Senior Principal Scientist - Bioanalytical Assay, Cell Therapy

About the role

The Senior Principal Scientist serves as the scientific leader for Bioanalytical Strategy in support of the Cell Therapy portfolio. The role defines and drives the bioanalytical strategy needed to answer the key scientific questions that enable the development of cell therapy products, generating the evidence that informs development, regulatory and portfolio decisions. It works across Bioanalytical Sciences, Research, Translational Medicine, Clinical Development, CMC, Regulatory and Computational Sciences.

Key responsibilities

• Define and drive the bioanalytical strategy for the Cell Therapy portfolio, establishing integrated, fit-for-purpose data strategies.
• Identify and evolve the scientific questions needed to characterize the in vivo fate of therapeutic cells, including expansion, persistence, trafficking, biodistribution, phenotypic evolution and immunogenicity, and their relation to efficacy, durability and safety.
• Partner with Bioanalytical Sciences project leads to develop integrated strategies that keep analytical approaches fit for purpose throughout development.
• Build partnerships across Research, Translational Medicine, Development Sciences, Clinical, CMC, Regulatory, Computational Sciences and platform organizations.
• Harmonize approaches, leverage shared assays and data, and set portfolio-wide best practices.
• Translate emerging questions into evidence-generation strategies, including recommendations for analytical approaches, data integration and interpretation.
• Evaluate new technologies and guide the adoption of innovative bioanalytical approaches.
• Represent Bioanalytical Sciences on governance teams, review committees and external collaborations, and mentor scientists across matrixed organizations.

Required profile

• Ph.D. in Immunology, Cell Biology, Biochemistry, Pharmacology, Bioanalytical Sciences or a related life sciences discipline.
• At least 7 years of experience in drug discovery or development with extensive biopharmaceutical industry experience leading bioanalytical strategy.
• Direct experience supporting the development of cell therapy products such as CAR-T, TCR-T, TILs, iPSC-derived products or gene-edited cellular therapies.
• Recognized scientific leadership through publications, presentations, patents, regulatory contributions or similar achievements.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Required skills

• Strong knowledge of bioanalytical methodologies, including flow cytometry, qPCR/ddPCR, ligand-binding assays, functional and biomarker assays and emerging multiomic approaches.
• Ability to lead complex cross-functional initiatives without direct line authority.
• Preferred: experience integrating bioanalytical, translational, clinical, computational and manufacturing data; harmonized assay strategies; and computational or AI-enabled data analysis.

Relocation benefits are not available for this posting. The expected salary range for the California location is $173,100-$321,500, with a possible discretionary annual bonus.