Senior Research Scientist - Neuroscience

Senior Research Scientist - Neuroscience

Arvinas is a biotechnology company dedicated to improving the lives of patients suffering from debilitating and life-threatening diseases through the discovery, development, and commercialization of therapies that degrade disease-causing proteins. Arvinas uses its proprietary PROTAC Discovery Engine platform to engineer PROteolysis TArgeting Chimeras, or PROTACs, that are designed to harness the body's own natural protein disposal system to selectively and efficiently degrade and remove disease-causing proteins.

This differentiated approach has enabled Arvinas to build a broad pipeline of investigational therapies across oncology and neurodegenerative diseases, including ARV-102, targeting LRRK2 for neurodegenerative diseases; ARV-806, targeting KRAS G12D for mutated cancers, including pancreatic, colorectal, and non-small cell lung cancers; ARV-393, targeting BCL6 for relapsed/refractory non-Hodgkin Lymphoma; ARV-027, targeting the polyglutamine-expanded androgen receptor, or polyQ-AR, in skeletal muscle for spinal bulbar muscular atrophy;

and vepdegestrant, targeting the estrogen receptor for patients with locally advanced or metastatic ER+/HER2- breast cancer.

Building on its leadership in targeted protein degradation, Arvinas achieved a major milestone in May 2026 with the first-ever U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of a PROTAC protein degrader therapy. The approval marked a significant advancement for the field and demonstrated the therapeutic potential of targeted protein degradation as a novel treatment modality. This PROTAC has been out-licensed for commercialization and further development.

We are seeking an experienced and highly motivated Research Scientist/Senior Research Scientist to lead and execute cellular and tissue-based target engagement studies of small molecule ligands and targeted protein degraders (e.g., PROTACs). This role will play a central part in advancing degrader molecule discovery programs for CNS indications by developing, implementing, and scaling quantitative assays to assess compound binding, ternary complex formation, and functional engagement in physiologically relevant systems, including human-derived tissues and cellular models.

This is an opportunity to help establish and scale target engagement capabilities for CNS degrader discovery, directly influencing compound optimization and translational decision-making across neuroscience programs.

This position reports to our Director of Neuroscience and will be located at our headquarters in New Haven, CT.

Key responsibilities of this role include, but are not limited to:

• Design, develop, optimize, and validate cellular and biochemical assays to measure target engagement and degradation driven by small molecules and targeted protein degraders.
• Design and execute fit-for-purpose studies to evaluate binary target engagement and ternary complex formation in cellular and tissue-based systems, using technologies such as TR-FRET, NanoBRET, AlphaLISA, luciferase-based assays, biotinylated probes, photoaffinity labeling, and related probe-based or proximity-based approaches.
• Apply appropriate controls, counter-screens, and orthogonal readouts to evaluate assay specificity, reproducibility, robustness, and potential artifacts.
• Adapt assays for medium- to high-throughput screening to support compound profiling, degrader optimization, and screening campaigns.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with medicinal chemistry and platform biology teams to guide optimization of both ligands and degraders based on engagement and degradation data.
• Analyze, interpret, and integrate complex datasets across multiple assay platforms to guide data-driven project decisions.
• Organize experimental results to be shared with project teams; maintain clear experimental records using ELN (electronic lab notebook).
• Seek to be an impactful and valued member of the team who drives data-driven decisions and stays current with emerging technologies in targeted protein degradation and neurodegeneration research.

Deep hands-on experience (3+ years) developing and executing cellular or tissue-based assays for…