Principal Scientist, Nonclinical Drug Safety Program Discovery
Merck
July 01, 2026
Remote friendly (San Diego, CA)
United States
Clinical Research and Development
Responsibilities:
- Represent Nonclinical Drug Safety (NDS) on discovery research teams and in scientific/strategic review meetings focused on immunology and oncology.
- Define and oversee NDS strategy for programs in all modalities (small molecules, peptides, biologics, ADCs) from Target Identification through approval of First-In-Human enabling GLP toxicity studies.
- Provide risk assessments for targets, de-risk discovery programs, and collaborate with NDS staff at other sites to execute studies supporting target selection and new drug candidate development.
- May serve on development teams to define GLP toxicology study strategy/execution and contribute non-clinical safety sections of regulatory documents supporting clinical trials and worldwide marketing authorization.
- Promote creative thinking from target identification/validation through lead optimization across multiple therapeutic areas (primarily Immunology; also Oncology, Cardiometabolic, Infectious Disease, and/or Neuroscience).
Qualifications / Skills:
- PhD in Toxicology, Pharmacology, Pathology, Biology, Biochemistry, Immunology, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chemistry, or related STEM field; or DVM/MD or equivalent.
- 8+ years pharmaceutical industry experience as a non-clinical safety scientist and/or non-clinical safety assessment representative to cross-functional development and/or discovery teams.
- Ability to navigate cross-functional lines and drive decision-making in matrix organizations.
- Creative problem solving; timely delivery of goals.
- Strong collaboration, interpersonal, and communication skills; ability to raise issues to stakeholders/management.
Preferred:
- Background in immunology.
- Experience with biopharmaceutical and small molecule discovery/development.
- Regulatory submission/response experience.
- Member of pharmaceutical consortia and/or external scientific/professional organizations.
Required skills: Adaptability, Drug Development, Drug Discovery Process, Safety Evaluation, Strategic Thinking, Toxicology, Immunology/Immunotherapy, Oncology, Innovative Thinking, Professional Collaboration/Networking.
Preferred skills: None specified.
Application instructions:
- Apply via https://jobs.merck.com/us/en (application deadline stated on posting). Requisition ID: R405119.
- Represent Nonclinical Drug Safety (NDS) on discovery research teams and in scientific/strategic review meetings focused on immunology and oncology.
- Define and oversee NDS strategy for programs in all modalities (small molecules, peptides, biologics, ADCs) from Target Identification through approval of First-In-Human enabling GLP toxicity studies.
- Provide risk assessments for targets, de-risk discovery programs, and collaborate with NDS staff at other sites to execute studies supporting target selection and new drug candidate development.
- May serve on development teams to define GLP toxicology study strategy/execution and contribute non-clinical safety sections of regulatory documents supporting clinical trials and worldwide marketing authorization.
- Promote creative thinking from target identification/validation through lead optimization across multiple therapeutic areas (primarily Immunology; also Oncology, Cardiometabolic, Infectious Disease, and/or Neuroscience).
Qualifications / Skills:
- PhD in Toxicology, Pharmacology, Pathology, Biology, Biochemistry, Immunology, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chemistry, or related STEM field; or DVM/MD or equivalent.
- 8+ years pharmaceutical industry experience as a non-clinical safety scientist and/or non-clinical safety assessment representative to cross-functional development and/or discovery teams.
- Ability to navigate cross-functional lines and drive decision-making in matrix organizations.
- Creative problem solving; timely delivery of goals.
- Strong collaboration, interpersonal, and communication skills; ability to raise issues to stakeholders/management.
Preferred:
- Background in immunology.
- Experience with biopharmaceutical and small molecule discovery/development.
- Regulatory submission/response experience.
- Member of pharmaceutical consortia and/or external scientific/professional organizations.
Required skills: Adaptability, Drug Development, Drug Discovery Process, Safety Evaluation, Strategic Thinking, Toxicology, Immunology/Immunotherapy, Oncology, Innovative Thinking, Professional Collaboration/Networking.
Preferred skills: None specified.
Application instructions:
- Apply via https://jobs.merck.com/us/en (application deadline stated on posting). Requisition ID: R405119.