clinical operations, and regulatory - reflecting the launch phase - with selective R&D hiring.
  • The ATS is Greenhouse and the process is structured but human; mission fit is screened for genuinely and is not a box-check.
  • Compensation includes meaningful equity, but candidates should understand small-cap biotech volatility and the possibility of M&A exit scenarios.
  • Cultural fit emphasizes pediatric oncology mission, low ego, cross-functional fluency, and comfort with ambiguity.
  • This is not a stable large-pharma environment - runway sensitivity, pipeline concentration, and commercial execution pressure are real and should factor into the decision.

About Day One Biopharmaceuticals

Day One Biopharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: DAWN) is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Brisbane, California, focused exclusively on developing and commercializing targeted therapies for children, adolescents, and young adults with cancer. Founded in 2018 by Jeremy Bender, Samuel Blackman, and Julie Grant (the latter from Canaan Partners), the company's name is drawn from the expression 'day one' used to mark a child's birthday - a deliberate framing of its mission around pediatric patients whose treatment options have historically lagged behind adult oncology by decades. Jeremy Bender serves as CEO, and the company has grown to approximately 200 employees spanning research, clinical development, regulatory, commercial, medical affairs, and corporate functions. The defining event in Day One's history came on April 23, 2024, when the FDA granted accelerated approval to OJEMDA (tovorafenib), a Type II pan-RAF kinase inhibitor, for pediatric patients aged six months and older with relapsed or refractory pediatric low-grade glioma (pLGG) harboring BRAF fusions, rearrangements, or V600 mutations. OJEMDA is the first and only FDA-approved systemic therapy for this specific indication - a meaningful clinical milestone given that pLGG is the most common brain tumor in children. Beyond OJEMDA, the pipeline includes pimasertib, an MEK inhibitor being studied in NRAS- and RAS-altered cancers; DAY301, a phase 1 antibody-drug conjugate (ADC); and DAY201, a preclinical TLR7/8 antagonist being developed for autoimmune disease. The company has also monetized a rare pediatric disease priority review voucher, selling it in December 2024 for approximately $108 million to extend its runway during the commercial launch. Candidates should understand this is a small-cap biotech in the most scrutinized phase of its existence: early commercial execution. OJEMDA's accelerated approval is contingent on a confirmatory trial, and European approval remains pending. Competitive pressure in pediatric oncology is real - Novartis (Tafinlar/Mekinist combination), Bayer (Vitrakvi, Rozlytrek), Pfizer (Braftovi), Springworks, and Blueprint Medicines all operate adjacent to Day One's therapeutic space. DAWN's stock has traded in a wide range (roughly $5 pre-approval to $15-25 post-approval), and volatility around clinical readouts and revenue milestones will continue. An M&A exit is a plausible long-term scenario given the focused asset profile. Mission alignment is genuine here, but candidates should weigh it against runway sensitivity, pipeline concentration, and the operational demands of launching a first-in-class pediatric oncology product.

Application Process

  1. 1
    Applications are submitted through the Greenhouse-hosted careers site at boards

    Applications are submitted through the Greenhouse-hosted careers site at boards.greenhouse.io/dayonebiopharmaceuticals - there is no separate internal portal or account required beyond Greenhouse's standard flow.

  2. 2
    Expect an initial recruiter screen of 30 minutes covering your background, inter

    Expect an initial recruiter screen of 30 minutes covering your background, interest in pediatric oncology, compensation expectations, and location flexibility (Brisbane HQ, hybrid, or fully remote depending on function).

  3. 3
    Hiring manager interview typically follows within one to two weeks and focuses o

    Hiring manager interview typically follows within one to two weeks and focuses on role-specific technical depth and how your prior work maps to the team's current priorities.

  4. 4
    For clinical, regulatory, or commercial roles, expect a functional panel of thre

    For clinical, regulatory, or commercial roles, expect a functional panel of three to five interviews including cross-functional stakeholders (medical affairs, biometrics, CMC, market access).

  5. 5
    Scientific roles often include a presentation - typically a 30 to 45 minute talk

    Scientific roles often include a presentation - typically a 30 to 45 minute talk on a prior project, followed by Q&A from the research team.

