Senior Scientist, Protein and Structural Chemistry, Discovery Chemistry

Merck•Upper Gwynedd Township, PA

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

Are you ready to embark on an exhilarating career journey that combines innovation, collaboration, and impactful scientific discovery? At our company, a global leader in pharmaceuticals renowned for excellence and groundbreaking research, we are committed to improving lives through innovative medicines, vaccines, and animal health products. Protein and Structural Chemistry (PSC), a team in Discovery Chemistry (DC), supports protein structural determination from Discovery to Development, agnostic to therapeutic modality including small molecule, peptide, and macromolecules. Furthermore, we elucidate the structural basis of mechanisms of action and perform analyses to support formulation development. PSC is a team of approximately 40 structural biologists who collaborate closely with medicinal and computational chemists, informaticians, mass spectrometrists, biophysicists, protein scientists, and pharmacologists to leverage state-of-the-art capabilities to drive drug design and development. We are seeking a creative, self-motivated structural biologist with exceptional interpersonal and problem-solving skills to join our growing PSC group. The successful candidate must have expertise in cryo-electron tomography (CryoET), and either X-ray crystallography, Cryo-EM or microED, and will be responsible for all aspects of the experimental process from sample preparation and data collection through data processing, structure determination, and the effective communication of structural analyses with key stakeholders. The position requires active interaction with the external scientific community, including presentations at external meetings and publication in peer reviewed journals. The successful candidate is expected to foster and contribute to a workforce where colleagues and partners feel comfortable bringing their unique perspectives to work. This position will be located in our newly renovated labs and office spaces within our vibrant research campus in Rahway, New Jersey, our company’s headquarters. Our new labs are equipped with three state-of-the-art microscopes including an Arctis FIB-SEM for preparation of samples for cryo-electron tomography, a Glacios, a Krios G4, instrumentation for Cryo-EM grid preparation, access to multiple synchrotrons around the world and frequent, regular access to the IMCA-CAT beamline, and crystallization equipment and automation. Productive and collaborative interactions with other members of our cross-functional department are required in this role. Inclusive and collaborative use of internal expertise and resources will be essential to success. There is an expectation for periodic travel.

Requirements

Ph.D. in structural biology, biochemistry, cell biology or related field.
Demonstrated experience in a broad range of activities for CryoET, including sample preparation, cryo-FIB-milling, data collection, subtomogram averaging and segmentation workflows.
Demonstrated experience in another structural biology technique such as X-ray crystallography (including either crystallization screening and optimization, crystal harvesting, data collection, and structure determination for X-ray crystallography) or CryoEM (including grid sample preparation data collection, data processing and structure determination) or microED (including sample preparation, data collection, data processing and structure determination).
Excellent written and oral communication skills to facilitate team progress and ensure clarity on program status for therapeutic team and management are required.
Demonstrated strong organizational abilities with a proven track record of managing timelines effectively.
Ability to design and manage a research project.
Ability to prepare and publish peer-reviewed research.

Nice To Haves

Experience with cell culture and growth of cells on cryoEM grids.
Experience with processing and imaging tissue samples.
Experience with cryo-correlated light and electron microscopy (cryoCLEM) workflows for the identification of features of interest and targeted lamellae preparation.
Experience using gold labeling to identify regions of interest in cryoET samples.
Experience with structure determination of protein complexes bound to therapeutic molecules.

Benefits

The successful candidate will be eligible for annual bonus and long-term incentive, if applicable.
Available benefits include medical, dental, vision healthcare and other insurance benefits (for employee and family), retirement benefits, including 401(k), paid holidays, vacation, and compassionate and sick days.

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