Associate Director, QSP Modelling

GlaxoSmithKline; Upper Providence (Delaware County); On-site; USD 158,000 - 263,000; Full time

Job summary

GlaxoSmithKline seeks an Associate Director for Quantitative Systems Pharmacology in Upper Providence, PA or Cambridge, MA. You will lead QSP modeling efforts to prioritize targets and translate biology into clinic-ready insights.

You’ll work with cross-functional teams, develop mechanistic models, and advance translational science in DMPK and related areas. The role blends math, biology, and AI methods to drive patient impact.

Qualifications

• PhD in Applied Mathematics, Engineering, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Systems Biology, or related field.
• 2+ years in Pharma/Life Science industry applying QSP to discovery or development programs.
• Experience with theory, numerical methods, ODEs, and parameter estimation for complex models.
• Programming with MATLAB, SimBiology, Python, or Julia.

Responsibilities

• Build and utilize QSP models of biological, physiological, and pathophysiological processes to evaluate a disease and drug candidates.
• Collaborate with biologists, clinicians, pharmacologists, and modelers to inform programs.
• Serve as disease-area QSP lead with expertise in biomarkers and clinical endpoints.
• Act as QSP modeling and simulation point-of-contact on project teams.
• Develop mathematical tools to reveal causal relationships in system-level responses.
• Analyze and interpret complex data in disease contexts.

Skills

Artificial Intelligence

Computational Sciences

Computer Programming

Data Analysis

Data Management

Data Modeling

Data Science

Predictive Modeling

Statistical Models

Education

PhD in Applied Mathematics, Engineering, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Systems Biology, or related field

Tools

MATLAB

SimBiology

Julia

Python

C/C++

Job description

Job Title: Associate Director, Quantitative Systems Pharmacology Location: Upper Providence, PA or Cambridge, MA At GSK, we have bold ambitions for patients, aiming to positively impact the health of 2.5 billion people by the end of the decade. Our R&D focuses on discovering and delivering vaccines and medicines, combining our understanding of the immune system with cutting-edge technology to transform people’s lives. GSK fosters a culture ambitious for patients, accountable for impact, and committed to doing the right thing, making sure that we focus our efforts on accelerating significant assets that meet patients’ needs and have the highest probability of success. We’re uniting science, technology, and talent to get ahead of disease together. Find out more: Our approach to R&D We are seeking an Associate Director level, Quantitative Systems Pharmacology Disease Lead for our Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics (DMPK) department. Quantitative Systems Pharmacology (QSP) is a discipline that uses quantitative and mechanistic mathematical disease models to enhance the robustness and quality of decision-making from early research through clinical development. DMPK is a science-driven organization that drives the translational understanding of drug disposition and quantitative pharmacology to deliver transformational medicines with our partners. We are seeking a highly motivated individual to develop and apply QSP models within discovery to aid in the prioritization, selection, understanding, and optimization of promising treatments for a variety of diseases and therapeutic areas. The successful candidate will be responsible for integrating data and knowledge in a highly collaborative and multi-disciplinary environment to develop a deeper understanding of physiological systems and disease mechanisms with the goal of influencing target prioritization, modality evaluation, and delivering molecules with transformational potential into the clinic.

Role Responsibilities

• Build and utilize QSP models of biological, physiological, and pathophysiological processes to evaluate a disease, its pathways and progression, as well as drug candidates and treatment modalities
• Work in close collaboration with biologists, clinicians, clinical pharmacologists, QSP and nonclinical modelers, and other partner line colleagues to inform research programs and improve our understanding of disease mechanisms
• Serve as a disease-area QSP lead, possessing or developing expertise in disease pathophysiology, biomarkers, clinical endpoints, as well as in key experimental methodologies and data
• Serve as QSP modeling & simulation point-of-contact on project teams to solve challenging problems in drug research; contribute to preclinical study design and mechanistic interpretation of data
• Develop and/or utilize state-of-the-art mathematical tools to gain insight into causal relationships between individual components of system-level and drug-level responses of drug-target-biomarker-disease-patient interaction
• Analyze and interpret complex data sets in the context of disease mechanisms and pathways
• Explore new opportunities to combine QSP with other analytical approaches and build synergies through collaboration with computational groups working in areas related to human genetics, functional genomics, and AI/ML
• Perform scientific rigor and biological suitability assessment of QSP models and methodologies through applying a context-driven verification & validation process (reviewing QSP model goals, assumptions, methodology, model code, model outputs, uncertainty quantification)

