Principal Scientist, Nonclinical Drug Safety Program Discovery
Merck
July 01, 2026
Remote friendly (South San Francisco, CA)
United States
Clinical Research and Development
Principal Scientist, Nonclinical Drug Safety Program Discovery (Discovery Program Leader)
In This Role You Will
- Represent Nonclinical Drug Safety (NDS) on discovery teams and participate in therapeutic area discovery governance committee reviews.
- Promote and facilitate creative thinking from target identification/validation through lead optimization (primarily Immunology; also Oncology, Cardiometabolic, Infectious Disease, and/or Neuroscience).
- Serve as a “drug creator” by influencing cross-site disease area groups and functional disciplines.
- Identify and assess risks associated with therapeutic targets or development candidates using literature, internal, and external information.
- May lead early development teams by informing preclinical studies to support product development.
Responsibilities
- Define and oversee NDS strategy for programs across all modalities (small molecules, peptides, biologics, ADCs) from Target Identification through approval of First-In-Human enabling GLP toxicity studies.
- Provide target risk assessments; develop de-risking strategies for discovery programs.
- Collaborate with NDS staff at other sites to execute studies supporting therapeutic target selection and new drug candidate identification/development.
- May define GLP toxicology study strategy/execution on development teams and contribute to non-clinical safety sections of regulatory documents for clinical trials and marketing authorization.
Qualifications, Skills and Experience Needed
- PhD (Toxicology/Pharmacology/Pathology/Biology/biochemistry/Immunology/Pharmaceutical Sciences/Chemistry or related STEM) or DVM/MD or equivalent.
- 8+ years pharmaceutical industry experience as a non-clinical safety scientist and/or non-clinical safety assessment representative to discovery/development teams.
- Ability to navigate cross-functional, matrix organizations and drive decision-making.
- Strong collaboration, interpersonal skills, resilience, and communication.
Preferred Experience/Skills
- Immunology background.
- Experience in biopharmaceutical and small molecule discovery/development.
- Regulatory submission/response experience.
Required Skills: Adaptability, Drug Development, Drug Discovery Process, Strategic Thinking, Safety Evaluation, Toxicology, Professional Collaboration/Networking, Innovative Thinking, Immunology/Immunotherapy, Oncology.
Application instructions: Apply via https://jobs.merck.com/us/en (or Workday Jobs Hub for current employees).
In This Role You Will
- Represent Nonclinical Drug Safety (NDS) on discovery teams and participate in therapeutic area discovery governance committee reviews.
- Promote and facilitate creative thinking from target identification/validation through lead optimization (primarily Immunology; also Oncology, Cardiometabolic, Infectious Disease, and/or Neuroscience).
- Serve as a “drug creator” by influencing cross-site disease area groups and functional disciplines.
- Identify and assess risks associated with therapeutic targets or development candidates using literature, internal, and external information.
- May lead early development teams by informing preclinical studies to support product development.
Responsibilities
- Define and oversee NDS strategy for programs across all modalities (small molecules, peptides, biologics, ADCs) from Target Identification through approval of First-In-Human enabling GLP toxicity studies.
- Provide target risk assessments; develop de-risking strategies for discovery programs.
- Collaborate with NDS staff at other sites to execute studies supporting therapeutic target selection and new drug candidate identification/development.
- May define GLP toxicology study strategy/execution on development teams and contribute to non-clinical safety sections of regulatory documents for clinical trials and marketing authorization.
Qualifications, Skills and Experience Needed
- PhD (Toxicology/Pharmacology/Pathology/Biology/biochemistry/Immunology/Pharmaceutical Sciences/Chemistry or related STEM) or DVM/MD or equivalent.
- 8+ years pharmaceutical industry experience as a non-clinical safety scientist and/or non-clinical safety assessment representative to discovery/development teams.
- Ability to navigate cross-functional, matrix organizations and drive decision-making.
- Strong collaboration, interpersonal skills, resilience, and communication.
Preferred Experience/Skills
- Immunology background.
- Experience in biopharmaceutical and small molecule discovery/development.
- Regulatory submission/response experience.
Required Skills: Adaptability, Drug Development, Drug Discovery Process, Strategic Thinking, Safety Evaluation, Toxicology, Professional Collaboration/Networking, Innovative Thinking, Immunology/Immunotherapy, Oncology.
Application instructions: Apply via https://jobs.merck.com/us/en (or Workday Jobs Hub for current employees).