  6. 6
    Case exercises are common for commercial and market access candidates - for exam

    Case exercises are common for commercial and market access candidates - for example, sizing a pediatric indication or constructing a payer engagement strategy.

  7. 7
    References are checked late in the process, generally after the onsite or final

    References are checked late in the process, generally after the onsite or final virtual loop but before an offer is extended.

  8. 8
    Offers typically include base salary, annual bonus target, and equity (RSUs for

    Offers typically include base salary, annual bonus target, and equity (RSUs for most roles, with options sometimes used for senior hires); equity refresh cadence is annual for most employees.

  9. 9
    The timeline from application to offer is typically three to six weeks for indiv

    The timeline from application to offer is typically three to six weeks for individual contributor roles and six to ten weeks for director-level and above.

  10. 10
    If you are not moved forward after a screen, recruiters generally respond - but

    If you are not moved forward after a screen, recruiters generally respond - but automated rejections from Greenhouse can arrive without personalized feedback, which is standard for biotech at this size.

Resume Tips for Day One Biopharmaceuticals

recommended

Lead with specific oncology, rare disease, or pediatric therapeutic area experie

Lead with specific oncology, rare disease, or pediatric therapeutic area experience - Day One's entire focus is pediatric cancer, and tangential experience will not be treated as equivalent.

recommended

Quantify clinical or commercial outcomes where possible: enrollment numbers, tri

Quantify clinical or commercial outcomes where possible: enrollment numbers, trial timelines hit, NDA or sNDA submissions, launch metrics, payer wins, or publication counts.

recommended

For clinical development roles, name the specific protocols, phases, and indicat

For clinical development roles, name the specific protocols, phases, and indications you worked on - generic 'oncology trials' language reads as padding to reviewers who have run these studies themselves.

recommended

For commercial and market access roles, reference specific payer archetypes, hos

For commercial and market access roles, reference specific payer archetypes, hospital pharmacy dynamics, REMS programs, or specialty distribution experience relevant to a launched oral oncology product.

recommended

Include regulatory experience with the FDA's accelerated approval pathway, break

Include regulatory experience with the FDA's accelerated approval pathway, breakthrough designation, orphan drug designation, or rare pediatric disease designation if you have it - these are directly relevant.

recommended

List specific ATS-parseable keywords tied to Day One's pipeline: BRAF, MEK, RAF

List specific ATS-parseable keywords tied to Day One's pipeline: BRAF, MEK, RAF kinase, pLGG, pediatric oncology, ADC, TLR7/8 - without keyword-stuffing.

recommended

Keep the resume to two pages for most roles and three pages only if you are at d

Keep the resume to two pages for most roles and three pages only if you are at director level or above with a substantial publication record.

recommended

Use a single-column format with standard section headers (Experience, Education,

Use a single-column format with standard section headers (Experience, Education, Publications, Patents) - Greenhouse parses these reliably; fancy templates often get mangled.

recommended

Include a short summary or objective statement that explicitly references pediat

Include a short summary or objective statement that explicitly references pediatric oncology or rare disease mission alignment - this is screened for.

recommended

If you have lived experience with pediatric illness or have worked with patient

If you have lived experience with pediatric illness or have worked with patient advocacy organizations in the rare disease space, consider a brief mention in the summary or cover letter - it is not required but is genuinely received.

ATS System: Greenhouse

Day One Biopharmaceuticals uses Greenhouse as its applicant tracking system, accessed through boards.greenhouse.io/dayonebiopharmaceuticals. Greenhouse is a structured-hiring ATS common across venture-backed biotech and tech companies. It parses standard resume formats reliably, presents a clean application form, and routes candidates to hiring managers through structured scorecards rather than free-text notes.

