Senior Principal Scientist Veterinary Pathologist Board Certified

Merck; West Point (PA); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Job summary

Merck's Research Laboratories nonclinical drug safety department in West Point, PA seeks an experienced anatomic pathologist to join a collaborative team, operating in a GLP-compliant facility with on-site pathology labs. This role emphasizes leadership in toxicologic pathology and immunology/biologics programs.

The ideal candidate has 10+ years as a veterinary pathologist, 7+ years in drug development, a DVM, residency in anatomical/toxicologic pathology, and ACVP/ECVP board certification or

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience as a veterinary pathologist
• 7+ years of drug development experience in biotech, pharma, or CRO settings
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate with diverse cross-functional teams and communicate openly

Responsibilities

• Employ routine H&E evaluations and specialized techniques to characterize safety profiles of new drugs
• Analyze data, interpret results for postmortem evaluations, review literature, and design experiments to advance programs
• Provide scientific leadership and partner with toxicology, safety pharmacology, and translational teams to define mechanisms of toxicity and guide risk mitigation for Immunology/Biologics programs

Skills

Collaboration

Communication

Scientific leadership

Education

Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM)

Residency in anatomical/toxicologic pathology

ACVP/ECVP board certification or equivalent

Tools

In vitro/in vivo assay capabilities

Digital pathology

Immunohistochemistry / in situ hybridization

Job description

Job Description

We aspire to be the premier research-intensive biopharmaceutical company with over 130-year history. We're at the forefront of research to deliver innovative health solutions that advance the prevention and treatment of diseases in people and animals. Our success is driven by putting patients first, operating with the highest integrity, and committing fully to our vision to make a difference in the lives of people globally. With our varied pipeline of oncology, immunology, vaccines, biologics, small molecules, and newer modalities, we are at the forefront of research to advance the prevention and treatment of diseases such as cancer, cardiometabolic diseases, eye diseases, and infectious diseases.

Our Company's Research Laboratories nonclinical drug safety department at West Point, Pennsylvania site is seeking an experienced anatomic pathologist to join a highly collaborative team of scientists (12 anatomic pathologists, 3 clinical pathologists, and approximately 40 exceptional laboratory scientists), working at a GLP-compliant facility with state-of-the-art anatomic, molecular and clinical pathology laboratories. This role is intended for an accomplished Pathologist with proven toxicological pathology and drug development experience with preferably immunology and biologics expertise who operates as a recognized subject‑matter expert and influences strategy from early discovery through late‑stage development. Our team works on a varied pipeline, participating in a wide variety of GLP-toxicology study types, many of which are run in-house, in addition to early discovery and investigative studies.

Pathologists at our company are integral members and leaders of collaborative cross functional scientific teams, addressing challenges from early discoveries to late development. Our Company's pathologists provide scientific leadership in the design and conduct of postmortem evaluation of studies and integrate the interpretation of postmortem data into the safety profile of drug candidates. Our Company's pathologists have a variety of opportunities to learn and grow as professional scientists and drug developers through daily study related activities and collaborative works with multiple program development teams.

Key responsibilities for this scientific role include:

• Employ both routine H&E evaluations as well as other specialized techniques to characterize the safety profile of new drugs from toxicology and investigative studies
• Work independently to analyze data, interpret and determine the significance of results for postmortem evaluations, review literature and design experiments to help teams solve scientific problems and advance programs
• Demonstrate scientific leadership with partnering broadly with toxicology, safety pharmacology, and translational teams to define mechanisms of toxicity, assess human relevance, and guide risk mitigation strategies for programs including immunology and biologics programs.

Utilizing additional tools and applications that are all available on‑site, including:

• An industry-leading suite of on‑site in vitro and in vivo assay capabilities
• Access to robust historical controls slide archive and data base
• Digital Pathology
• Transmission electron microscopy
• Immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization
• Quantitative digital image analysis and targeted machine learning applications

Contribute to developing novel biomarkers and predictive models to de-risk drug candidates for safety-related liabilities

Our Company's pathologists also serve as nonclinical drug safety department leads on drug development teams, overseeing the design and execution of studies, and generation of regulatory strategy and communications with global regulatory agencies to support the development of drug candidates

Our Company's pathologists work in a hybrid work environment and routinely interact with each other, share slides and opinions/experiences, and help each other learn and grow

Required experience and skills:

• 10+ years of experience as a veterinary pathologist
• 7+ years of drug development experience in biotech, pharma, or CRO settings
• Love to collaborate with diverse cross-functional teams and communicate openly and often with colleagues
• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM)
• Residency in anatomic / toxicologic pathology
• ACVP, ECVP-board certification or equivalent in anatomic pathology

Preferred experience and skills:

• Strong knowledge of drug discovery, development and regulatory processes, including experience on drug development project teams
• Experience in supporting immunology and biologics programs
• PhD in Immunology, Toxicology, Pathology, or related discipline
• Experience serving as pathology lead for programs, or external due diligence as lead or subject matter expertise.
• Strong scientific leadership beyond individual studies, demonstrated growth and enterprise mindset, including cross‑program influence and mentoring/management of other pathologi