Principal Scientist, Chemical Biology – Discovery Chemistry Full-time

Principal Scientist, Chemical Biology – Discovery Chemistry

At Johnson & Johnson, we believe health is everything. Our strength in healthcare innovation empowers us to build a world where complex diseases are prevented, treated, and cured, where treatments are smarter and less invasive, and solutions are personal. Through our expertise in Innovative Medicine and MedTech, we are uniquely positioned to innovate across the full spectrum of healthcare solutions today to deliver the breakthroughs of tomorrow, and profoundly impact health for humanity.

As guided by Our Credo, Johnson & Johnson is responsible to our employees who work with us throughout the world. We provide an inclusive work environment where each person is considered as an individual. At Johnson & Johnson, we respect the diversity and dignity of our employees and recognize their merit.

Our expertise in Innovative Medicine is informed and inspired by patients, whose insights fuel our science-based advancements. Visionaries like you work on teams that save lives by developing the medicines of tomorrow.

Join us in developing treatments, finding cures, and pioneering the path from lab to life while championing patients every step of the way.

We are searching for the best talent for a Principal Scientist, Chemical Biology – Discovery Chemistry to be located in Spring House, PA; La Jolla, CA; Beerse, Belgium; or Toledo, Spain.

Purpose: Discovery Chemistry is an integral and growing part of the Innovative Medicine Therapeutic Discovery (TD) organization, which is committed to the delivery of high-quality drug candidates in partnership with all six Therapeutic Area (TA) discovery organizations. The Discovery Product Development and Supply (DPDS) mission requires deep scientific expertise in multiple fields including chemistry, cellular and molecular pharmacology, enzymology, and screening technologies coupled with an ability to work collaboratively with internal and external organizations, including the discovery facing development teams Discovery Product Research (DPR) and Developability.

We are seeking an outstanding, highly skilled, and motivated chemist with excellent organic synthesis and chemical biology expertise to lead and manage our internal chemical biology efforts toward delivering high quality hits, leads, and candidates to Johnson & Johnson's discovery pipeline within our Disease and Pathway Area Stronghold (DAS and PAS) strategy.

The successful individual will be responsible for developing chemical probes and tool compounds to enable biological and mechanistic characterization of novel hits/hit series emerging from high-throughput screens and progressing them through stage-gates. They will be part of our Chemical Biology matrix team and will collaborate heavily with Chemoproteomics and High-Throughput Screening partners to deliver robust chemical biology data packages to discovery programs across Therapeutic Areas.

You will be responsible for:

• Driving and directing chemical biology functions for drug discovery projects, working in concert with partners in medicinal chemistry, chemoproteomics, disease area biology, and other key functions.
• Independently designing and synthesizing chemical biology tools—including photoaffinity and photocatalytic proximity labeling probes—toward various applications, as well as supervising and directing synthetic chemistry activities at contract research organizations (CROs).
• Forging a robust relationship with Discovery Technologies & Molecular Pharmacology (DTMP) Chemoproteomics team to design, propose, and implement chem bio strategies and workstreams to best align with Therapeutics Discovery overall goals.
• Generating novel, testable hypotheses to enable clear decision making.
• Presenting data and reports on project status at individual, group, and departmental meetings.
• Maintaining a significant level of productivity in the laboratory setting.
• Maintaining a healthy publication record in scientific journals and present findings at key conferences.

Qualifications / Requirements:

Education:

• A PhD in Organic Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry, or Chemical Biology is required.

Experience and Skills:

Required:

• 5+ years of post-PhD experience in Chemical Biology is required.
• Experience in Structure-Activity Relationship (SAR)-driven design and synthesis of small molecules, with proven track record of delivering on high quality chemical biology probes and tool compounds with various applications is required.
• Solid understanding of chemical biology and chemoproteomics methods is required, including activity-based protein profiling (ABPP), photoaffinity labeling, affinity chromatography, and cellular thermal shift assay (CETSA).
• Demonstrated application of chemical biology toward addressing any of the following is required: target identification from phenotypic screens, target engagement in cells or lysate, covalent inhibitor selectivity profiling, binding site identification, and small -molecule mechanism of action (MOA) elucidation.
• Strong track record of scientific contributions including peer-reviewed first-author publications and presentations at major conferences is required.
• Being abreast of the latest advances in synthetic chemistry and chemical biology is required.
• Ability to succeed within a matrix environment is required.

Preferred:

• Biopharmaceutical industry experience is preferred.
• Working understanding of targeted protein degradation strategies is desirable.

The expected base pay range for this position is $117,000 to $201,250.

The Company maintains highly competitive, performance-based compensation programs. Under current guidelines, this position is eligible for an annual performance bonus in accordance with the terms of the applicable plan. The annual performance bonus is a cash bonus intended to provide an incentive to achieve annual targeted results by rewarding for individual and the corporation's performance over a calendar/performance year. Bonuses are awarded at the Company's discretion on an individual basis.

• Subject to the terms of their respective plans, employees and/or eligible dependents are eligible to participate in the following Company sponsored employee benefit programs: medical, dental, vision, life insurance, short- and long-term disability, business accident insurance, and group legal insurance.
• Subject to the terms of their respective plans, employees are eligible to participate in the Company's consolidated retirement plan (pension) and savings plan (401(k)).
• Subject to the terms of their respective policies and date of hire, Employees are eligible for the following time off benefits:
• Vacation –120 hours per calendar year
• Sick time – 40 hours per calendar year; for employees who reside in the State of Washington –56 hours per calendar year
• Holiday pay, including Floating Holidays –13 days per calendar year
• Work, Personal and Family Time – up to 40 hours per calendar year
• Parental Leave – 480 hours within one year of the birth/adoption/foster care of a child
• Condolence Leave – 30 days for an immediate family member: 5 days for an extended family member
• Caregiver Leave – 10 days
• Volunteer Leave – 4 days
• Military Spouse Time-Off – 80 hours

Additional information can be found through the link below.

For additional general information on Company benefits, please go to:

• https://www.careers.jnj.com/employee-benefits

The compensation and benefits information set forth in this posting applies to candidates hired in the United States. Candidates hired outside the United States will be eligible for compensation and benefits in accordance with their local market.

This job posting is anticipated to close on 03/31/2026. The Company may, however, extend this time-period, in which case the posting will remain available on https://www.careers.jnj.com to accept additional applications.

Johnson & Johnson is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, disability, protected veteran status or other characteristics protected by federal, state or local law. We actively seek qualified candidates who are protected veterans and individuals with disabilities as defined under VEVRAA and Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act.

Johnson & Johnson is committed to providing an interview process that is inclusive of our applicants' needs. If you are an individual with a disability and would like to request an accommodation, external applicants please contact us via https://www.jnj.com/contact-us/careers, internal employees