Principal Scientist, Molecular Discovery, RNA Therapeutics

ROLE SUMMARY

Pfizer’s BioMedicine Design (BMD) RNA Therapeutics and Synthetic Biology Innovation group is seeking a creative and driven Principal Scientist focused on RNA Therapeutic platform development and optimization, as well as advancing RNA based medicines. The ideal candidate will be an integral part of multidisciplinary team within BMD to design and create next generation RNA based therapeutic candidates.  They will capitalize on their experience with various RNA modalities and broader drug development processes and work collaboratively with biology teams and other functional lines across Pfizer to advance portfolio programs in different therapeutic areas.

ROLE RESPONSIBILITIES

• Drive the development and optimization of RNA platform to enhance therapeutics delivery, duration of activity, and specificity.
• Oversee and support different aspects of experimental design, screen, RNA production, expression, and analysis
• Partner with head of the group and other senior members, contribute to scientific discussions and strategic internal/external collaborations aimed at advancing the RNA Platform
• Collaborate with groups across Pfizer to develop processes compatible with and capitalizing on existing internal knowledge/infrastructure
• Lead therapeutic discovery projects representing BMD

• Routinely generate top quality data packages and present at project meetings

• Propose experimental designs and work closely with cross-functional teams, project leads and senior group members on identifying/advancing best strategies and planning/executing deliverables
• Mentor and support junior staff and build a culture of support and collaboration

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS

• PhD in biology, Biological Engineering, Cell Biology, immunology, or a related discipline with 3+ years of experience in the development of biologics, including RNA modalities
• Strong foundation in RNA biology
• Hands on experience with cell culture (primary immune cells and established cell lines) and the utilization of cell-based assays to characterize RNA-based products (e.g., Flow cytometry, ELISA/MSD/ELLA, RT-qPCR, Luminescence)
• Experience with developing relevant cellular models to enable in vitro in vivo translation of RNA based gene delivery
• Extensive experience with DNA and RNA manipulation (including recombinant DNA techniques, IVT, sequence analysis, DNA/RNA isolation, purification, and analysis).
• Curiosity and passion for research with strong interest in mammalian expression regulation, RNA sequence engineering, synthetic biology, creative and flexible thinking
• Ability to plan, organize, problem solve (troubleshoot), design experiments, work efficiently independently and in a multidisciplinary team
• Excellent communication skills, written and oral
• Excellent interpersonal, organizational, and collaborative skills, attentive to detail, and the ability to work independently and effectively in a highly dynamic matrix and fast-paced environment

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience with high throughput DNA assembly
• Experience with analysis of translation through polysome profiling and/or ribosome profiling
• Data analysis of NGS-based technologies (RNA-seq, ChIP-seq, scRNA-Seq, Long-Read sequencing, etc.)
• Strategic agility, strong critical and logical thinking with ability to analyze problems
• Strong ability to multi-task