Principal Scientist, Biologics Optimization

Role: Principal Scientist, Biologics Optimization at Johnson & Johnson, leading efforts to accelerate biologic drug discovery through data integration, antibody engineering, and automation. Responsibilities: develop and implement automation-enabled workflows for yeast display, NGS, and high-throughput optimization; collaborate with cross-functional teams including computational scientists, automation engineers, and therapeutic area experts to generate insights from large datasets, establish design principles, and advance molecule optimization strategies; evaluate emerging technologies and lead scientific initiatives to improve discovery efficiency and platform capabilities. Qualifications: MS in Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, or related field; PhD preferred; at least 3 years industry experience in biologics discovery, protein engineering, or automation; proven leadership in biologics optimization, antibody structure-function analysis, and integration of experimental and computational data; proficiency in scientific programming (e.g., Python) and familiarity with AI/ML tools and protein modeling platforms. HighValue: biologics discovery, antibody engineering, data-driven platform development, automation integration, therapeutic optimization, regenerative medicine or immunology focus, potential involvement in early to late-stage development. Collaboration/reporting: works closely with discovery, therapeutic and automation teams; periodic travel to Cambridge, MA. Work setup: based in Spring House, PA with occasional travel; role emphasizes innovation, data science, and cross-disciplinary leadership.