





Job Description
We are on a quest for cures and are committed to be the world's premier, most research-intensive biopharmaceutical company. Our teams combine leading drug discovery capabilities and world-class R&D with the purpose of turning breakthrough science into life-changing medicines.
We are seeking an energetic and experienced protein engineer for the role of Associate Principal Scientist in the Boston Discovery Biologics group. The qualified candidate will be a passionate scientific individual contributor who designs large, diverse sets of Biologics and reagents supporting the Boston Discovery Biologics high throughput production team. They will serve as a functional area representative on project teams where they will contribute to therapeutic development through influencing the strategy of Biologic design and production. They will foster the development of junior scientists across Discovery Biologics. The ideal candidate will use their hand-on experiences across Protein Sciences to design multiple therapeutic formats with diverse property sets for high throughput production seeking to identify multiple functional classes pre-optimized leads for therapeutic programs. Using their therapeutic program lead experiences, they will prioritize the right experiments at the right time hence enabling timely go/no-go decisions. Our organization is directly integrating computational and wet-lab researchers with state-of-the-art automation to accelerate the discovery, engineering, and characterization of novel biologics in the pre-IND pipeline.
They will work closely with Biologic Production and Engineering team members to leverage strengths and identify opportunities to continually expand the team's technical skillsets and enterprise thinking. They will work to support the department's efforts to recruit diverse and highly skilled key talent to the organization and be a champion for diversity and inclusion. We recognize that the diversity in our team is our strength, and we are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. Successful candidates must demonstrate inclusive behaviours in working with a diverse group of researchers to drive our core mission.
What you will do:
Support to Boston's high-throughput production team through designing up to 100s of Biologics a week
Develop scalable protein engineering solutions to effectively design, evaluate, and integrate data on sets of multispecifics
Introduce, apply, and refine sampling strategies for effective evaluation of multispecific sequence and format spaces
Partner with other protein engineers within Discovery Biologics to share learnings to guide development of internal methodology and tools for protein engineering
Coordinate with internal and external teams to ensure seamless inputs for high throughput production
Serve as a functional area representative on project teams where you leverage your deep understanding of protein design and production to advise project teams on strategies to accommodate their unique molecular needs
Stay abreast of external advancements in the design and production of biologic therapeutics
Promote the external reputation of our company's Discovery Biologics
What you will need to be successful in this role:
Qualifications & Experience
Ph.D. in structural biology, biochemistry, biophysics or related field with 4+ years relevant applied experience, Master's with 8+ years relevant applied experience or Bachelor's with 12+ years of relevant applied experience in biochemistry or related field
Experience in advancing large molecule therapeutics through discovery pipelines
Excellent communication and collaboration skills
Strong presentation and publication record
Required skills:
Extensive protein production experience at varied scales and production strategies for Biologics
Demonstrated application of structure based, physics based, and/or GenAI/ML approaches of protein engineering approaches to impact therapeutic pipeline programs
Experience supporting multiple Biologic discovery pipeline projects and platform development initiatives
Understanding functional and biophysical risks of biologics with the knowledge of when and how to implement strategies to mitigate them
Champion for diverse and inclusive culture
Preferred skills:
Extensive design and production experience of complex antigens, protein reagents and Biologic therapeutics modalities beyond antibodies
Hands-on experience developing and implementing high throughput approaches to achieve protein science and/or structural biology goals
Familiarity with integrated end-to-end plate based biologic production and characterization pipelines including automated data capture
Biologic program leadership experience
Experience in outsourcing and managing external collaborations
Demonstrated passion for and a track record of talent development
Established external reputation through high-impact publications, presentations, and/or scientific community engagement
Your role at our company is integral to helping the world meet new breakthroughs that affect generations to come, and we're counting on your skills and inventiveness to help make meaningful contributions to global medical advancement. At our company, we're inventing for life.
We are proud to be a company that embraces the value of bringing diverse, talented, and committed people together. The fastest way to breakthrough innovation is when diverse ideas come together in an inclusive environment. We encourage our colleagues to respectfully challenge one another's thinking and approach problems collectively for the common good. We are an equal opportunity employer, committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse workplace.
