GlaxoSmithKline Services Unlimited Posted August 18, 2026

Associate Director Predictive Agentic Target Biology

Uk, United Kingdom Full time
Data & Digital Associate Director

GlaxoSmithKline Services Unlimited 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

Business Introduction

At GSK, we have bold ambitions for patients, aiming to positively impact the health of 2.5 billion people by the end of the decade. Our R&D focuses on discovering and delivering vaccines and medicines, combining our understanding of the immune system with cutting-edge technology to transform people’s lives. GSK fosters a culture ambitious for patients, accountable for impact, and committed to doing the right thing, making sure that we focus our efforts on accelerating significant assets that meet patients’ needs and have the highest probability of success. We’re uniting science, technology, and talent to get ahead of disease together.

Find out more:

Our approach to R&D

For candidates seeking to be located at our Stevenage site, this role will temporarily be based at Stevenage. However, the Company plans to relocate its offices to Cambridge, UK . The location of this role will therefore subsequently change to Cambridge UK, in accordance with timelines to be set by the Company. The relocation is currently proposed to take effect by early 2029 .

Position Summary

You will lead predictive and agentic target biology work to improve how we find and prioritise targets for new medicines. You will combine computational and experimental approaches to predict target biology, safety, and translational potential. You will work closely with biologists, data scientists, engineers and project teams to influence project decisions. We value clear communicators who build robust, reproducible methods and focus on practical impact for patients. This role offers visible project influence, career growth, and the chance to unite science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together.

This role will provide YOU the opportunity to lead key activities to progress YOUR career. These responsibilities include some of the following:

- Lead development and application of predictive models and agentic workflows to evaluate target tractability and safety.

- Design hypothesis-driven experiments and computational tests to validate target biology and mechanism of action.

- Integrate multimodal biological data such as genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics and functional screens.

- Translate biological questions into clear computational and experimental plans and deliver documented pipelines.

- Provide timely, evidence-based recommendations to project teams for target prioritisation and go/no-go decisions.

- Mentor colleagues and promote best practices in model validation, reproducibility and transparent reporting.

Why You?

Basic Qualification

We are seeking professionals with the following required skills and qualifications to help us achieve our goals

- PhD in biology, computational biology, bioinformatics, systems biology or a related life sciences field; or MSc with substantial relevant experience.

- Practical experience developing and applying predictive models for biological targets or cellular phenotypes.

- Strong programming skills in Python or similar languages and experience with scientific libraries for data analysis.

- Hands-on experience integrating and analysing multimodal biological datasets including RNA-seq, proteomics or CRISPR screens.

- Proven track record working in multidisciplinary teams and translating research questions into actionable workflows.

- Right to work in the United Kingdom. This role follows a hybrid working model with regular office collaboration at our UK site.

Preferred Qualification

If you have the following characteristics, it would be a plus

- Experience with agentic systems or orchestration frameworks that automate iterative design-test-analyse cycles.

- Familiarity with causal inference, mechanistic models, or systems biology methods for predicting biology.

- Experience deploying models and workflows to cloud or production environments such as Kubernetes, AWS or Azure.

- Knowledge of target safety assessment, translational biomarkers, or early pharmacology relevant to discovery.

- Record of scientific communication through publications, conference presentations or internal knowledge sharing.

- Experience mentoring or leading small scientific teams and influencing cross-functional decisions.

Working pattern

This role is hybrid. You will combine remote work with regular in-office time in the United Kingdom to collaborate with colleagues and project teams.

How to apply

If this role excites you, please apply and tell us how your skills and experience match the responsibilities. We welcome applicants from all backgrounds and encourage people who may not meet every preference to apply. We look forward to learning about the impact you want to make.

Skills

Artificial Intelligence (AI), Computational Sciences, Computer Programming, Data Analysis, Data Management, Data Modeling, Data Science, Predictive Modeling, Statistical Models

Why GSK?

Uniting science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together.

GSK is a global biopharma company with a purpose to unite science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together. We aim to positively impact the health of 2.5 billion people by the end of the decade, as a successful, growing company where people can thrive.

We get ahead of disease by preventing and treating it with innovation in specialty medicines and vaccines. We focus on four therapeutic areas: respiratory, immunology and inflammation; oncology; HIV; and infectious diseases – to impact health at scale.

