Associate Principal Scientist / Associate Director Bioscience Immunology, Early Respiratory and Immunology (level E)

AstraZeneca is a global, science-driven biopharmaceutical company. We are dedicated to discovering, developing, and delivering innovative, meaningful medicines and healthcare solutions that enrich the lives of patients. The vision of AstraZeneca Early Respiratory & Immunology (Early R&I) is centered on delivering life-changing products that advance world health and help fight and cure disease. Early R&I is one of three main therapeutic research areas within AstraZeneca that deliver candidate drugs into late-stage clinical development. Here, you’ll have the opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives every day.

As a part of the growing Immunology Bioscience team within Early R&I department, we are seeking a highly motivated senior researcher with a strong understanding of adaptive and/or innate immunity. Further they should possess an understanding of key biological pathways in immune-mediated diseases such as rheumatological and/or gastrointestinal diseases. The role will be based in Gaithersburg (US) or Waltham, MA (Boston BioHub) within AstraZeneca’s state-of-the-art laboratories where you will follow the science to help drive innovation and advance medicines.

In this role, you would be expected to demonstrate an exceptionally high level of enthusiasm for innovative scientific research leading to the discovery and development of novel therapeutics. Ideally, you have expertise in drug discovery across multiple platforms including large molecule, small molecule and/or cell therapy. Expert understanding of T-cell, Treg and/or pathogenic mechanisms involved in tissue pathology in immune-mediated diseases. Experience in assay development, flow cytometry, multiplex cytokine read-outs, and in vitro / ex vivo culture of immune cells is essential to help coach and mentor individuals in your team.

Main Duties and Responsibilities

In this role you will be a program and people leader in the Bioscience, Immunology team focusing on developing therapeutics for treatment of Rheumatological and Gastrointestinal Diseases. The candidate will ensure delivery of preclinical and translational data in support of key portfolio program milestones. Drive identification of novel targets through partnering with multiple functional teams, drive technical excellence in bioscience research and contribute to the strategic direction of the Bioscience Immunology leadership team. You will take an active role in growing and developing team members and recruitment of new talents. This job requires strong communication skills and you will have significant opportunity to drive the direction of the work.

• You will focus your research on characterizing novel immunological pathways in health and disease to aid target validation and drug development
• Drive new target identification strategies and oversee the design and execution of bioscience in vitro and in vivo experiments integrating both disease and pathway approaches in support of portfolio programs
• Develop and lead collaborations with disease experts
• Work closely with key leaders in partner functions to ensure project goals are met
• Select, develop, coach, mentor, retain, motivate and inspire team members in Bioscience, Immunology team
• Accountable to manage resources effectively, providing flexible, competent and responsive Bioscience support to projects
• Accountable for long-term development of the Bioscience department in close collaboration with the Head of Department and the other Bioscience team leaders
• Drive innovation and scientific excellence in Bioscience through internal scientific development, external collaborations, publications and competitive awareness.
• Expected to actively search, establish and manage external scientific collaborations
• Create and maintain a work environment in which scientific challenge and innovation are maximized
• Make AstraZeneca scientifically visible by publishing scientific papers and presenting data at conferences
• Ensure that the work of the team is performed with the right quality in accordance with compliance processes.
• You will contribute to development of the strategies for new target identification and validation
• You will collaborate with scientists from a variety of functional teams in Gaithersburg and with our sites in Cambridge, UK and Gothenburg, Sweden.

Requirements
• Ph.D in immunology or relevant research area, with multiple years of industry experience is required
• Expertise in managing drug discovery projects in immunology or a closely related field of biology is essential
• Highly organized and self-motivated, with the ability to work independently as well as collaboratively within a team to conduct a high-level research project.
• Demonstrated ability to run collaborative efforts and utilize external resources to find the most effective solutions to drug discovery problems
• Experience with mentoring students from the undergraduate to Ph.D level is essential
• Experience with multiple drug modalities, including large molecule, small molecule or cell therapies is strongly preferred
• Strong understanding in multiple biochemical and molecular techniques including primary cell culture, quantification of mRNA (qPCR), multi-panel flow cytometry (including both intracellular and extracellular markers) and protein expression; ELISA, Western blot, MSD, Luminex, etc. are strongly preferred.
• Ex vivo culture experience, working with primary human tissue samples, and knowledge of in vivo models of autoimmunity and inflammation are preferred.
• Strong written and oral communication skills and the ability to critically analyze data sets

Date Posted

28-Mar-2024

Closing Date

04-Apr-2024Our mission is to build an inclusive and equitable environment. We want people to feel they belong at AstraZeneca and Alexion, starting with our recruitment process. We welcome and consider applications from all qualified candidates, regardless of characteristics. We offer reasonable adjustments/accommodations to help all candidates to perform at their best. If you have a need for any adjustments/accommodations, please complete the section in the application form.

AstraZeneca requires all US employees to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 but will consider requests for reasonable accommodations as required by applicable law.