Principal Scientist mRNA Design & Optimization; Billerica MA)

Position: Principal Scientist mRNA Design & Optimization (Billerica MA)
Work Your Magic with us! Start your next chapter and join EMD Serono.

Ready to explore, break barriers, and discover more? We know you’ve got big plans – so do we! Our colleagues across the globe love innovating with science and technology to enrich people’s lives with our solutions in Healthcare, Life Science, and Electronics. Together, we dream big and are passionate about caring for our rich mix of people, customers, patients, and planet.

That's why we are always looking for curious minds that see themselves imagining the unimaginable with us.  United As One for Patients, our purpose in Healthcare is to help create, improve and prolong lives. We develop medicines, intelligent devices and innovative technologies in therapeutic areas such as Oncology, Neurology and Fertility. Our teams work together across 6 continents with passion and relentless curiosity in order to help patients at every stage of life.

Joining our Healthcare team is becoming part of a diverse, inclusive and flexible working culture, presenting great opportunities for personal development and career advancement across the globe.

Your role :

This Principal Scientist role will join the Oligonucleotide Therapeutics team to lead the design, engineering and optimization of therapeutic mRNAs for protein replacement, immunomodulation, vaccines and gene editing applications

Design and optimize mRNA constructs end-to-end: 5’ UTR, coding sequence, 3’ UTR, poly(A) tail and cap structure – including UTR library generation and high-throughput screening, codon optimization, miRNA and RNA-binding-protein site engineering, GC content and motif design, secondary structure/folding optimization and control of innate immune activation – to maximize protein expression, stability and translational efficiency

Engineer tissue- and cell-type-specific expression through regulatory element design, base and nucleoside modification strategies (e.g. N1-methylpseudouridine), and cap/poly(A) optimization

Establish and run in vitro transcription (IVT) for mRNA synthesis, purification and characterization workflows, and design experiments assessing integrity, purity, stability, translation, biological activity and critical quality attributes (capping efficiency, dsRNA, residual impurities)
Lead internal projects advancing mRNA cargo for our LNP platform, evaluating how sequence, length, charge, structure and chemical modifications influence encapsulation, biodistribution and translation, with a focus on immuno-oncology and immunology disease applications, including CAR and other engineered protein payloads

Present data and study updates in cross-functional project meetings

Collaborate internally with colleagues within the extended organization to build on strengths and generate effective partnerships

Strategic Impact Shape the next generation of Immunology and Oncology therapeutics by advancing mRNA design, and deliver internal pipeline projects on time and at high quality

Build and own the mRNA design and optimization capability (design rules, screening platforms, data-driven sequence optimization) feeding LNP discovery and maturation workflows

Act as Subject Matter Expert for mRNA design, optimization and manufacture of research-grade material, independently defining scientific strategy for the area Cooperation Internally   Externally Work closely with the LNP and RNA delivery team to optimize mRNA–delivery system interactions, and with biology, formulation and analytical teams supporting US and EU innovation projects

Work closely with broader DDTech organization, including NBE, ADC Tech and Discovery Pharmacology teams
• Collaborate with Healthcare Research Units for advancing internal pipeline, including CAR and protein engineering programs    
• Manage…