Senior Scientist, Discovery Pharmaceutical Sciences (On-site) Full-time

Senior Scientist

The Discovery Pharmaceutical Science (DPS) group based in West Point, PA is seeking a Senior Scientist. DPS is a multi-disciplinary research group that provides drug delivery, solid state, solution chemistry, and formulation tools in Drug Discovery and Early Drug Product Development. In this dynamic role, your support will guide our multi-disciplinary drug discovery efforts in the therapeutic areas at our West Point site. You will closely interact with other key functions required for the progression of clinical candidate selection including Safety Assessment, Process Research, Analytical Chemistry, Drug Metabolism and Pharmacokinetics and Vaccines.

Key responsibilities include:

• Design and conduct high-throughput automated experiments for pre-clinical characterization that support structural property relationships and design for delivery.
• Create and deploy novel automation capabilities to drive continuous improvements in operational efficiency, miniaturization, predictive sciences and machine learning.
• Tackle scientific challenges related to physical/biophysical and chemical/biochemical stability of drug candidates and enhancing bio-performance with enabled formulation strategies.
• Identify suitable oral and parenteral preclinical formulations for pharmacology and toxicology studies across a variety of administration routes and modalities (small molecules, peptides, proteins, vaccines, and biotherapeutics).

Position Qualifications:

Required Experience and Skills:

• Successful candidates will have a minimum of a bachelor's degree with a minimum of 5 years relevant experience OR a master's degree with a minimum of 3 years relevant experience OR a PhD with less than 1 year of relevant experience. Excellent verbal and written communication skills are required. Strong leadership/interpersonal skills and a desire to work in a team environment with cross-functional interactions are also essential.

Preferred Experience and Skills:

• Candidates with experience in pre-clinical / clinical formulation development, physico-chemical characterization, executing and troubleshooting automated workflows across a wide range of modalities are strongly preferred. Candidates with specific experience in vaccines development, delivery of novel modalities and design of experiments, are also preferred.

Required Skills:

Automation, Automation Tools, Biotherapeutics, Cross-Functional Teamwork, Data Analysis, Design Automation, Drug Delivery Technology, Drug Formulations, High-Throughput Screening, Pharmacodynamics, Pharmacokinetics, Preclinical Research, Preformulation, Protein Purifications, Vaccine Development

Preferred Skills:

Our company is committed to inclusion, ensuring that candidates can engage in a hiring process that exhibits their true capabilities. As an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer, we provide equal opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, color, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. As a federal contractor, we comply with all affirmative action requirements for protected veterans and individuals with disabilities. For more information about personal rights under the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment laws, visit:

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The salary range for this role is $117,000.00 – $184,200.00. This is the lowest to highest salary we in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. An employee's position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, government requirements, and business or organizational needs.

The successful candidate will be eligible for annual bonus and long-term incentive, if applicable.

We offer a comprehensive package of benefits. Available benefits include medical, dental, vision healthcare and other insurance benefits (for employee and family), retirement benefits, including 401(k), paid holidays, vacation, and compassionate and sick days. More information about benefits is available at https://jobs.merck.com/us/en/compensation-and-benefits.