Gilead Sciences, Inc. Posted August 3, 2026

Senior Scientist, Oncology Research

Foster City, United States Full time
Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research Oncology Senior

Gilead Sciences, Inc. is the source of truth for this posting and owns the application process. We surface normalized context and market comparison you won't find on the original listing.

About this opportunity

At Gilead, we’re creating a healthier world for all people. For more than 35 years, we’ve tackled diseases such as HIV, viral hepatitis, COVID-19 and cancer – working relentlessly to develop therapies that help improve lives and to ensure access to these therapies across the globe. We continue to fight against the world’s biggest health challenges, and our mission requires collaboration, determination and a relentless drive to make a difference.

Every member of Gilead’s team plays a critical role in the discovery and development of life-changing scientific innovations. Our employees are our greatest asset as we work to achieve our bold ambitions, and we’re looking for the next wave of passionate and ambitious people ready to make a direct impact.

We believe every employee deserves a great leader. People Leaders are the cornerstone to the employee experience at Gilead and Kite. As a people leader now or in the future, you are the key driver in evolving our culture and creating an environment where every employee feels included, developed and empowered to fulfil their aspirations. Join Gilead and help create possible, together.

Job Description

The Oncology Research Department at Gilead Sciences (Foster City, CA) is seeking an accomplished scientist-leader for Senior Scientist of Tumor-Intrinsic Biology.  The successful candidate will lead discovery efforts and collaborate across functions to pursue creative science, develop strategic initiatives, and evaluate external partnerships, in the service of discovering novel medicines that impact patients’ lives.

Additional Key Responsibilities

Leadership

Mentor a lab-based scientific team, advancing their projects and careers.

Serve as a scientific and technical thought leader throughout the Research organization.

Collaborate across functions to guide interdisciplinary projects, with experts in oncology, immune-oncology, protein engineering, chemistry, translational medicine, biomarkers and clinical development.  Identify project risks and mitigate effectively, while communicating with project teams and other leaders.

Innovation and Scientific Acumen

Proactively ideate to accelerate early-stage discovery activities, enhance understanding of disease mechanisms, and develop new technologies and novel targeting modalities.

Develop expertise in relevant scientific fields and the external landscape, including the scientific literature, conference proceedings, and competitive programs.  As an in-house expert, propose creative and rigorous research to discover, validate and understand targets and modalities.

Think critically and creatively, emphasizing decision making that balances risk-taking with thoughtful experimentation to fuel a differentiated pre-clinical pipeline.

Contribute expertise to multi-disciplinary due diligence teams to evaluate and recommend partnerships and acquisitions.

Contribute to research reports, INDs, and patent filings.

Begin to establish an external presence through peer-reviewed publications, conference presentations, and external collaborations.

Basic Qualifications:

Bachelor's Degree and Eight Years’ Experience OR

Masters' Degree and Six Years’ Experience OR

PhD and Zero Years’ Experience

Knowledge, Experience and Skills

Ph.D. degree and 3+ years of experience (tumor biology, drug discovery, target identification and technology development), with post-doctoral training highly preferred.

Strong track record of impact in scientific field, including first- or senior-author publications in peer-reviewed journals and conference presentations.

Strong knowledge base in cancer genomics and oncogenic signaling.

Broad technical skillset of cutting-edge methods and models of cancer, in vitro and in vivo .

Expertise in molecular mechanistic experimentation and concepts, ideally in the analysis and therapeutic targeting of nucleic acid-protein complexes

Demonstrated success in collaborating within research teams to reach rigorous, data-driven decisions.

Team-centric mindset, with ability to motivate team members from diverse backgrounds.

Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

The salary range for this position is: $169,320.00 - $219,120.00. Gilead considers a variety of factors when determining base compensation, including experience, qualifications, and geographic location. These considerations mean actual compensation will vary. This position may also be eligible for a discretionary annual bonus, discretionary stock-based long-term incentives (eligibility may vary based on role), paid time off, and a benefits package. Benefits include company-sponsored medical, dental, vision, and life insurance plans*.

