Principal Scientist - Translational Medicine, Oncology

Roche • South San Francisco, CA

1d • $141,500 - $262,900 • Hybrid

About The Position

As a Principal Scientist in Translational Medicine Oncology, you will serve as a vital scientific anchor bridging discovery research and clinical development. You will lead biomarker discovery and translational strategy for innovative oncology clinical pipelines, working directly on early- to late-stage clinical programs.

Requirements

• Hold a PhD, MD, or MD/PhD in Molecular Biology, Cancer Biology, Immunology, Computational Biology, Bioinformatics, or a related life sciences discipline.
• Possess significant graduate or postdoctoral research experience demonstrating scientific excellence and rigor through a record of first-author publications in peer-reviewed journals.
• Prior post-graduate industry experience or significant postdoctoral experience is required.
• Bring hands-on experience or deep technical fluency in translational research methodologies, including molecular profiling, multi-omics, single-cell genomics, spatial biology, or functional immune assays.
• Exhibit exceptional cross-functional collaboration and communication skills, with a proven ability to translate complex biological concepts into actionable clinical insights across multidisciplinary teams.

Nice To Haves

• Prior industry experience within oncology drug discovery, translational oncology, or clinical development.
• Deep subject matter expertise or focused research background in oncogenic signaling, RAS biology, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), or colorectal cancer (CRC).
• Demonstrate proficiency with or solid exposure to computational biology workflows and biological data analysis (familiarity with R and/or Python).
• Practical experience or strong enthusiasm for leveraging machine learning and emerging agentic/generative AI tools to accelerate translational discovery and multi-modal data interpretation.
• Experience collaborating on companion diagnostics (CDx) development and clinical protocol execution.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and drive end-to-end pharmacodynamic and predictive biomarker strategies across first-in-human through registrational clinical studies.
• Champion hypothesis-driven translational research to identify novel biomarkers of therapeutic response, mechanisms of clinical resistance, and tumor microenvironment dynamics.
• Integrate and leverage high-dimensional data—including multi-omic profiling, spatial biology, single-cell platforms, and functional immune assays—in partnership with computational scientists and AI-driven platforms.
• Lead the authoring, review, and strategic integration of biomarker and translational sections within clinical trial protocols, regulatory submissions, clinical study reports, and investigator brochures.
• Partner cross-functionally across Research, Clinical Development, Clinical Pharmacology, Companion Diagnostics, Biostatistics, and Clinical Operations to ensure seamless scientific alignment.
• Partner with Operations team to provide scientific leadership and strategic guidance for trial design, implementation, and conduct.
• Drive scientific engagement externally with academic collaborators, clinical trial investigators, and key opinion leaders (KOLs) while disseminating breakthrough science via high-impact peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations.

Benefits

• A discretionary annual bonus may be available based on individual and Company performance.
• This position also qualifies for the benefits detailed at the link provided below.

What This Job Offers

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