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

Amgen Inc. (IR); Thousand Oaks (CA); On-site; USD 124,000 - 167,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock-based long-term incentives

Comprehensive benefits package

Flexible work models where possible

Job summary

Amgen Inc. in Thousand Oaks seeks a Senior Scientist to lead mammalian expression and cell line engineering for biologics discovery. You will help develop expression platforms, optimize constructs and workflows, and drive data-driven improvements in productivity and quality.

The role requires deep technical expertise, cross-functional collaboration, and mentorship to junior staff, with a focus on scalable, automation-enabled processes across programs.

Qualifications

• Experience with mammalian expression systems and cell line engineering.
• Ability to develop and optimize expression platforms and workflows.
• Experience driving automation-enabled biology and high-throughput strategies.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a technical expert in mammalian expression and cell line engineering, contributing to strategy across programs.
• Develop and implement innovative approaches to improve productivity, product quality, and speed.
• Evaluate and implement new technologies and automation solutions to enhance workflow robustness and throughput.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to advance discovery programs and mentor junior scientists.

Skills

Mammalian expression

Cell line engineering

Data-driven optimization

Cross-functional collaboration

Mentorship

Education

PhD/MD/PharmD or Masters with postdoc experience

Job description

Career Category Scientific 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.

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

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 lead scientific efforts in mammalian expression and cell line engineering to support the discovery and optimization of large-molecule therapeutics, including antibodies, bispecifics, and next-generation protein modalities. The successful candidate will be an experienced scientist with deep technical expertise in mammalian expression systems, cell line engineering strategies, and enabling technologies. The individual will contribute to the development and implementation of innovative expression platforms, data-driven optimization strategies, and automation-enabled workflows that accelerate biologics discovery.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as a technical expert in mammalian expression and cell line engineering, contributing to technical strategy across protein therapeutic programs.
• Develop and implement innovative approaches in mammalian expression and host cell engineering to improve productivity, product quality, and speed.
• Evaluate, develop, and implement new technologies, platforms, and automation solutions that enhance the robustness, scalability, and throughput of expression workflows.
• Stay current with emerging scientific and technological advances and recommend new approaches that strengthen research capabilities.

Technical Execution, Data, and Problem Solving

• Execute wet laboratory experiments to express therapeutic proteins in mammalian cells using both high-throughput bench-scale and medium-scale shake flask production systems.
• Independently solve technically complex problems related to protein expression, post-translational modification, stability, and developability.
• Apply data-driven approaches to optimize expression systems, cell engineering strategies, and experimental workflows.
• Partner closely with informatics and automation teams to develop reproducible, scalable, and high-throughput expression workflows.

Collaboration and Technical Contribution

• Collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams including protein engineering, molecular biology, analytics, process development, and data sciences to advance discovery programs.
• Provide technical guidance and mentorship to junior scientists and contribute to knowledge sharing within the organization.
• Represent the mammalian expression and cell engineering function on multidisciplinary project teams and technical working groups.

Scientific Growth and External Engagement

• Maintain awareness of advances in mammalian expression, cell engineering, automation, and data-enabled biology through scientific literature and external engagement.
• Contribute to Amgen’s scientific impact through publications, patents, presentations, and internal scientific forums.
• Participate in the evaluation and implementation of external technologies and collaborations as appropriate.

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 postdoctoral and/or industry experience in biotechnology or pharmaceutical research, with a strong focus on mammalian expression and cell line engineering.
• Strong expertise in mammalian cell biology, expression construct design, host cell engineering, and expression strategies for a broad range of protein therapeutics.
• Demonstrated experience developing or implementing data-rich, automated, or high-throughput expression and cell engineering workflows.
• Strong understanding of how protein sequence, structure, and biophysical properties influence expression, quality attributes, and downstream developability.
• Demonstrated scientific productivity through publications, patents, presentations, and/or successful implementation of new technologies or platforms.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to collaborate effectively across multidisciplinary teams and operate successfully in a highly matrixed research environment.

What you can expect of us

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.

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.

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.

Equal Opportunity & Accommodation

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.

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.

Salary Range

123,777.00USD -167,463.00 USD

Amgen is committed to unlocking the potential of biology for patients suffering from serious illnesses by discovering, developing, manufacturing and delivering innovative human therapeutics. This approach begins by using tools like advanced human genetics to unravel the complexities of disease and understand the fundamentals of human biology. Amgen focuses on areas of high unmet medical need and leverages its biologics manufacturing expertise to strive for solutions that improve health outcomes and dramatically improve people's lives. A biotechnology pioneer since 1980, Amgen has grown to be one of the world's leading independent biotechnology companies, has reached millions of patients around the world and is developing a pipeline of medicines with breakaway potential. For more information, visit www.amgen.com and follow us on www.twitter.com/amgen