For additional benefits information, visit:

https://www.gilead.com/careers/compensation-benefits-and-wellbeing

* Eligible employees may participate in benefit plans, subject to the terms and conditions of the applicable plans.

For jobs in the United States:

Gilead Sciences Inc. is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment, and is dedicated to fostering an inclusive work environment comprised of diverse perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences. Employment decisions regarding recruitment and selection will be made without discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex , age, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, genetic information or characteristic, gender identity and expression, veteran status, or other non-job related characteristics or other prohibited grounds specified in applicable federal, state and local laws. In order to ensure reasonable accommodation for individuals protected by Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Act of 1974, and Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, applicants who require accommodation in the job application process may contact [email protected]  for assistance.

For more information about equal employment opportunity protections, please view the  'Know Your Rights' poster.

NOTICE: EMPLOYEE POLYGRAPH PROTECTION ACT

YOUR RIGHTS UNDER THE FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT

Gilead Sciences will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, (c) consistent with the  legal duty to furnish information; or (d) otherwise protected by law.

Our environment respects individual differences and recognizes each employee as an integral member of our company. Our workforce reflects these values and celebrates the individuals who make up our growing team.

Gilead provides a work environment free of harassment and prohibited conduct. We promote and support individual differences and diversity of thoughts and opinion.

For Current Gilead Employees and Contractors:

Please apply via the Internal Career Opportunities portal in Workday.

Job details

Seniority
Senior
Function
Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research
Therapeutic area
Oncology
Location
Foster City, United States
Employment type
Full time

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 188 comparable Senior Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research roles across 30 biopharma companies.

188Comparable roles tracked
171Currently active
30Companies hiring similar roles
12Countries represented

Salary context

61 of 188 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.

This roleSubject $169,320/yr – $219,120/yr
Highest disclosed · Senior Principal Scientist, Pharmacokinetics · Merck $194,100/yr – $305,600/yr
Peer group range $105,700 – $249,850 (median $163,000)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 188 comparable roles

United States153
India8
Germany5
United Kingdom5
Canada4
China's Mainland3

+ 6 more countries

Seniority mix

188 of 188 peers have a known seniority level

Senior110
Principal57
Associate Director21

Therapeutic area mix

28 of 188 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Oncology15
Cardiovascular / CVRM7
Immunology4
Neuroscience1
Respiratory1

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.

100%similar
Novartis LaJolla/SD, United States Senior
Same function Same therapeutic area Same seniority Same country
100%similar
Cambridge Discovery Hub Cambridge Crossing, United States Senior
Same function Same therapeutic area Same seniority Same country
100%similar
Signal Pharmaceuticals, L San Diego, United States Senior
Same function Same therapeutic area Same seniority Same country
100%similar
MyoKardia, Inc. Brisbane, United States Senior
Same function Same therapeutic area Same seniority Same country
100%similar
GenPharm Intl., Inc Cambridge Crossing, United States Senior
Same function Same therapeutic area Same seniority Same country
100%similar
Cambridge Discovery Hub Cambridge Crossing, United States Senior
Same function Same therapeutic area Same seniority Same country

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.

100%
Senior Scientist I/II, Oncology Pharmacology
Novartis · LaJolla/SD, United States · Senior
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
100%
Senior Associate Scientist, Translational Research, Oncology
MyoKardia, Inc. · Brisbane, United States · Senior
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
90%
Sr Scientist/Principal Scientist, Discovery Oncology (in vivo Biology)
Lilly · San Francisco, California, United States of America · Principal
Function Therapeutic area Adjacent seniority Country
90%
Senior Principal Scientist, Cancer Immunology, Discovery Biology, Oncology Thematic Research Center
Celgene - Summit (Corp) · Seattle 400 Dexter, United States · Principal
Function Therapeutic area Adjacent seniority Country
Unmatched or unknown dimensions score exactly the same: 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.