Principal Scientist – Surface Biology Early Validation Lead

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We are building a high‑throughput Surface Biology capability to identify, validate, and characterize cell type‑specific cell‑surface targets across multiple Therapeutic Areas. Our mission is to generate the biological understanding needed to determine whether candidate proteins represent compelling therapeutic opportunities and to identify the therapeutic modality best suited to exploit their biology.

The Surface Biology team sits at the intersection of target discovery,
cell biology
, and therapeutic development. We develop scalable experimental approaches to answer fundamental questions about cell‑surface biology:

• Is a candidate protein truly present on the cell surface?
• Is cell‑surface localization specific to the disease‑relevant cell type?
• What biological properties make this target therapeutically actionable?
• Which therapeutic modality is best suited for this target?

Answering these questions requires both high‑throughput experimental platforms and deep mechanistic understanding of protein localization, trafficking, membrane protein topology, and cellular protein biology.

We are seeking an experienced Principal Scientist to lead a multidisciplinary team responsible for developing innovative experimental strategies that validate cell‑surface targets and generate biologically meaningful datasets that directly influence target prioritization and therapeutic strategy across the discovery portfolio.

In this role, you will operate in a highly collaborative environment, partnering with Therapeutic Area teams and platform functions to deliver biologically relevant insights that support target evaluation.

• Provide scientific and operational leadership for a multidisciplinary team supporting discovery and validation of cell type‑specific cell‑surface targets.
• Develop innovative experimental strategies and scalable cell‑based assays to determine whether candidate proteins are truly accessible at the cell surface and selectively expressed in disease‑relevant cell types.
• Characterize target biology—including cell‑surface localization, antigen density, accessibility, trafficking, internalization, and turnover—to guide therapeutic modality selection.
• Investigate the biological mechanisms underlying cell‑surface localization when needed, including protein trafficking, alternative isoforms, topology, and post‑translational processing.
• Integrate experimental findings with proteomic, transcriptomic, and computational datasets to generate biologically meaningful insights for target prioritization.
• Partner closely with Therapeutic Areas and cross‑functional teams to translate target biology into therapeutic strategies.
• Evaluate and implement emerging technologies that improve the throughput, robustness, and biological relevance of the Surface Biology platform.
• Mentor and develop scientists while fostering a collaborative, innovative, and scientifically rigorous research environment.