Principal Scientist, ADC and Bioconjugation

At Gilead, we’re creating a healthier world for all people. For more than 35 years, we’ve tackled diseases such as HIV, viral hepatitis, COVID-19 and cancer – working relentlessly to develop therapies that help improve lives and to ensure access to these therapies across the globe. We continue to fight against the world’s biggest health challenges, and our mission requires collaboration, determination and a relentless drive to make a difference.
 

Every member of Gilead’s team plays a critical role in the discovery and development of life-changing scientific innovations. Our employees are our greatest asset as we work to achieve our bold ambitions, and we’re looking for the next wave of passionate and ambitious people ready to make a direct impact.
 

We believe every employee deserves a great leader. People Leaders are the cornerstone to the employee experience at Gilead and Kite. As a people leader now or in the future, you are the key driver in evolving our culture and creating an environment where every employee feels included, developed and empowered to fulfil their aspirations. Join Gilead and help create possible, together.

Job Description
 

At Gilead our pursuit of a healthier world for all people has yielded a cure for hepatitis C, revolutionary improvements in HIV treatment and prevention as well as advancements in therapies for viral and inflammatory diseases and certain cancers. 

We set and achieve bold ambitions in our fight against the world’s most devastating diseases, united in our commitment to confronting the largest public health challenges of our day and improving the lives of patients for generations to come.  As a Principal Scientist, ADC and Bioconjugation at Gilead you will play an integral role in facilitating the growth of Gilead’s ADC and bioconjugate pipeline. 

This highly integrated team bridges medicinal chemistry, protein therapeutics and cross-functional support to drive discovery.  The ideal candidate will demonstrate both leadership skills and experience in the discovery and preclinical development of ADC candidates. 

A deep expertise in modern platforms and techniques for synthesis, purification and characterization of small molecule, peptide/protein and/or LNP bioconjugates is preferred.   Please consider joining Gilead’s Research organization and contribute to our goal of discovering transformational medicines.

 Responsibilities

• Central Role in Project Ideation and Execution: identify new opportunities from within the internal pipeline and external landscape, work cross-functionally to develop project proposals, present at scientific review meetings, and lead projects through nomination of clinical candidate and early preclinical development.

• ADC Program Strategy: further develop the group’s vision for long term growth and incorporate into the assessment of new projects and modalities.  Provide guidance and consultation to existing ADC project teams.

• Landscape Evaluation: maintain broad awareness of latest technologies, external platforms, and assets of interest and participate in diligence efforts to evaluate and provide recommendations on these opportunities. 

• Medicinal Chemistry: Leverage a strong background in synthetic and medicinal chemistry to coordinate the design and optimization of novel payload properties for optimal delivery via ADC.  Devise linker strategies to achieve optimal properties of bioconjugates

• Bioconjugation Chemistry:  contribute to the expansion of Gilead’s ADC and bioconjugation labs and capabilities while working across the interface of medicinal chemistry, protein therapeutics and discovery biology to coordinate the design, synthesis and purification of protein bioconjugates using known and novel methodologies.  

• ADC Data Management: Collaborate with Gilead Research Data Sciences and Research Informatics group to enable structured data acquisition for ADC modalities.

• Training and Support: Provide training and technical support to team members on bioconjugation techniques and ADCs.

• Collaboration: Strong emphasis on effective communication and effective collaboration across multiple functions across R&D as well as with external collaborators.  Presentation of scientific results at team and group meetings. 

Required Qualifications

• Ph.D. (+5 years), Master's (+8 years) or Bachelor's (+ 10 years) in organic chemistry, or equivalent discipline with an emphasis in ADC, medicinal chemistry and bioconjugation applications.

• ADC Drug Discovery Experience: Demonstrated success at the bench and as a leader of ADC programs.

• Experience with ADC characterization me