Basic Qualifications

• PhD in Applied Mathematics, Engineering, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Systems Biology, or related disciplines with experience in the application of mathematical and statistical methods
• 2 or more years of experience in Pharma Life Science Biomedical industry developing and applying QSP approaches to drug discovery or development programs
• Experience working with the theory, principles, statistical aspects of mathematical modeling and simulation, including numerical methods, parameter estimation/optimization, ordinary differential equations (ODEs), and how these can be applied in the development of complex models of biological pathways and systems
• Computational experience with one or more modeling and simulation packages or programming languages (e.g., MATLAB, SimBiology, Julia, Python, C/C++)

Preferred Qualifications

• Solid biological understanding of immunology and previous experience in applying mechanistic modeling to metabolic, inflammatory, or fibrotic diseases
• Experience summarizing, condensing, and translating outcomes of modeling and simulation analyses into knowledge and insights that can be clearly understood by project teams
• Experience working with Large Language Models (LLMs) and Agentic AI (e.g., tool use and multi-agent orchestration)
• Demonstrated collaborative ways of working and ability to work successfully in matrix teams
• Ability to effectively communicate and interact with key stakeholders, medical professionals and senior leadership
• Ability to learn new areas of biological sciences and build on solid foundation of quantitative skills
• Experience with the application of scientific machine learning (SciML) approaches to mechanistic modeling
• Experience integrating omics and/or other multi-modal data with mechanistic models

Skills

• Artificial Intelligence (AI)
• Computational Sciences
• Computer Programming
• Data Analysis
• Data Management
• Data Modeling
• Data Science
• Predictive Modeling
• Statistical Models

If you are based in Cambridge, MA; Waltham, MA; Rockville, MD; or San Francisco, CA, the annual base salary for new hires in this position ranges $157,575 to $262,625. The US salary ranges take into account a number of factors including work location within the US market, the candidate’s skills, experience, education level and the market rate for the role. In addition, this position offers an annual bonus and eligibility to participate in our share based long term incentive program which is dependent on the level of the role. Available benefits include health care and other insurance benefits (for employee and family), retirement benefits, paid holidays, vacation, and paid caregiver/parental and medical leave. If salary ranges are not displayed in the job posting for a specific country, the relevant compensation will be discussed during the recruitment process. Please visit GSK US Benefits Summary to learn more about the comprehensive benefits program GSK offers US employees.

Why GSK? Uniting science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together. GSK is a global biopharma company with a purpose to unite science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together. We aim to positively impact the health of 2.5 billion people by the end of the decade, as a successful, growing company where people can thrive. We get ahead of disease by preventing and treating it with innovation in specialty medicines and vaccines. We focus on four therapeutic areas: respiratory, immunology and inflammation; oncology; HIV; and infectious diseases – to impact health at scale. People and patients around the world count on the medicines and vaccines we make, so we’re committed to creating an environment where our people can thrive and focus on what matters most. Our culture of being ambitious for patients, accountable for impact and doing the right thing is the foundation for how, together, we deliver for patients, shareholders and our people.

GSK is an Equal Opportunity Employer. This ensures that all qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), parental status, national origin, age, disability, genetic information (including family medical history), military service or any basis prohibited under federal, state or local law.

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We are a global biopharma company with a special purpose – to unite science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together – so we can positively impact the health of billions of people and deliver stronger, more sustainable shareholder returns – as an organisation where people can thrive. Getting ahead means preventing disease as well as treating it, and we aim to impact the health of 2.5 billion people around the world in the next 10 years. Our success absolutely depends on our people. While getting ahead of disease together is about our ambition for patients and shareholders, it’s also about making GSK a place where people can thrive. We want GSK to be a place where people feel inspired, encouraged and challenged to be the best they can be. A place where they can be themselves – feeling welcome, valued and included. Where they can keep growing and look after their wellbeing. So, if you share our ambition, join us at this exciting moment in our journey to get Ahead Together. Find out more on our career site.