Principal Scientist PK/PD
About this opportunity
Make your mark for patients
We are looking for a Principal Scientist, Non-Clinical PKPD , who is innovative and agile to join us in our Clinical Development Sciences Group, based at the R&D site in Slough, UK, then Windlesham, Surrey (2027).
About the role
The Non-Clinical PKPD group sits within the Quantitative Clinical Pharmacology (QCP) function of Early Clinical Development & Translational Science (ECD-TS) Department. Our goal is to use integrated quantitative approaches as an essential strategic driver from target to market to bring differentiated solutions to patients. We are driving the quantitative integrated strategy of pharmacokinetics and pharmacology (e.g. PKPD, Systems modelling and clinical pharmacology/pharmacometrics) together with DMPK activities throughout the entirety of the lifetime of projects, from target identification through to life cycle management.
Who you’ll work with
We operate and collaborate closely with colleagues in Development Sciences, which, as a department, is responsible for providing strategy and support in bioanalysis, immunogenicity, safety, pathology, and regulatory activities. Work with external partners, academic institutions, CROs and consultants as required.
What you’ll do
Develop and drive the nonclinical PKPD strategy for projects. Communicating effectively ensuring implementation in projects.
Ensure translation from in vitro data and in vivo nonclinical studies to prediction of efficacy and safety in patients.
Initiate and engage in multifunctional collaborations to facilitate the advancement of drug candidates and build a thorough knowledge of drug pharmacology and PKPD, leading to quantitative translation to the clinic.
Build PKPD models of sufficient complexity to allow hypothesis testing and inform decision-making.
Represent the interests of QCP internally and externally in matters relevant to mechanistic PKPD and contribute to enhancing the scientific reputation of Non-Clinical PKPD, QCP and UCB.
Provide required support and input into regulatory study protocols, reports and summaries, and regulatory submission documents.
Interested? For this role you will need the following education, experience and skills
PhD in relevant discipline (pharmacology, pharmaceutical sciences, pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics, system biology or related fields).
Good understanding of pharmacology and pharmacologic processes related to disease and drug mechanisms.
Expertise and proven application of PKPD methods and concepts in support of drug discovery and development; systems modelling experience would be advantageous
Demonstrated experience in developing and executing effective non-clinical PKPD strategies from early discovery through to clinic.
Demonstrated experience and leadership skills working within a matrix environment with a wide range of internal stakeholders including Non-Clinical Safety, Bioanalysis, Clinical Pharmacology and Translational Medicine.
Experience in using modelling and simulation packages such as Phoenix, Berkeley Madonna, R and Monolix.
Internal applicants should be in their current job for at least 12 months, must meet performance standards and are not on formal corrective/disciplinary process (PIP), warning, final warning, or compliance warning letters within the last 12 months. Please inform your Manager or your Talent Partner before applying to any internal job opportunities.
At UCB, we’ve embraced a hybrid-first approach to work, bringing teams together in local hubs to foster collaborative curiosity. Unless expressly stated in the description, this role is hybrid with 40% of your time spent in the office, irrespective of your current contractual agreement. Should your current working arrangements differ, please contact your Talent Partner to discuss, before submitting your application.
UCB is an equal opportunity employer. All employment decisions will be made without regard to any characteristic protected by applicable laws.
Should you require any adjustments to our process to assist you in demonstrating your strengths and capabilities contact us on EMEA-Reasonable_Accommodation@ucb.com . Please note should your enquiry not relate to adjustments; we will not be able to support you through this channel.
Requisition ID: 92379
Recruiter: Joanna Coombs
Hiring Manager: Victoria Flores
Talent Partner: Geraldine Beauduin
Job Level: MM II
Please consult HRAnswers for more information on job levels.
Job details
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 193 comparable Principal Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research roles across 30 biopharma companies.
Salary context
65 of 193 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.
Where these roles are based
Top locations among the 193 comparable roles
+ 6 more countries
Seniority mix
193 of 193 peers have a known seniority level
Therapeutic area mix
29 of 193 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden
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.
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.
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.