  • Upload your resume as a PDF - Greenhouse parses PDFs accurately; Word documents and Google Docs exports occasionally drop formatting.
  • Fill in the work history fields manually even after uploading a resume - the structured fields are what hiring managers and recruiters search against.
  • Use standard section headers (Experience, Education, Skills) so the parser maps them correctly.
  • LinkedIn profile URL and portfolio or publication links should be added in the dedicated fields rather than embedded only in the resume.
  • Answer the custom application questions carefully - Greenhouse lets employers weight these, and short or evasive answers hurt your score.
  • The EEOC demographic questions are optional and do not affect consideration - but they are tracked separately from your application.
  • Greenhouse does not time out your session aggressively, but save your work-in-progress application data if you step away for more than 30 minutes.
  • If you applied previously and were not advanced, you can reapply to a new role - Greenhouse retains your history, and recruiters can see prior applications.

Interview Culture

Interview culture at Day One is direct, mission-oriented, and heavy on cross-functional context.

Expect interviewers to ask not only what you did but why, and how it connects to patient outcomes. Mission fit is screened for genuinely - candidates who cannot articulate why pediatric oncology matters to them personally or professionally tend not to advance, regardless of technical qualifications. Panels are typically smaller than at large pharma - three to five interviewers per loop is standard. The tone is collegial but rigorous. Interviewers come prepared with specific questions mapped to scorecard competencies, and you should expect follow-ups that probe assumptions. Bluffing or vague generalities are noticed quickly, particularly for clinical, biometrics, regulatory, and medical affairs roles where the interviewers have decades of combined experience at larger oncology companies. Behavioral questions tend to focus on ambiguity, cross-functional conflict, and resource constraints - realistic scenarios for a small-cap biotech operating at launch. Be prepared to discuss a time you made a decision with incomplete data, a time you disagreed with a senior leader, and a time you had to push back on timelines driven by external pressure. For scientific and clinical presentations, expect the audience to include individuals who have published in your area. Technical depth is expected; confident uncertainty about what you do not know is strongly preferred to overclaiming. Bring a question or two about the pipeline beyond OJEMDA - showing that you understand pimasertib's mechanism or DAY301's target profile signals genuine engagement rather than rehearsed interest. Salary negotiations are typically handled through the recruiter at offer stage and are structured but not adversarial; equity is a meaningful part of total compensation and worth discussing explicitly.