People and patients around the world count on the medicines and vaccines we make, so we’re committed to creating an environment where our people can thrive and focus on what matters most. Our culture of being ambitious for patients, accountable for impact and doing the right thing is the foundation for how, together, we deliver for patients, shareholders and our people.

GSK is an Equal Opportunity Employer. This ensures that all qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), parental status, national origin, age, disability, genetic information (including family medical history), military service or any basis prohibited under federal, state or local law.

We believe in an agile working culture for all our roles. If flexibility is important to you, we encourage you to explore with our hiring team what the opportunities are.

Should you require any adjustments to our process to assist you in demonstrating your strengths and capabilities contact us at UKRecruitment.Adjustments@gsk.com where you can also request a call.

Please note should your enquiry not relate to adjustments, we will not be able to support you through these channels. However, we have created a Recruitment FAQ guide. Click the Link where you will find answers to multiple questions we receive

Important notice to Employment businesses/ Agencies

GSK does not accept referrals from employment businesses and/or employment agencies in respect of the vacancies posted on this site. All employment businesses/agencies are required to contact GSK's commercial and general procurement/human resources department to obtain prior written authorization before referring any candidates to GSK. The obtaining of prior written authorization is a condition precedent to any agreement (verbal or written) between the employment business/ agency and GSK. In the absence of such written authorization being obtained any actions undertaken by the employment business/agency shall be deemed to have been performed without the consent or contractual agreement of GSK. GSK shall therefore not be liable for any fees arising from such actions or any fees arising from any referrals by employment businesses/agencies in respect of the vacancies posted on this site.

Please note that if you are a US Licensed Healthcare Professional or Healthcare Professional as defined by the laws of the state issuing your license, GSK may be required to capture and report expenses GSK incurs, on your behalf, in the event you are afforded an interview for employment. This capture of applicable transfers of value is necessary to ensure GSK’s compliance to all federal and state US Transparency requirements. For more information, please visit the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) website at https://openpaymentsdata.cms.gov/

Job details

Seniority
Associate Director
Function
Data & Digital
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
Uk, United Kingdom
Employment type
Full time

How this role compares

Computed from every other active Data & Digital role in our database, not just this employer's listings.

We currently track 90 comparable Associate Director Data & Digital roles across 24 biopharma companies.

90Comparable roles tracked
83Currently active
24Companies hiring similar roles
10Countries represented

Salary context

20 of 90 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 Not listed on this posting
Lowest disclosed · Senior Associate, Metadata Engineering · Pfizer $79,400/yr – $132,400/yr
Highest disclosed · Director and Group Head, Applied AI · Novartis $194,600/yr – $361,400/yr
Peer group range $105,900 – $278,000 (median $233,525)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 90 comparable roles

India43
United States23
United Kingdom7
Ireland4
Switzerland4
Germany3

+ 4 more countries

Seniority mix

90 of 90 peers have a known seniority level

Senior56
Director19
Principal15

Therapeutic area mix

2 of 90 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Oncology2

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.

60%similar
Novartis London (The Westworks), United Kingdom Principal
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
GlaxoSmithKline Services Unlimited Uk, United Kingdom Principal
Same function Same seniority Same country
50%similar
Boehringer Ingelheim London, United Kingdom Senior
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50%similar
GlaxoSmithKline Services Unlimited Uk, United Kingdom Director
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50%similar
Boehringer Ingelheim London, United Kingdom Senior
Same function Adjacent seniority Same country
50%similar
Novartis London (The Westworks), United Kingdom Senior
Same function Adjacent seniority Same country

Notify me about similar jobs

Get an email when we spot other openings like this one – same job function, comparable seniority, roles you'd actually want to see.

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.

60%
Senior Principal Developer
Novartis · London (The Westworks), United Kingdom · Principal
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
50%
Director, Translational Data Sciences
GlaxoSmithKline Services Unlimited · Uk, United Kingdom · Director
Function Therapeutic area Adjacent seniority Country
50%
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AstraZeneca · Luton, Bedfordshire, United Kingdom · Director
Function Therapeutic area Adjacent seniority Country
45%
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Regeneron Ireland · Limerick, Ireland · Principal
Function Therapeutic area 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.