Principal Scientist - Medicinal Chemistry
About this opportunity
Career Category
Scientific
Job Description
Join Amgen’s Mission of Serving Patients
At Amgen, if you feel like you’re part of something bigger, it’s because you are. Our shared mission, to serve patients living with serious illnesses, drives all that we do.
Since 1980, we’ve helped pioneer the world of biotech in our fight against the world’s toughest diseases. With our focus on four therapeutic areas –Oncology, Inflammation, General Medicine, and Rare Disease– we reach millions of patients each year. As a member of the Amgen team, you’ll help make a lasting impact on the lives of patients as we research, manufacture, and deliver innovative medicines to help people live longer, fuller happier lives.
Our award-winning culture is collaborative, innovative, and science based. If you have a passion for challenges and the opportunities that lay within them, you’ll thrive as part of the Amgen team. Join us and transform the lives of patients while transforming your career.
Principal Scientist - Medicinal Chemistry
What you will do
Let’s do this. Let’s change the world. In this vital role you will part of an innovative Medicinal Chemistry group, with responsibilities including (but not limited to) the design, synthesis, and purification of novel compounds for potential clinical drug development. This will also include the opportunity to work within Amgen’s Induced Proximity Platform (IPP), which is focused on novel and innovative approaches to modulate intractable targets in diseases using the emerging PROTAC modality.
This is an onsite laboratory position at our South San Francisco site.
Responsibilities:
Devise and implement state of the art scientific research through conducting laboratory experiments, planning detailed procedures for defined projects including timelines, milestones, methodological approaches, expected results and necessary resources
Review, analyze, and interpret scientific data and results; providing regular updates, documentation, and/or communication on project results; collaborating with other scientists and keeping current with field of expertise, including literature and technology development.
Additional responsibilities may include advising supervisors and colleagues in areas of expertise; participating in national and international meetings, providing scientific results that support the generation of publications or patents, and mentoring research associates and laboratory assistants.
What we expect of you
We are all different, yet we all use our unique contributions to serve patients. The qualified professional we seek is a Principal Scientist with these qualifications.
Basic Qualifications:
Doctorate degree 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 Qualifications:
Doctorate degree in chemistry specializing in organic chemistry and 6+ years of experience in synthetic organic and medicinal chemistry
Experience leading medicinal chemistry teams and delivering candidates for clinical development
Extensive track record of consistent and successful drug discovery accomplishments (e.g. patent inventor-ship, conference presentations, and peer-reviewed publications)
Deep understanding of drug discovery and relevant drug discovery disciplines (e.g. chemistry, biology, safety, PKDM, etc.)
Expert in modern medicinal and synthetic chemistry approaches
Demonstrated experience managing direct reports
Excellent collaboration and communication skills (both written and oral)
What you can expect of us
As we work to develop treatments that take care of others, we also work to care for your professional and personal growth and well-being. From our competitive benefits to our collaborative culture, we’ll support your journey every step of the way.
The expected annual salary range for this role in the U.S. (excluding Puerto Rico) is posted. Actual salary will vary based on several factors including but not limited to, relevant skills, experience, and qualifications.
In addition to the base salary, Amgen offers a Total Rewards Plan, based on eligibility, comprising of health and welfare plans for staff and eligible dependents, financial plans with opportunities to save towards retirement or other goals, work/life balance, and career development opportunities that may include:
A comprehensive employee benefits package, including a Retirement and Savings Plan with generous company contributions, group medical, dental and vision coverage, life and disability insurance, and flexible spending accounts
A discretionary annual bonus program, or for field sales representatives, a sales-based incentive plan
Stock-based long-term incentives
Award-winning time-off plans
Flexible work models, including remote and hybrid work arrangements, where possible
Apply now and make a lasting impact with the Amgen team.
careers.amgen.com
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Application deadline
Amgen does not have an application deadline for this position; we will continue accepting applications until we receive a sufficient number or select a candidate for the position.
As an organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for people around the world, Amgen fosters an inclusive environment of diverse, ethical, committed and highly accomplished people who respect each other and live the Amgen values to continue advancing science to serve patients. Together, we compete in the fight against serious disease.
Amgen is an Equal Opportunity employer and will consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, or any other basis protected by applicable law.
We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.
Amgen will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance. Salary Range
165,307.15USD -223,650.85 USD
Job details
How this role compares
Computed from every other active Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research role in our database, not just this employer's listings.
We currently track 193 comparable Principal Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research roles across 31 biopharma companies.
Salary context
65 of 193 peers report a salary range (USD, annualized)
Peers share this role's job function and a matching or adjacent seniority level -- not necessarily the same therapeutic area or country.
Where these roles are based
Top locations among the 193 comparable roles
+ 6 more countries
Seniority mix
193 of 193 peers have a known seniority level
Therapeutic area mix
29 of 193 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden
Similar opportunities
The closest matches from our peer group, ranked by how similar they are, not how well you'd qualify for them -- treat this as market context, not a guaranteed shortlist; a weak match is labeled as one below.
How we calculate "similar"
No black box, no LLM guesswork: a deterministic score built from four normalized attributes. Here's this role's own peer group at different match levels, so you can see the mechanism, not just the result.
Every comparison starts from the same 100-point budget: 25 for working in the same function, 40 for the same therapeutic area, 20 for the same or adjacent seniority, 15 for the same country. A dimension we can't confirm on both sides contributes nothing, never a guess, never a free pass.
0 points, never a partial guess. A role we know almost nothing about beyond its function bottoms out at 25%; it never inflates to 100% just because there's little to compare against. Seniority uses a defined ladder (Associate → Manager → Associate Director → Senior → Principal → Director → Senior Director → Executive/VP) so "Director" and "Senior Director" count as adjacent, but "Director" and "Executive/VP" do not.