Principal Scientist

Trimaren Human Capital Partners; Watertown (MA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Confidential Biotech in Massachusetts seeks a leader to build and guide the Cellular Biology function, driving strategy, experimental capabilities, and high standards for cellular and mechanistic biology. You will lead hand-on development of bone marrow–focused translational models and contribute to drug discovery programs in hematology.

The role combines scientific leadership with bench work, including flow cytometry, PCR, ELISA, and primary-cell culture, while integrating multi-omic data to

Qualifications

• PhD or MS with extensive experience in pharmacology, biology, and hematology.
• Deep bone marrow biology expertise with hematology applications.
• Hands-on development of cell-based models of hematologic diseases.
• Strong background in kinase biology and intracellular signaling.
• Experience with functional genomics and epigenomics (scRNA-seq, ATAC-seq, CUT&RUN).

Responsibilities

• Lead and build the Cellular Biology function with strategy and standards.
• Develop cell-based translational models of hematologic diseases.
• Characterize pharmacodynamic and mechanistic properties of therapeutics.
• Identify novel targets and therapeutic approaches in hematology.
• Investigate signaling pathways to understand therapeutic response.
• Apply scRNA-seq, ATAC-seq, and CUT&RUN to study cellular states.
• Integrate multi-omic data with cellular and mechanistic biology.
• Develop assays including flow cytometry, PCR, ELISA, and primary cultures.
• Generate data to inform go/no-go decisions and candidate selection.
• Mentor scientists and lead cross-functional programs.
• Maintain bench involvement ~50% early on, scaling with team growth.

Skills

Bone marrow biology

Hematology

Cell-based models

Kinase signaling

Functional genomics

scRNA-seq

ATAC-seq

CUT&RUN

Flow cytometry

PCR

ELISA

Cell culture

Scientific leadership

Project management

Stakeholder management

Education

PhD with 8+ years in pharmacology/biology

MS with 10+ years in relevant field

Job description

Confidential Biotech | Stealth Mode | On-Site in MA

We are partnering with a well-capitalized, stealth-stage biotechnology company developing a differentiated therapeutic platform with the potential to address significant unmet medical needs.

We are seeking an accomplished and highly collaborative scientist to lead the Cellular Biology function. The ideal candidate will bring deep scientific and technical expertise in bone marrow biology and hematology, extensive hands-on experience developing cell-based translational models of genetically defined human hematologic diseases, and strong mechanistic expertise in cell signaling, including kinase-driven pathways.

The successful candidate will also bring experience applying advanced functional genomic and epigenomic approaches including scRNA-seq, ATAC-seq, and CUT&RUN to understand disease biology, pharmacodynamic response, and therapeutic mechanism of action.

This individual will serve as both a scientific leader and a hands-on experimentalist, generating decision-enabling data that shape scientific strategy, identify novel therapeutic opportunities, support candidate selection, and advance programs toward and through the clinic.

What You'll Do

• Lead and build the Cellular Biology function, establishing scientific strategy, experimental capabilities, and rigorous standards for cellular and mechanistic biology.
• Develop and implement cell-based translational models of genetically defined human hematologic diseases, with particular emphasis on bone marrow and hematopoietic biology.
• Design and execute studies that characterize the pharmacodynamic and mechanistic properties of novel therapeutic molecules.
• Apply deep expertise in hematology and bone marrow biology to identify novel druggable targets, therapeutic approaches, and opportunities addressing unmet needs in priority hematologic diseases.
• Investigate kinase-driven and other intracellular signaling pathways to understand target biology, therapeutic response, and downstream cellular effects.
• Apply functional genomic and epigenomic approaches including scRNA-seq, ATAC-seq, and CUT&RUN to characterize cellular states, transcriptional programs, chromatin regulation, and therapeutic mechanisms.
• Integrate cellular, signaling, genomic, and epigenomic data to generate mechanistic hypotheses and guide drug-discovery strategy.
• Develop and optimize fit-for-purpose cellular and molecular assays, including flow cytometry, PCR, ELISA, and primary-cell culture.
• Generate data to support therapeutic candidate selection and prioritization and to inform go/no-go decisions.
• Help shape the future discovery and innovation portfolio through identification and evaluation of new biological hypotheses and therapeutic opportunities.
• Partner closely with cross-functional R&D stakeholders to ensure seamless study execution, timely data delivery, and alignment across the pipeline.
• Establish and manage CRO partnerships, external scientific collaborations, and internal capabilities supporting therapeutic identification, assay development, and candidate selection.
• Contribute to regulatory filings, scientific publications, data interpretation, and other activities supporting program and portfolio objectives.
• Mentor and develop scientists while fostering a culture of scientific rigor, innovation, accountability, and collaboration.
• Maintain substantial hands-on laboratory involvement during the initial build-out of the function, with bench work expected to represent approximately 50% of the role initially, decreasing as the team grows.

What You Bring

• PhD with 8+ years of relevant experience in pharmacology, cell biology, hematology, molecular biology, or a related discipline; or MS with 10+ years of extensive relevant biopharmaceutical industry experience.
• Expert scientific and technical background in bone marrow biology and hematology, with demonstrated application to drug discovery, target identification, and/or development of novel therapeutic molecules.
• Extensive hands‑on experience developing cell-based models of genetically defined human hematologic diseases.
• Strong expertise in kinase biology, phosphatase biology, and/or intracellular signaling pathways, with demonstrated experience using mechanistic studies to understand therapeutic response.
• Demonstrated experience with functional genomic and epigenomic approaches, including:
• Single‑cell RNA sequencing (scRNA‑seq)
• ATAC‑seq
• o CUT&RUN and/or closely related chromatin‑profiling approaches
• Ability to design rigorous genomic/epigenomic experiments, understand appropriate controls and technical considerations, critically interpret resulting datasets, and integrate findings with cellular and mechanistic biology.
• Deep hands‑on expertise with core cellular biology techniques, including flow cytometry, PCR, ELISA, and cell culture.
• Demonstrated experience designing and implementing experimental strategies that generate mechanistic insight into hematologic disease biology and therapeutic correction.
• Proven scientific leadership, people leadership, and project management experience, including leading cross‑functional, collaborative programs.
• Strong problem‑solving, communication, organizational, and stakeholder‑management skills.

Preferred Experience

• Direct hands‑on execution and troubleshooting of multiple functional genomic/epigenomic techniques, particularly scRNA‑seq, ATAC‑seq, and CUT&RUN.
• Experience integrating multi‑omic datasets with cellular phenotypes, signaling biology, and pharmacodynamic data.
• Experience advancing therapeutic programs through candidate selection and toward IND‑enabling development.
• Experience contributing to regulatory filings.
• Experience managing GLP- and/or cGMP-compliant workflows.
• Experience establishing new laboratory capabilities and managing external CRO or academic collaborations.