Principal Scientist, Biologics Optimization

Scorpion Therapeutics; Spring House (PA); On-site; USD 170,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

Johnson & Johnson in Spring House, PA is seeking a Principal Scientist, Biologics Optimization to accelerate biologics discovery through data integration, antibody engineering, and automation. The role leads automation-enabled workflows and collaborates with computational scientists, automation engineers, and therapeutic experts.

You will evaluate new technologies and drive initiatives to improve platform capabilities, with periodic travel to Cambridge, MA.

Qualifications

• MS in Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, or related field.
• PhD preferred.
• At least 3 years industry experience in biologics discovery, protein engineering, or automation.
• Leadership in biologics optimization and integration of experimental and computational data.
• Proficiency in Python and familiarity with AI/ML tools and protein modeling platforms.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement automation-enabled workflows for yeast display, NGS, and high-throughput optimization.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams including computational scientists, automation engineers, and therapeutic area experts to generate insights from large datasets, establish design principles, and advance molecule optimization strategies.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and lead scientific initiatives to improve discovery efficiency and platform capabilities.

Skills

Biologics optimization

Antibody engineering

Data-driven design

Cross-functional leadership

Python

Education

MS in Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, or related field

PhD preferred

Tools

Protein modeling platforms

AI/ML tools

Job description

Role

Principal Scientist, Biologics Optimization at Johnson & Johnson, leading efforts to accelerate biologic drug discovery through data integration, antibody engineering, and automation.

Responsibilities

• develop and implement automation-enabled workflows for yeast display, NGS, and high-throughput optimization;
• collaborate with cross-functional teams including computational scientists, automation engineers, and therapeutic area experts to generate insights from large datasets, establish design principles, and advance molecule optimization strategies;
• evaluate emerging technologies and lead scientific initiatives to improve discovery efficiency and platform capabilities.

Qualifications

• MS in Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, or related field;
• PhD preferred;
• at least 3 years industry experience in biologics discovery, protein engineering, or automation;
• proven leadership in biologics optimization, antibody structure-function analysis, and integration of experimental and computational data;
• proficiency in scientific programming (e.g., Python) and familiarity with AI/ML tools and protein modeling platforms.

High Value

• biologics discovery, antibody engineering, data-driven platform development, automation integration, therapeutic optimization, regenerative medicine or immunology focus, potential involvement in early to late-stage development.

Collaboration / Reporting

works closely with discovery, therapeutic and automation teams; periodic travel to Cambridge, MA.

Work Setup

based in Spring House, PA with occasional travel; role emphasizes innovation, data science, and cross-disciplinary leadership.