As an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer, we provide equal opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.As a federal contractor, we comply with all affirmative action requirements for protected veterans and individuals with disabilities. For more information about personal rights under the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment laws, visit:
We are proud to be a company that embraces the value of bringing together, talented, and committed people with diverse experiences, perspectives, skills and backgrounds. The fastest way to breakthrough innovation is when people with diverse ideas, broad experiences, backgrounds, and skills come together in an inclusive environment. We encourage our colleagues to respectfully challenge one another's thinking and approach problems collectively.
Learn more about your rights, including under California, Colorado and other US State Acts
#EligibleforERP
Current Employees apply HERE
Current Contingent Workers apply HERE
US and Puerto Rico Residents Only:
Our company is committed to inclusion, ensuring that candidates can engage in a hiring process that exhibits their true capabilities. Please click here if you need an accommodation during the application or hiring process.
As an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer, we provide equal opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, or other applicable legally protected characteristics.As a federal contractor, we comply with all affirmative action requirements for protected veterans and individuals with disabilities. For more information about personal rights under the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment laws, visit:
We are proud to be a company that embraces the value of bringing together, talented, and committed people with diverse experiences, perspectives, skills and backgrounds. The fastest way to breakthrough innovation is when people with diverse ideas, broad experiences, backgrounds, and skills come together in an inclusive environment. We encourage our colleagues to respectfully challenge one another's thinking and approach problems collectively.
Learn more about your rights, including under California, Colorado and other US State Acts
U.S. Hybrid Work Model
Effective September 5, 2023, employees in office-based positions in the U.S. will be working a Hybrid work consisting of three total days on-site per week, Monday - Thursday, although the specific days may vary by site or organization, with Friday designated as a remote-working day, unless business critical tasks require an on-site presence.This Hybrid work model does not apply to, and daily in-person attendance is required for, field-based positions; facility-based, manufacturing-based, or research-based positions where the work to be performed is located at a Company site; positions covered by a collective-bargaining agreement (unless the agreement provides for hybrid work); or any other position for which the Company has determined the job requirements cannot be reasonably met working remotely. Please note, this Hybrid work model guidance also does not apply to roles that have been designated as "remote".
The salary range for this role is
$141,900.00 - $223,300.00This is the lowest to highest salary we in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. An employee's position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, government requirements, and business or organizational needs.
The successful candidate will be eligible for annual bonus and long-term incentive, if applicable.
We offer a comprehensive package of benefits. Available benefits include medical, dental, vision healthcare and other insurance benefits (for employee and family), retirement benefits, including 401(k), paid holidays, vacation, and compassionate and sick days. More information about benefits is available at https://jobs.merck.com/us/en/compensation-and-benefits.
You can apply for this role through https://jobs.merck.com/us/en (or via the Workday Jobs Hub if you are a current employee). The application deadline for this position is stated on this posting.
San Francisco Residents Only:We will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records for employment in compliance with the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance
Los Angeles Residents Only:We will consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent with the requirements of applicable state and local laws, including the City of Los Angeles' Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance
Search Firm Representatives Please Read Carefully
Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA, also known as Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC, Rahway, NJ, USA, does not accept unsolicited assistance from search firms for employment opportunities. All CVs / resumes submitted by search firms to any employee at our company without a valid written search agreement in place for this position will be deemed the sole property of our company. No fee will be paid in the event a candidate is hired by our company as a result of an agency referral where no pre-existing agreement is in place. Where agency agreements are in place, introductions are position specific. Please, no phone calls or emails.
Employee Status:
RegularRelocation:
DomesticVISA Sponsorship:
YesTravel Requirements:
No Travel RequiredFlexible Work Arrangements:
Not ApplicableShift:
Not IndicatedValid Driving License:
NoHazardous Material(s):
OEB4, bispecific agentsRequired Skills:
Antibody Discovery, Biochemistry, Biologics, Communication, High-Throughput Screening, Molecular Biology Techniques, Protein Design, Protein Engineering, Protein Production, Social Collaboration, Structural Biology, TherapeuticsPreferred Skills:
Job Posting End Date:
08/14/2025*A job posting is effective until 11:59:59PM on the day BEFOREthe listed job posting end date. Please ensure you apply to a job posting no later than the day BEFORE the job posting end date.
Requisition ID:R359732