What Day One Biopharmaceuticals Looks For

  • Genuine mission alignment with pediatric oncology - screened for across nearly every role, not just clinical or medical.
  • Specific therapeutic area experience in oncology, pediatric medicine, or rare disease - preferably with exposure to a launched or late-stage asset.
  • Comfort with ambiguity and small-company dynamics - including wearing multiple hats, rapid reprioritization, and working without the infrastructure of large pharma.
  • Cross-functional fluency - Day One's small size means individual contributors routinely interface with regulatory, commercial, medical, biometrics, and CMC.
  • Track record of shipping - trials enrolled and completed, submissions filed, launches executed, publications delivered - not just participation.
  • Regulatory sophistication for clinical and regulatory roles - particularly around accelerated approval, post-marketing commitments, and global filings.
  • Commercial execution chops for market access, sales, and medical affairs roles - specialty oncology distribution, hospital pharmacy, payer coverage, and REMS.
  • Technical depth for scientific roles - mechanism of action, biomarker strategy, translational medicine, and ADC or kinase inhibitor platform knowledge where relevant.
  • Resilience and pragmatism around biotech volatility - candidates who are clear-eyed about runway, pipeline risk, and the commercial realities of rare disease tend to fit better.
  • Collaborative, low-ego communication style - Day One's leadership has publicly emphasized culture, and interview panels filter for candidates who elevate the team.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Day One Biopharmaceuticals a good place to work in 2026?
For candidates who want pediatric oncology mission alignment, exposure to a commercial-stage launched product, and the intensity of a small-cap biotech, yes. For candidates seeking large-pharma stability, established processes, and diversified pipeline risk, probably not. Day One is in the most operationally demanding phase of its existence - commercial launch of OJEMDA while advancing pipeline assets on a constrained budget.
What is Day One's flagship product?
OJEMDA (tovorafenib), a Type II pan-RAF kinase inhibitor approved by the FDA on April 23, 2024 for pediatric patients aged six months and older with relapsed or refractory pediatric low-grade glioma harboring BRAF fusions, rearrangements, or V600 mutations. It is the first and only FDA-approved systemic therapy for this specific indication.
Does Day One hire remote or is it Bay Area only?
The headquarters is in Brisbane, California. Many commercial, medical affairs, and field-based roles are geographically distributed across the US. Corporate, research, and some clinical roles are hybrid at HQ, though the specific cadence varies by function and hiring manager. Remote eligibility is indicated in each Greenhouse job posting.
What ATS does Day One use?
Day One uses Greenhouse, accessed at boards.greenhouse.io/dayonebiopharmaceuticals. Standard Greenhouse resume parsing applies - upload a PDF, use standard section headers, and fill in the structured work history fields even if your resume already contains that information.
How long does the interview process take?
Typically three to six weeks for individual contributor roles from application to offer, and six to ten weeks for director-level and above. The process includes a recruiter screen, a hiring manager interview, a functional panel, and often a presentation or case exercise depending on the role.
What are Day One's biggest business risks for a candidate to understand?
Revenue concentration in a single product (OJEMDA), accelerated approval contingent on a confirmatory trial, pediatric rare disease market size constraints, competitive pressure from larger oncology companies (Novartis, Bayer, Pfizer), and the general runway sensitivity of a small-cap biotech. An M&A exit is a plausible long-term scenario.
Is equity compensation meaningful?
Yes - equity is a significant portion of total compensation for most roles, typically RSUs with a four-year vesting schedule. Annual equity refresh is standard for most employees. Candidates should model both base-case and downside scenarios given DAWN's stock volatility, which has historically traded in a wide range.
How competitive is the pediatric oncology space Day One operates in?
Actively competitive. Novartis (Tafinlar/Mekinist combination approved in pLGG), Bayer (Vitrakvi, Rozlytrek), Pfizer (Braftovi), Springworks, and Blueprint Medicines (Ayvakit) all operate adjacent to Day One's therapeutic space. OJEMDA's first-in-indication status is meaningful but not permanent - commercial execution will determine durability.
What roles is Day One most actively hiring for?
Commercial, medical affairs, market access, clinical operations, and regulatory roles - reflecting the current launch phase. Research and early-discovery roles are hired selectively. Check the Greenhouse careers page for the current open-roles list; it updates as priorities shift.
What should I expect in a scientific or clinical interview?
Expect a 30 to 45 minute presentation on a prior project with detailed technical Q&A from the research or clinical team. Interviewers often include individuals with deep publication records in your specific area. Technical depth is expected, and candidly acknowledging what you do not know is strongly preferred to overclaiming.
How does Day One screen for mission fit?
Through direct questions about why pediatric oncology matters to you, follow-up questions on how your prior work has connected to patient outcomes, and observation of how you talk about patients versus products. Candidates who cannot articulate a genuine connection to the mission tend not to advance, regardless of technical qualifications.
Did Day One sell a priority review voucher?
Yes - in December 2024 Day One sold the rare pediatric disease priority review voucher granted in connection with OJEMDA's approval for approximately $108 million. This was a one-time transaction used to extend operational runway during the commercial launch period and is reported in the company's financial disclosures.

Open Positions

Day One Biopharmaceuticals currently has 8 open positions.

Check Your Resume Before Applying → View 8 open positions at Day One Biopharmaceuticals

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Sources

  1. Day One Biopharmaceuticals - Official Website —
  2. Day One Biopharmaceuticals Careers (Greenhouse) —
  3. FDA Approves OJEMDA (tovorafenib) for Pediatric Low-Grade Glioma - FDA Press Announcement —
  4. OJEMDA (tovorafenib) Prescribing Information —
  5. Day One Biopharmaceuticals Investor Relations —
  6. Day One Biopharmaceuticals SEC Filings (DAWN) —
  7. Day One Announces Sale of Priority Review Voucher - Press Release —
  8. Pediatric Low-Grade Glioma Overview - National Cancer Institute —
  9. FIREFLY-1 Clinical Trial (tovorafenib in pLGG) - ClinicalTrials.gov —
  10. Day One Biopharmaceuticals Pipeline Overview —
  11. Greenhouse ATS Candidate Experience Documentation —
  12. Rare Pediatric Disease Priority Review Voucher Program - FDA —