Principal Scientist, High Throughput Production Group Leader, Discovery Biologics

Merck & Co. • Boston, MA

275d • Onsite

About The Position

We are on a quest for cures and are committed to be the world's premier, most research-intensive biopharmaceutical company. Our teams combine leading drug discovery capabilities and world-class R&D with the purpose of turning breakthrough science into life-changing medicines. We are seeking an exceptional and experienced scientist in the role of Principal Scientist in the Boston Discovery Biologics group. The qualified candidate will be a scientist with core capabilities in high throughput approaches to construct design, molecular biology, expression and purification methods for biologics. They should have a deep expertise in the design, execution and optimization of high throughput production methodology supporting reagent and therapeutic screening efforts of diverse therapeutic modalities. They will work closely with protein engineering and science teams across Discovery Biotherapeutics in addition to the Biologics Production and Engineering team in Boston to ensure the execution of fit-for-purpose production approaches. They may serve as a functional area representative for protein engineering and production on project teams, driving protein therapeutic programs from concept through hit identification and lead optimization. The ideal candidate will leverage hand-on experience developing and executing workflows on multiple common automated liquid handing platforms such as Tecan, Hamilton, and Lynx to deliver therapeutic candidates supporting programs from screening through lead optimization. Our organization is directly integrating computational and wet-lab researchers with state-of-the-art automation to accelerate the discovery, engineering, and characterization of novel biologics in the pre-IND pipeline. As a people manager, they will invest in the growth and development of current and future staff, to create a culture of collaboration and accountability to enable shared success. They will work closely with their team members to leverage strengths and identify opportunities to continually expand technical skillsets and enterprise thinking. They will work to support the department's efforts to recruit diverse and highly skilled key talent to the organization and be a champion for diversity and inclusion. We recognize that the diversity in our team is our strength, and we are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. Successful candidates must demonstrate inclusive behaviors in working with a diverse group of researchers to drive our core mission.

Requirements

• Ph.D. in biology, biochemistry, structural biology or related field with 8+ years relevant industry experience, Master's with 12+ years relevant industry experience or Bachelor's with 14+ years of relevant industry experience in biochemistry or related field
• Experience in advancing protein therapeutics through discovery toward candidate selection
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills
• Strong presentation and publication record
• Strong technical knowledge of multiple aspects of high throughput screening workflows including design, expression, purification, and characterization of biologics
• Hands-on experience establishing and running high throughput automated workflows
• Prior direct experience as a protein production lead on protein therapeutics discovery project teams, from tool-molecule generation through preclinical development of therapeutic candidates
• Group leadership experience with a demonstrated passion for and a track record of talent development
• Established external reputation through high-impact publications, presentations, and/or scientific community engagement

Nice To Haves

• Hands-on experience with multiple production scales and varied liquid handing platforms
• Previous high throughput production group leadership is highly desirable
• Experience successfully maintaining a robust discovery production pipeline
• Discovery project leadership experience a strong plus
• Programming skills enabling protocol authoring, automated data capture/reporting, and data visualizations would be beneficial
• Experience in outsourcing and managing external collaborations

Responsibilities

• Leverage deep high throughput production expertise to deliver diverse biologics modalities
• Work with program leaders, protein engineers, and molecular biologists to develop and implement biologic screening campaign strategies
• Perform and oversee high throughput production workflows enabling the critical experiments for pipeline programs through preclinical candidate selection
• Develop and implement supporting downstream workflows including hit picking, concentration normalization and formulation for project teams within and beyond Discovery Biologics
• Serve as the protein production representative on project teams, driving protein therapeutics programs from concept through hit identification and lead optimization, with discovery program leadership opportunities
• Mentor 2+ direct reports and team members in supporting discovery programs from design through production of multiple biologics modalities
• Train and develop junior scientists
• Effectively partner across multidisciplinary interfaces to achieve organizational objectives
• Stay abreast of external advancements in the relevant scientific fields
• Promote the external reputation of our company's Discovery Biologics

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Industry: Chemical Manufacturing
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree