Principal Scientist - In Vitro Immunotherapy

Work Your Magic with us! Start your next chapter and join EMD Serono.
Ready to explore, break barriers, and discover more? We know you’ve got big plans – so do we! Our colleagues across the globe love innovating with science and technology to enrich people’s lives with our solutions in Healthcare, Life Science, and Electronics. Together, we dream big and are passionate about caring for our rich mix of people, customers, patients, and planet. That's why we are always looking for curious minds that see themselves imagining the unimaginable with us.
United As One for Patients, our purpose in Healthcare is to help create, improve and prolong lives. We develop medicines, intelligent devices and innovative technologies in therapeutic areas such as Oncology, Neurology and Fertility. Our teams work together across 6 continents with passion and relentless curiosity in order to help patients at every stage of life. Joining our Healthcare team is becoming part of a diverse, inclusive and flexible working culture, presenting great opportunities for personal development and career advancement across the globe.
This role does not offer sponsorship for work authorization. External applicants must be eligible to work in the US.
Your Role:
Help to shape next generation cancer immunotherapies at EMD Serono. As an In Vitro Principal Scientist, you will not only execute experiments but also lead and represent the in vitro strategy on discovery teams supporting Tumor Immunology projects.
Our goal is to mobilize adaptive and innate immunity—spanning antibody therapeutics, T‑cell engagers, checkpoint modulators, and myeloid/NK activators—turning bold ideas into high‑quality clinical candidates in a fast‑paced, highly collaborative environment.
Key Responsibilities:
Provide creative, strategic input—conceive new project ideas and help design execution‑ready workplans
Drive early drug discovery projects in immuno-oncology by designing, conducting and overseeing in vitro/ex vivo pharmacology studies (human immune cell / tumor cell co‑culture assays; profile function via flow cytometry, cytokine/biomarker readouts, and high‑content imaging) to support development of novel biological and small molecule agents
Build and validate human immunology models that complement animal studies to improve translational predictivity and de‑risk candidates
Scout, implement, and champion new assay platforms to investigate novel MOAs, boost data quality, throughput, and decision‑making speed
Independently generate in vitro data for target selection, lead optimization, candidate nomination; and enable program decisions toward IND‑enabling studies
Analyze, document, and present results to multidisciplinary teams and senior leadership; manage studies at CROs and academic collaborations where needed
Who You Are
Minimum Qualifications:
Bachelor’s degree with 8+ years of experience, or Master’s degree in Immunology, Cancer Immunology, Oncology, Molecular/Cell Biology, or other Science field with 5+ years of hands‑on immunology/immuno‑oncology (T‑cell biology) experience in academia or industry setting
OR
PhD in Immunology, Cancer Immunology, Oncology, Molecular/Cell Biology, or other Science field with 2+ years post‑PhD of hands‑on immunology/immuno‑oncology (T‑cell biology) experience in academia or industry setting.
Preferred Qualifications:
Experience with driving early drug discovery projects and leading cross-functional teams,
Expertise developing, running complex T‑cell functional assays (activation receptors, costimulatory molecules, checkpoint receptors) and interpreting mechanistic data to inform early development
Experience in designing, executing, and interpreting in vitro assays for drug discovery, including tumor models and pharmacology experiments
Clear, crisp communicator; highly organized multi-tasker who adapts quickly to deliver on‑time data packages
Confident influencer who engages senior leadership and thrives in a matrixed organization
Proven scientific impact—publications and contributions advancing new therapeutic concepts
Pay Range for this position: $116,700 - $117,700