Associate Principal Scientist, Biology-Discovery

Job Description

We’re seeking an innovative and experienced Associate Principal Scientist to join the Quantitative Biosciences (QB) department at our research site in West Point, PA.  The Translational Pharmacology team within QB is responsible for the development, validation and execution of in vitro and in vivo translational models to preclinically evaluate chemical matter across our Discovery portfolio, with particular focus on the areas of infectious diseases, vaccines, immunology and neuroscience.  Responsibilities of this position include a combination of lab-based efforts and management.  You will be representing the QB functional area on a subset of Discovery portfolio program core teams to provide consultation on preclinical translation and inform on QB resources.  You will be responsible for both your individual lab-based efforts in, and management of a small team also tasked with, the development of complex in vitro models and corresponding assays for Discovery program support. 

As such, ideal candidates will have demonstrated hands-on success in establishing complex in vitro models/engineered tissues.  In addition, possession of expertise in one or more of the following broad therapeutic areas is required: immunology, infectious disease and/or vaccines.  Experience leading pharmacology evaluation for pharmaceutical discovery programs is essential, as is hands-on in vitro assay development experience across a broad range of cell-based and biofluid analytical readouts/techniques.  Last, candidates will be expected to have both hands-on experience as well as theoretical expertise in iPSC biology, including iPSC maintenance, QC, differentiation and scaling.

We highly value teamwork, innovation, and critical thinking.  If you are a highly motivated team player with a strong desire to help transform and impact the success of our drug discovery and development efforts via the application of advanced translational in vitro models, we invite you to consider joining our team. 

The ideal candidate will meet the following requirements:

• Ph.D. in pharmacology, cell biology, biomedical engineering, immunology, neuroscience or related discipline with 5+ years post-graduate experience, preferably within the pharmaceutical industry

Professional Skills:

• Personnel management experience (formal preferred), including scientific coaching and career development of junior scientific team members, budget forecasting, hiring, etc.

• Project management experience and/or functional area representation on drug discovery program teams

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills

• Experience and/or eagerness to collaborate across disciplines and functional areas, as needed, to fulfill objectives

• Experience collaborating with external partners

Scientific Skills:

• Demonstrated experience establishing and validating complex in vitro models (primary/iPSC-derived co-cultures, 3D models, tissue engineered models, etc.), modeling both healthy and disease states

• Prior experience supporting and leading pharmacodynamic evaluation of chemical matter for pharmaceutical industry discovery programs

• Strong or expert-level understanding of pharmacodynamic concepts across different modalities and mechanisms of action (drug-target interactions, structure-activity relationships (SAR), dose-response relationships, etc.)

• Assay development expertise across a range of cell-based (viability, cytotox, functional, etc.) and biofluid analytical methods (ELISA, ELISpot, Luminex, etc.) and readouts (fluorescence, luminescence, colorimetric, etc.), including an understanding of typical plate-based assay validation/QC statistics (z’, CV, etc.)

• Independent design and execution of experiments and critical analysis of resulting data

• Hands-on and theoretical iPSC expertise (maintenance, QC, differentiation, scaling)

• Flow cytometry experience (spectral, panel development/execution)

• Experience with (or strong desire to learn) implementing automation (robotics, liquid handling, etc.) throughout assay development/execution workflows

• Experience with electronic notebook and timely and accurate documentation of experimental procedure and resulting data

• Adherence to all requisite lab and site safety protocols

• Working first-hand knowledge of the drug discovery process

• A desire to establish a broad knowledge base, both with respect to therapeutic areas as well as across various types of advanced in vitro models/platforms

• Desire to promote, and positively contribute to, a work culture that is diverse