Senior Principal Scientist, Pharmacokinetics

Merck•South San Francisco, CA

10h•$194,100 - $305,600•Onsite

About The Position

The South San Francisco DMPK organization is seeking an accomplished and highly collaborative Senior Principal Scientist to provide scientific leadership across drug conjugate discovery and development programs, support strategic portfolio decisions, and advance DMPK capabilities for emerging modalities. This individual will partner closely with discovery biology, translational sciences, clinical development, bioanalytical, toxicology, chemistry, and program teams to enable data-driven decision making from early discovery through clinical candidate nomination and FIH execution. The successful candidate will provide scientific leadership for conjugate DMPK strategy, oversee LM ADME experimentation strategy and capabilities, contribute to portfolio management and prioritization, serve as a program representative in high priority programs and manage a team of principal investigators and biologics scientific experts. The candidate will drive efforts to strengthen DMPK capabilities by tracking advances in conjugates, ADME, PK/PD, bioanalysis, and emerging modalities, while collaborating with internal and external partners to deliver high-impact data packages.

Requirements

Master's (with 15+ years) or Ph.D. (with 12+ years) in pharmacokinetics, drug metabolism, pharmaceutical sciences, pharmacology, bioengineering, chemistry, biochemistry, biological sciences, or a related discipline with significant experience in DMPK, ADME, translational pharmacology, or biologics/conjugate drug development.
Extensive experience in DMPK, ADME, pharmacokinetics, translational science, or related disciplines, with a strong record of scientific impact in discovery and/or development programs.
Deep scientific expertise in ADME, PK, PK/PD, bioanalysis, and translational interpretation, with demonstrated ability to apply these disciplines to complex modalities such as drug conjugates, biologics, or other novel therapeutic platforms.
Proven ability to design, interpret, and integrate in vitro and in vivo data to enable program progression, candidate selection, human PK projection, dose selection, and regulatory strategy.
Demonstrated experience serving as a DMPK representative or scientific leader on cross-functional project teams and influencing program strategy through clear, data-driven recommendations.
Strong understanding of nonclinical-to-clinical translation, IND-enabling requirements, and the role of DMPK data in regulatory submissions and clinical development planning.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to present complex scientific concepts clearly to technical, cross-functional, and senior leadership audiences.
Strong collaboration, mentoring, and talent development skills, with a commitment to building an inclusive, high-performing scientific culture.
ADME
Antibody Drug Conjugates (ADC)
Biologics
DMPK
Drug Metabolism
In Vitro Assays
People Management
Pharmacodynamics
Pharmacokinetics
Pharmacology
Portfolio Management
Scientific Leadership
Talent Development
Translational Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics (PKPD)

Nice To Haves

Track record of scientific leadership, including shaping strategy, solving complex problems, leading matrixed teams, and driving decisions in a fast-paced portfolio environment.
Experience with small molecule ADME drug discovery applicable to conjugate discovery and development.
Familiarity with model-informed drug discovery and development approaches, including translational PK/PD, PBPK, population PK, exposure-response, or human dose projection.
Demonstrated external scientific visibility through publications, conference presentations, consortia participation, or cross-industry engagement.

Responsibilities

Provide scientific leadership for DMPK strategy supporting drug conjugates and related novel modalities.
Represent DMPK on cross-functional discovery and development teams, integrating ADME, PK, PK/PD, bioanalytical, pharmacology, toxicology, and clinical pharmacology perspectives to guide program decisions.
Lead the development and implementation of fit-for-purpose DMPK screening funnels and translational plans to support lead optimization, candidate selection, human dose projection, and regulatory packages.
Provide scientific oversight for LM ADME experimentation strategy and capabilities.
Contribute to portfolio management by identifying DMPK-related opportunities, liabilities, resource needs, and decision points across programs.
Author, review, and present high-quality scientific documents, nonclinical packages as part of regulatory submissions, project updates, and decision-making materials for internal and external stakeholders.
Directly manage and develop a group of investigators and scientific experts, setting clear scientific expectations, enabling effective prioritization and execution, and fostering continued growth of technical and leadership capabilities.
Monitor external scientific advances in conjugates, ADME, translational PK/PD, bioanalysis, and emerging modalities, and integrate relevant innovations into internal strategy.
Collaborate effectively with internal teams, external partners, and contract research organizations to ensure efficient delivery of high-impact DMPK data packages.