Scientist / Sr. Scientist, Translational Sciences (T-cell focused)

Pioneering Medicines; Cambridge (MA); On-site; USD 100,000 - 182,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Healthcare coverage

Annual incentive program

Retirement benefits

Job summary

Pioneering Medicines in Cambridge, MA seeks an innovative Scientist/Senior Scientist to join our Translational Sciences team. The role supports translational research and immunological activities bridging early research and clinical development, delivering data to support biomarker assays and pharmacology evaluation.

You will work with science leaders to grow experience in drug discovery, collaborate across programs, and communicate results to colleagues with diverse backgrounds.

Qualifications

• Bachelor or MSc in biology, immunology, pharmacology with 5+ years in a lab.
• Experience with ex-vivo assay development in rodent, NHP and human samples.
• In vitro T cell differentiation (Treg, Th17).
• Flow cytometry for phenotyping whole blood, primary T cell culture, etc.
• Sterile cell culture techniques for primary cells and cell lines.
• Hands-on isolation/manipulation of primary cells for downstream analysis.
• Strong data analysis skills and scientific thinking.
• Ability to work across multiple therapeutic areas.

Responsibilities

• Deliver impactful datasets to inform translational direction of drug discovery programs.
• Contribute to immunology/translational research goals and strategies.
• Collaborate on capability building to support needs.
• Communicate research plans and data to colleagues with diverse backgrounds.
• Contribute to other prioritized activities within the drug discovery group.
• Demonstrate curiosity, work ethic, and ability to work independently or in a team.

Skills

Flow cytometry

T cell differentiation

Ex-vivo assays

Cell culture techniques

Biomarker assays

Data analysis

Scientific communication

Team collaboration

Education

Bachelor or Master of Science in biology/immunology/pharmacology or equivalent

PhD in biology/immunology/pharmacology with 2+ years industry experience

Tools

Flow cytometer

Job description

Pioneering Medicines, Flagship Pioneering’s in-house drug development unit, is dedicated to conceiving and developing a broad portfolio of life-changing treatments for patients built from Flagship’s innovative platforms. Harnessing the drug development expertise of its team together with the power of Flagship's multiple scientific platforms, Pioneering Medicines explores and identifies new product concepts which are then advanced jointly with Flagship’s bioplatform companies. Within Flagship’s Innovation Supply Chain partnerships, Pioneering Medicines works with external collaborators to apply its unique approach to partners’ R&D priorities. These partnerships are highly co-creative strategic alliances that accelerate therapeutic innovation by bringing together partners spanning the full spectrum of drug discovery, development, and production.

Position Summary:

Pioneering Medicines is seeking an innovative, motivated, and highly collaborative Scientist/Senior Scientist to join our Translational Sciences team. The position supports translational research and immunological activities aimed at bridging the gap between early research and clinical development. This role will be directly accountable on data delivery to support the deep characterization of novel and emerging drug candidates, and/or execution of biomarker assays to evaluate pharmacology of therapeutic molecules. The candidate will be supported by scientific leaders to develop experience and expertise in drug discovery and pharmacology. We are looking for adaptive and scientifically curious individuals who embrace our core values of putting people and patients first, in an environment that encourages growth and learning.

Key Responsibilities:

• Deliver impactful datasets to inform the translational direction of drug discovery program(s) (e.g., pharmacodynamic biomarker discovery for disease/patient selection, inform human dose predictions, develop novel biomarker assays)
• Contribute to drug discovery programs supporting immunology and/or translational research goals and strategies.
• Collaborate on capability building to support immunology/translational needs and emerging program needs.
• Communicate research plans and data to colleagues with diverse scientific backgrounds.
• Contribute to other prioritized activities and initiatives within the drug discovery group, aligned with team needs and personal interests.
• Demonstrate an insatiable curiosity, strong work ethic, and the ability to work equally well in a team or independently.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor or Master of Science degree in biology, immunology, pharmacology or equivalent with 5+ years’ experience in a laboratory of academia or industry. Ph.D. in biology, immunology, pharmacology with 2+ years experience in industry.
• Must have experience with ex-vivo assay development in rodent, NHP and human tissues/plasma/whole blood
• Must have experience with in vitro T cell differentiation (e.g. Treg, Th17)
• Must have experience working using flow cytometry for phenotyping whole blood, primary T cell culture, etc.
• Experience working with sterile cell culture techniques for the growth and maintenance of cell lines and primary cells (e.g. peripheral blood mononuclear cells, organoids, explant cultures)
• Hands-on experience with isolating and manipulating primary cells to perform downstream analysis (e.g. MSD/ELISA, FACS, western blots, qPCR, histology, fluorescence microscopy)
• Can think on their feet and demonstrate sophisticated scientific thinking in their data analysis.
• Ability and interest to work across multiple therapeutic areas and modalities.

Preferred Qualifications

• Preclinical research experience that supports early phase clinical studies or is directly related to the understanding of human disease/pharmacology.
• Experience with advanced cell biology techniques (e.g. organoid cultures, immune cell co-cultures) for use in pharmacology/translational research.
• Experience/understanding in the utility of bioinformatics to inform translational research directions.
• Exhibits an infectious enthusiasm for science/discovery and an eagerness to rise to challenges.

Other Attributes

• Most importantly, curious and a positive, problem-solving can-do attitude.
• Engage enthusiastically and effectively in disparate projects.
• Function independently within the framework of tightly knit project teams.
• Reliably execute on team responsibilities in an efficient manner.
• Be proactive, organized and driven by a fundamental interest in contributing to science in general and drug discovery as a whole.

Location: Cambridge, MA

About Flagship Pioneering:

Flagship Pioneering invents and builds platform companies, each with the potential for multiple products that transform human health, sustainability and beyond. Since its launch in 2000, Flagship has originated more than 100 companies. Many of these companies have addressed humanity’s most urgent challenges: vaccinating billions of people against COVID-19, curing intractable diseases, improving human health, preempting illness, and feeding the world by improving the resiliency and sustainability of agriculture.

Flagship has been recognized twice on FORTUNE’s “Change the World” list, an annual ranking of companies that have made a positive social and environmental impact through activities that are part of their core business strategies and has been twice named to Fast Company’s annual list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies. Learn more about Flagship at www.flagshippioneering.com.

At Flagship, we accept impossible missions to enable bigger leaps. Our core values guide us through uncertainty and toward lasting impact.

We are an equal opportunity employer

All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

We recognize that great candidates often bring unique strengths without fulfilling every qualification. If you have some of the experience listed above but not all, please apply anyway. We are dedicated to building diverse and inclusive teams and look forward to learning more about your background and interest in Flagship.

The salary range for this role is $100,000 - $181,500. Compensation for the role will depend on a number of factors, including a candidate’s qualifications, skills, competencies, and experience. Pioneering Medicines currently offers healthcare coverage, annual incentive program, retirement benefits and a broad range of other benefits. Compensation and benefits information is based on Pioneering Medicines's good faith estimate as of the date of publication and may be modified in the future.