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Principal Scientist, Pharmacokinetics

Merck
July 01, 2026
Remote friendly (West Point, PA)
United States
Clinical Research and Development
Responsibilities:
- Contribute to multi-disciplinary drug development/discovery with integrated understanding of DMPK properties, PK/PD, and DDI risk.
- Work in cross-functional teams to support clinical development and discovery across modalities.
- Design and interpret in silico, in vitro, and in vivo analyses to support therapeutics with desired DMPK profiles.
- Assess program risks (DDI, metabolism, translation) to guide clinical development.
- Author source reports and regulatory documents for filings; evaluate/predict program risks and implement strategies to address liabilities.
- Support discovery-to-clinic progression and efficient decision making; communicate clearly with development teams.

Qualifications:
- PhD or Master’s in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Pharmacology, Chemistry, Biomedical Engineering, Biochemistry, or relevant life sciences.
- Master’s with 12+ years relevant industry experience or PhD with 8+ years industry experience in discovery/development across modalities (small molecules, antibodies, drug conjugates).
- Demonstrated ability to represent DMPK in early-to-late clinical development (risk evaluation/mitigation, data integration, communication).
- Ability to drive DDI strategy and ensure timely risk assessment and clinical plans.
- Experience authoring documents for IB/IND/WMA filings and regulatory responses.
- Experience as a DMPK lead on discovery teams across modalities.

Preferred:
- Strong publication record; represent DMPK for third-party asset evaluation.
- Phoenix and PBPK modeling (e.g., SimCYP); mentor/supervise junior staff.

Skills (required): ADME, bioanalytical method development, biopharmaceuticals/biopharmaceutics, clinical development, clinical judgment, cross-functional teamwork, drug development/metabolism/interactions, immunoassays, PK/PD modeling, pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics.

Application instructions (from posting): Apply via https://jobs.merck.com/us/en (or Workday Jobs Hub).