Senior Distinguished Scientist Immunoscience Frontier Lead
SanofiAbout the role
Job Title: Senior Distinguished Scientist Immunoscience Frontier Lead
Location: Cambridge, MA
About the Job
Are you ready to shape the future of medicine? The race is on to speed up drug discovery and development to find answers for patients and their families. Your skills could be critical in helping our teams accelerate progress.
We are redefining the boundaries of immunoscience by exploring how immune pathways contribute to disease across a wide spectrum of conditions—well beyond our core therapeutic areas. By focusing on shared immune mechanisms, we are uncovering opportunities to advance therapies into novel indications. This approach opens new scientific frontiers and allows us to address areas of high unmet need with greater speed, precision, and impact.
We are seeking an accomplished and visionary immunologist to join the Immunoscience Frontiers Group as a Senior Distinguished Scientist (Individual Contributor, no direct reports). This is a highly strategic and visible role for a scientific leader with deep expertise in immune biology, a strong translational mindset, and a proven track record of innovation across therapeutic areas. You will play a critical role in expanding the reach of our R&D pipeline by identifying new disease indications for therapies in research and development and by helping shape future areas of immunoscience for therapeutic innovation.
This position requires a highly autonomous, forward-thinking scientist who can bridge foundational biology with disease relevance, integrate complex datasets, and influence R&D strategy without formal line management. You will collaborate across all therapeutic areas, partner with CROs and internal teams to lead target validation efforts, support biomarker strategy, and establish external collaborations with leading academic labs. As an internal champion of immunoscience, you will elevate the visibility and impact of immune-driven approaches across the organization. You will also represent the Immunoscience Frontiers Group in governance forums and strategic discussions, and support business development efforts through scientific due diligence and strategic insight. Success in this role requires strong communication skills and the ability to influence within a highly matrixed environment.
We are an innovative global healthcare company with one purpose: to chase the miracles of science to improve people’s lives. We’re also a company where you can flourish and grow your career, with countless opportunities to explore, make connections with people, and stretch the limits of what you thought was possible. Ready to get started?
Main Responsibilities
Lead strategic assessments to identify novel disease indications for therapies in early- and mid-stage research and development, grounded in immune pathway relevance and unmet clinical need
Advance therapies into frontier indications with the explicit goal of future regulatory approval, by applying strong mechanistic rationale, translational insight, and strategic prioritization
Drive entry into emerging scientific areas by exploring under-recognized immune mechanisms, novel biology, and cross-disease pathway insights that broaden the scientific reach of the pipeline
Design and oversee target validation experiments executed by CROs or in partnership with internal research teams; develop hypotheses, define experimental strategies, and interpret results to inform indication positioning
Support biomarker strategy and validation by contributing to the identification, biological rationale, and interpretation of biomarkers relevant to new indications and target engagement
Integrate diverse datasets—including human immunobiology, transcriptomics, preclinical models, and clinical evidence—to inform indication mapping, prioritization, and translational strategy
Collaborate across all therapeutic areas, working closely with discovery, translational, clinical, and commercial teams to align scientific direction with portfolio goals
Establish and lead external scientific collaborations with academic labs and investigators at the cutting edge of immunology and related fields
Champion immunoscience across the organization by providing scientific leadership, promoting cross-functional engagement, and contributing to a shared vision of immune-driven innovation
Operate effectively within a highly matrixed R&D environment, using strong communication and collaboration skills to influence stakeholders and align priorities
Represent the Immunoscience Frontiers Group in portfolio governance and strategic meetings, contributing scientific expertise to cross-functional decision-making
Support business development ac
Apply for this role
Generate a tailored application kit with a matched cover letter, interview prep, and CV highlights — in under 60 seconds.
Apply Now →Generate Application KitFree account required — sign up in 30s