Senior Scientist, Protein Therapeutics – Mammalian Expression & Cell Line Engineering

Amgen; Thousand Oaks (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 230,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock-based long-term incentives

Discretionary annual bonus

Flexible work models

Job summary

Amgen’s Protein Therapeutics group in California seeks a Principal Scientist to lead mammalian expression and cell line engineering for next-generation protein therapeutics. This senior IC role emphasizes data-driven decision making, innovation, and collaboration across programs in oncology, inflammation, and rare disease.

No direct reports are required. The role requires a PhD with extensive postdoctoral experience or equivalent, strong publication/patent record, and the ability to drive

Qualifications

• PhD or equivalent with relevant postdoctoral experience.
• Experience in mammalian expression and cell line engineering is required.
• Ability to drive innovation and data-driven decision making.

Responsibilities

• Provide scientific leadership in mammalian expression and cell line engineering.
• Lead high-throughput expression workflows and optimization of protein therapeutics.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to advance programs and publish findings.

Skills

Mammalian expression

Cell line engineering

Automation

Data-driven decisions

Education

PhD in biology/biotech

Job description

Join Amgen’s Mission of Serving Patients

At Amgen, if you feel like you’re part of something bigger, it’s because you are. Our shared mission—to serve patients living with serious illnesses—drives all that we do.

Since 1980, we’ve helped pioneer the world of biotech in our fight against the world’s toughest diseases. With our focus on four therapeutic areas –Oncology, Inflammation, General Medicine, and Rare Disease– we reach millions of patients each year.

As a member of the Amgen team, you’ll help make a lasting impact on the lives of patients as we research, manufacture, and deliver innovative medicines to help people live longer, fuller happier lives.

Our award-winning culture is collaborative, innovative, and science based. If you have a passion for challenges and the opportunities that lay within them, you’ll thrive as part of the Amgen team. Join us and transform the lives of patients while transforming your career.

Principal Scientist, Protein Therapeutics – Mammalian Expression & Cell Line Engineering

What You Will Do

Let’s do this. Let’s change the world. In this vital role you will join the Protein Therapeutics organization within Research. This role will provide scientific and technical leadership in mammalian expression and cell line engineering to support the discovery and optimization of large-molecule therapeutics, including antibodies, bispecific, and next-generation protein modalities.

This is a senior individual contributor role with no direct reports.

The successful candidate will be a recognized technical expert and scientific leader who drives innovation in mammalian expression systems, cell line engineering strategies, and enabling technologies, with a strong emphasis on data-driven decision making and automation-enabled workflows.

Key Responsibilities

Scientific Leadership and Innovation

• Champion innovative approaches in mammalian host cell engineering and mammalian expression to improve productivity, quality, recombinant protein characteristics, and production speed.
• Serve as a scientific leader and subject matter expert in mammalian expression and cell line engineering, influencing technical strategy across protein therapeutic programs.
• Identify, develop, and implement new technologies, platforms, and automation solutions that enhance robustness, scalability, and throughput of expression workflows.

Technical Execution, Data, and Problem Solving

• Solve high-impact, technically complex problems related to mammalian recombinant protein expression, post-translational modification, stability, and developability.
• Execute wet laboratory experiments to express therapeutic proteins in mammalian cells both in high throughput bench-scale productions and medium-scale shake flask productions.
• Apply data-driven approaches to optimize expression systems and processes.
• Partner closely with informatics and automation teams to enable high-throughput, reproducible, and scalable workflows.

Collaboration and Influence

• Provide technical guidance and mentorship to scientists within and outside the department, without direct line management responsibility.
• Work effectively across functions including protein engineering, molecular biology, analytics, process development, and data sciences to advance programs.
• Represent the mammalian expression and cell engineering function on project teams, governance forums, and internal scientific reviews.

External Awareness and Scientific Impact

• Maintain deep awareness of external scientific and technological advances in mammalian expression, cell engineering, automation, and data-enabled biology.
• Contribute to Amgen’s scientific reputation through publications, patents, presentations, and participation in internal and external scientific forums.
• Evaluate and influence external collaborations, technologies, and partnering opportunities as needed.

What We Expect Of You

We are all different, yet we all use our outstanding contributions to serve patients. The Professional we seek is an agile leader with these qualifications.

Basic Qualifications

• Doctorate degree- PhD, PharmD or MD with relevant postdoctoral experience
• OR
• Master’s degree and 3 years of cell biology experience
• OR
• Bachelor’s degree and 5 years of cell biology experience

Preferred Qualifications

• Ph.D. with significant postdoctoral and/or industry experience in biotech or pharma, with a strong focus on mammalian expression and cell line engineering.
• Deep expertise in mammalian cell biology, expression construct design, host cell engineering, and expression strategies for a broad range of protein therapeutics.
• Demonstrated experience implementing data-rich, automated, and high-throughput expression or cell engineering workflows.
• Strong understanding of how protein sequence, structure, and biophysical properties impact expression, quality attributes, and downstream developability.
• Proven record of independent scientific achievement, evidenced by high-impact publications, patents, and/or implemented technologies.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to influence without authority and operate effectively in a highly matrixed environment.

What You Can Expect Of Us

As we work to develop treatments that take care of others, we also work to care for your professional and personal growth and well-being. From our competitive benefits to our collaborative culture, we’ll support your journey every step of the way.

The expected annual salary range for this role in the U.S. (excluding Puerto Rico) is posted. Actual salary will vary based on several factors including but not limited to, relevant skills, experience, and qualifications.

In addition to the base salary, Amgen offers a Total Rewards Plan, based on eligibility, comprising of health and welfare plans for staff and eligible dependents, financial plans with opportunities to save towards retirement or other goals, work/life balance, and career development opportunities that may include:

• A comprehensive employee benefits package, including a Retirement and Savings Plan with generous company contributions, group medical, dental and vision coverage, life and disability insurance, and flexible spending accounts
• A discretionary annual bonus program, or for field sales representatives, a sales-based incentive plan
• Stock-based long-term incentives
• Award-winning time-off plans
• Flexible work models where possible. Refer to the Work Location Type in the job posting to see if this applies.

Sponsorship

Sponsorship for this role is not guaranteed.

Application deadline

Amgen does not have an application deadline for this position; we will continue accepting applications until we receive a sufficient number or select a candidate for the position.

As an organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for people around the world, Amgen fosters an inclusive environment of diverse, ethical, committed and highly accomplished people who respect each other and live the Amgen values to continue advancing science to serve patients. Together, we compete in the fight against serious disease.

Equal Opportunity Employer

Amgen is an Equal Opportunity employer and will consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, or any other basis protected by applicable law.

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

In any materials you submit, you may redact or remove age-identifying information such as age, date of birth, or dates of school attendance or graduation. You will not be penalized for redacting or removing this information.