Principal Scientist – Lead Discovery and Targeted Protein Degradation Biochemistry

Amgen • Thousand Oaks, CA

1d • $140,123 - $189,579

About The Position

Join Amgen’s Mission of Serving Patients At Amgen, if you feel like you’re part of something bigger, it’s because you are. Our shared mission—to serve patients living with serious illnesses—drives all that we do. Since 1980, we’ve helped pioneer the world of biotech in our fight against the world’s toughest diseases. With our focus on four therapeutic areas –Oncology, Inflammation, General Medicine, and Rare Disease– we reach millions of patients each year. Amgen is advancing a broad and deep pipeline of medicines to treat cancer, heart disease, inflammatory conditions, rare diseases, and obesity and obesity-related conditions. As a member of the Amgen team, you’ll help make a lasting impact on the lives of patients as we research, manufacture, and deliver innovative medicines to help people live longer, fuller happier lives. Our award-winning culture is collaborative, innovative, and science based. If you have a passion for challenges and the opportunities that lay within them, you’ll thrive as part of the Amgen team. Join us and transform the lives of patients while transforming your career. Principal Scientist – Lead Discovery and Targeted Protein Degradation Biochemistry What you will do Let’s do this. Let’s change the world. In this role, you will lead protein reagent generation and biochemical assay development to support challenging drug discovery campaigns, including induced proximity and targeted protein degradation (TPD) programs. We are seeking an exceptional scientist with deep expertise in protein biochemistry and mechanistic assay development. The successful candidate will lead a small team and provide scientific leadership across drug discovery programs from hit identification through validation and optimization. Within LD-TPD, this role will develop and execute strategies for protein production, biochemical and biophysical assay development, and mechanistic characterization to support the discovery and advancement of novel small-molecule therapeutics.

Requirements

• Doctorate degree (PhD) in Biochemistry, Chemical Biology, Structural Biology, Protein Engineering or a related field and 2 years of relevant industry experience in drug discovery OR Master’s degree and 5 years of relevant industry experience in drug discovery OR Bachelor’s degree and 7 years of relevant industry experience in drug discovery

Nice To Haves

• Proven expertise in protein purification and biochemical assay development for challenging targets.
• Extensive experience in protein expression across mammalian, insect, and microbial systems.
• Strong background in biochemical and biophysical approaches to interrogate target engagement, protein-protein interactions, and small molecule mechanism-of-action.
• Expertise in protein engineering, including construct design, mutagenesis, and expression optimization to support biochemical and structural studies.
• Hands-on experience developing and optimizing biochemical and biophysical assays, including TR-FRET/HTRF, fluorescence polarization (FP), AlphaLISA, and BLI/SPR-based approaches.
• Familiarity with targeted protein degradation (TPD) and induced proximity modalities.
• Track record of effective collaboration within cross-functional discovery teams and managing priorities across multiple discovery programs.

Responsibilities

• Lead protein expression, purification, and characterization strategies for challenging proteins to enable the discovery of novel small-molecule therapeutics.
• Develop and implement biochemical and biophysical assays to support hit identification, validation, optimization, and mechanism-of-action studies.
• Serve as a key scientific partner to cross-functional discovery teams, providing technical expertise across a growing portfolio of small-molecule therapeutics.
• Lead and develop a small team of scientists, providing scientific direction and mentorship.
• Contribute to scientific strategy and communicate findings to project teams and leadership as appropriate.

Benefits

• A comprehensive employee benefits package, including a Retirement and Savings Plan with generous company contributions, group medical, dental and vision coverage, life and disability insurance, and flexible spending accounts
• A discretionary annual bonus program, or for field sales representatives, a sales-based incentive plan
• Stock-based long-term incentives
• Award-winning time-off plans
• Flexible work models where possible.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Principal
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree