Sr. Scientist/Sr. Scientist II - Pharmacology

Glaukos Corporation • Aliso Viejo, CA

1d

About The Position

Glaukos is seeking a highly motivated and scientifically rigorous Senior Scientist / Senior Scientist II to join the Pharmacology team. This role will advance the Glaukos pipeline through pharmacology strategies and studies supporting discovery, translation, clinical dose selection, and regulatory submissions. The successful candidate will report to the Head of Pharmacology and work in a highly cross-functional environment. The individual will provide pharmacology expertise across glaucoma, retinal disease, and anterior segment programs, supporting studies of small molecules, biologics, sustained-release technologies, medical devices, and combination products.

Requirements

• Ph.D. in Ophthalmology, Neuroscience, Pharmacology, or a related life science discipline, with 4+ years of relevant industry experience
• Strong knowledge of ocular pharmacology, ocular anatomy and physiology, ocular pathobiology, nonclinical disease models, and translational endpoints relevant to ophthalmic drug and device development.
• Demonstrated experience designing, executing, analyzing, and interpreting mechanism-of-action, efficacy, pharmacodynamic, biomarker, or translational pharmacology studies.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to critically evaluate complex datasets, identify key conclusions and limitations, and communicate findings clearly to scientific and cross-functional audiences.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, collaborative biotechnology environment, manage multiple priorities, work independently, and contribute effectively within matrixed project teams.

Nice To Haves

• postdoctoral or industry experience in ocular research is preferred.
• Experience in ophthalmic drug development, ocular drug delivery, sustained-release technologies, biologics, medical devices, or combination products is highly desired.
• Experience managing CROs, academic collaborators, or external scientific partnerships is desired.
• Familiarity with nonclinical study design, translational pharmacology, regulatory expectations, and data packages used to support IND, NDA, BLA, or equivalent regulatory submissions is preferred.
• Ability to travel up to 15% of the time.
• Flexible on level for those with ophthalmology industry experience

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement pharmacology strategies to support candidate selection, lead optimization, IND-enabling development, clinical dose justification of ophthalmic therapeutic programs.
• Design, oversee, and interpret in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo pharmacology studies to evaluate mechanism of action, potency, efficacy, pharmacodynamics, biomarker response, exposure-response relationships, and translational relevance.
• Manage outsourced pharmacology studies with CROs, academic laboratories, and external collaborators, including study concept development, vendor selection, contracting support, protocol development and approval, study amendments, data review, final report review, timeline tracking, budget oversight, and delivery of key milestones.
• Represent Pharmacology on cross-functional project teams, contribute to integrated development plans, and present study designs, data interpretation, scientific rationale, and recommendations to support evidence-based decision-making.
• Author and review pharmacology-related sections of regulatory and development documents, including IND submissions, Investigator’s Brochures, regulatory briefing packages, NDA/BLA submissions, study reports, literature summaries, and supporting scientific materials.
• Support responses to regulatory agency questions by providing clear scientific rationale and data-driven interpretation.
• Maintain awareness of advances in ophthalmology, ocular pharmacology, translational models, drug delivery technologies, and relevant competitive and scientific landscapes to inform program strategy.
• Prepare high-quality technical reports, presentations, manuscripts, posters, and scientific publications, and communicate research findings effectively to internal stakeholders, external collaborators, and scientific or industry audiences.

What This Job Offers

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