Senior Principal Scientist, Cell Therapy Research, Molecular Immunobiology and Discovery Team

Working with Us
Challenging. Meaningful. Life-changing. Those aren’t words that are usually associated with a job. But working at Bristol Myers Squibb is anything but usual. Here, uniquely interesting work happens every day, in every department. From optimizing a production line to the latest breakthroughs in cell therapy, this is work that transforms the lives of patients, and the careers of those who do it. You’ll get the chance to grow and thrive through opportunities uncommon in scale and scope, alongside high-achieving teams. Take your career farther than you thought possible.

Bristol Myers Squibb recognizes the importance of balance and flexibility in our work environment. We offer a wide variety of competitive benefits, services and programs that provide our employees with the resources to pursue their goals, both at work and in their personal lives. Read more: careers.bms.com/working-with-us.

Position Summary

The Cell Therapy Molecular Immunobiology and Discovery team is seeking a highly motivated, dynamic and self-driven individual to help us deliver on this critical goal and drive innovation in molecular design, lentiviral and AAV engineering, and viral and non-viral production methods. Molecular design and gene delivery are the foundation of our cell therapies, and innovations in this space will drive the future of our next-generation cellular therapeutic pipeline at BMS, enabling us to bring best-in-class engineered drugs to our patients.  This role will primarily focus on designing and validating novel molecular cargoes, backbones, and viral particles, optimizing methods for generating research-grade virus for early-stage CAR T programs, and working with our automation team to innovate novel pipelines to increase efficiency of production and transduction. The ideal candidate is an experienced molecular biologist and virologist with a strong background in technology development and viral vector engineering. They will have an in-depth conceptual and practical understanding of viral vector and cell engineering strategies, and knowledge of key challenges related to transgene delivery in vitro and in vivo. This role will provide a challenging but rewarding opportunity for career development and is ideal for a seasoned scientist with an innovative mindset.  Previous experience in cellular therapy, industry or academic, is preferred.

Key Responsibilities
 

Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Lead a team to develop innovative molecular engineering strategies and viral production methods to improve expression, function, and throughput
• Design experiments, organize and analyze results and communicate progress to the group.
• Evaluate and prioritize molecular technologies, gene delivery cassettes and viral platforms, and deliver complete data packages to allow for timely Go/No Go decisions.
• Collaborate with SMEs, inside and outside the team, to evaluate the functional impact of proposed novel engineering strategies on performance of our CAR and eTCR cell products.
• Work with other team members and team leaders to enable adoption of novel methods and designs in ongoing programs.
• Lead a matrixed group of Scientist(s) and Research Associate(s), and under the direct, but limited supervision of management.
• Understand the context, impact and timely communication of data.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor’s Degree
  • 10+ years of academic and / or industry experience

Or

• Master’s Degree
  • 8+ years of academic and / or industry experience

Or

• Ph.D. or equivalent advanced degree in the Life Sciences 
  • 6+ years of academic and / or industry experience

Preferred Qualifications:

• Strong expertise in virology, preferably lentivirology, with some experience with other viruses and non-viral delivery methods.
• Strong understanding of the principles of gene regulation, and in optimizing expression and function of transgenic cargoes.
• Extensive experience with delivery of molecular cargoes into human cell lines and primary cells, ideally T cells
• Strong understanding of and experience in molecular characterization to understand and optimize transgene expression and function.
• Ability to multitask, independently organize time, and plan specifics of work.
• Excellent communication and facilitation skills demonstrated in a team environment.
• Detail-oriented with the ability to identify and implement creative solutions.
• Willingness to think outside the box, be creative and ability to work in a very fast