Principal Scientist, Protein Therapeutics – Mammalian Expression & Cell Line Engineering

Role Summary

The Principal Scientist will provide scientific and technical leadership in mammalian expression and cell line engineering to support the discovery and optimization of large-molecule therapeutics, including antibodies, bispecifics, and next-generation protein modalities. It is a senior individual contributor role with no direct reports. The successful candidate will be a recognized technical expert and scientific leader who drives innovation in mammalian expression systems, cell line engineering strategies, and enabling technologies, with a strong emphasis on data-driven decision making and automation-enabled workflows.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a scientific leader and subject matter expert in mammalian expression and cell line engineering, influencing technical strategy across protein therapeutic programs.
• Champion innovative approaches in mammalian expression, host cell engineering, and expression construct design to improve productivity, quality, and speed.
• Identify, develop, and implement new technologies, platforms, and automation solutions that enhance robustness, scalability, and throughput of expression workflows.
• Execute wet laboratory experiments to express therapeutic proteins in mammalian cells both in high throughput bench-scale productions and medium-scale shake flask productions.
• Solve high-impact, technically complex problems related to expression, post-translational modification, stability, and developability.
• Apply data-driven approaches to optimize expression systems and processes.
• Partner closely with informatics and automation teams to enable high-throughput, reproducible, and scalable workflows.
• Work effectively across functions including protein engineering, molecular biology, analytics, process development, and data sciences to advance programs.
• Provide technical guidance and mentorship to scientists within and outside the immediate group, without direct line management responsibility.
• Represent the mammalian expression and cell engineering function on project teams, governance forums, and internal scientific reviews.
• Maintain deep awareness of external scientific and technological advances in mammalian expression, cell engineering, automation, and data-enabled biology.
• Contribute to Amgen’s scientific reputation through publications, patents, presentations, and participation in internal and external scientific forums.
• Evaluate and influence external collaborations, technologies, and partnering opportunities as needed.

Qualifications

• Required: Doctorate degree (PhD) OR PharmD OR MD with relevant scientific experience and 2 years of scientific experience OR Master’s degree and 5 years of scientific experience OR Bachelor’s degree and 7 years of scientific experience.
• Preferred: Ph.D. with significant postdoctoral and/or industry experience in biotech or pharma, with a strong focus on mammalian expression and cell line engineering.
• Preferred: Deep expertise in mammalian cell biology, expression construct design, host cell engineering, and expression strategies for a broad range of protein therapeutics.
• Preferred: Demonstrated experience implementing data-rich, automated, and high-throughput expression or cell engineering workflows.
• Preferred: Strong understanding of how protein sequence, structure, and biophysical properties impact expression, quality attributes, and downstream developability.
• Preferred: Proven record of independent scientific achievement, evidenced by high-impact publications, patents, and/or implemented technologies.
• Preferred: Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to influence without authority and operate effectively in a highly matrixed environment.