Amgen Inc. Posted August 3, 2026

Scientific Director

Thousand Oaks, United States Full time
Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research Director

Amgen Inc. 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

Career Category

Scientific

Job Description

Join Amgen’s Mission of Serving Patients

At Amgen, if you feel like you’re part of something bigger, it’s because you are. Our shared mission, to serve patients living with serious illnesses, drives all that we do.

Since 1980, we’ve helped pioneer the world of biotech in our fight against the world’s toughest diseases. With our focus on four therapeutic areas –Oncology, Inflammation, General Medicine, and Rare Disease– we reach millions of patients each year. Amgen is advancing a broad and deep pipeline of medicines to treat cancer, heart disease, inflammatory conditions, rare diseases, and obesity and obesity-related conditions. As a member of the Amgen team, you’ll help make a lasting impact on the lives of patients as we research, manufacture, and deliver innovative medicines to help people live longer, fuller happier lives.

Our award-winning culture is collaborative, innovative, and science based. If you have a passion for challenges and the opportunities that lay within them, you’ll thrive as part of the Amgen team. Join us and transform the lives of patients while transforming your career.

Scientific Director

What you will do

Let’s do this. Let’s change the world! In this vital role, as a Scientific Director, Product Stewardship Toxicology, you will provide scientific and strategic leadership for Product Stewardship within the Environment, Health, Safety & Sustainability (EHSS) organization. You will lead a highly specialized toxicology function supporting development, commercialization and lifecycle management of Amgen products while ensuring patient safety, worker safety and regulatory compliance across our global operations.

This is a highly visible leadership position requiring deep expertise in pharmaceutical toxicology, occupational toxicology, product quality toxicology and extractables and leachable risk assessment.

As the Scientific Director and functional leader for Product Stewardship Toxicology, you will provide strategic scientific direction while building and continuously improving toxicology programs that support Amgen's product portfolio from early development through commercialization and post-market lifecycle management. The role is hybrid, option for remote work may be available.

Key responsibilities include:

Strategic Leadership

Lead the Product Stewardship Toxicology function within EHSS.

Develop and mature toxicology strategies supporting global product development and commercialization.

Provide scientific leadership across Product Development, Process Development, Quality, Manufacturing, Medical Device Engineering, Regulatory Affairs and EHSS.

Influence enterprise decisions through expert toxicological risk assessment and strategic consultation.

Build organizational capability and continuously improve toxicology processes, standards and governance.

Product Quality & CMC Toxicology

Lead toxicological assessments supporting:

Extractables and Leachable (E&L)

Single-use manufacturing systems

Primary packaging

Container closure systems

Drug delivery devices

Combination products

Provide toxicology support for product quality investigations, non-conformances and product complaints.

Develop scientifically robust toxicological risk assessments supporting regulatory submissions and quality decisions.

Evaluate process-related impurities, reagents, excipients and manufacturing materials throughout product development.

Occupational Toxicology Leadership

Lead Amgen's occupational toxicology strategy supporting safe manufacture and handling of pharmaceutical compounds.

Perform and oversee Occupational Exposure Band (OEB) classifications.

Derive Occupational Exposure Limits (OELs) using current scientific methodologies.

Author and approve Hazard Assessment Monographs.

Conduct worker health risk assessments for development compounds, commercial products and manufacturing operations.

Support industrial hygiene programs through scientific interpretation of toxicological data.

Provide GHS hazard classifications supporting Safety Data Sheets (SDSs), labeling and global hazard communication.

Medical Device & Combination Product Support

Provide toxicology expertise supporting ISO 10993 biological evaluations.

Lead toxicological assessments under ISO 10993-17.

Partner with device engineering teams to support global medical device submissions.

External Scientific Leadership

Monitor emerging science, regulatory expectations and industry best practices.

Representing Amgen in external scientific organizations, professional societies and industry working groups.

Influence industry standards and regulatory initiatives including:

ICH M7, PQRI, BPOG, ISO, EU GMP, Occupational toxicology guidance

Program Leadership

Lead complex cross-functional projects involving multiple business partners.

Mentor and develop scientific talent.

Drive operational excellence, continuous improvement and knowledge management across the Product Stewardship function.

What we expect of you

We are all different, yet we all use our unique contributions to serve patients. The professional individual we seek is a leader with these qualifications

Basic Qualifications:

Doctorate degree PhD OR PharmD OR MD [and relevant post-doc where applicable] and 5 years of directly related experience OR

Master’s degree and 8 years of directly related experience OR

Bachelor’s degree and 10 years of directly related experience

Preferred Qualifications:

PhD or MS in Toxicology, Pharmacology or another relevant life science discipline.

Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology (DABT), European Registered Toxicologist (ERT), or equivalent professional certification strongly preferred.

Significant experience within the pharmaceutical or biotechnology industry.

Demonstrated expertise in occupational toxicology, including derivation of Occupational Exposure Limits (OELs) and Occupational Exposure Bands (OEBs).

Experience performing toxicological risk assessments supporting pharmaceutical manufacturing and worker safety.

Extensive knowledge of extractables and leachable science, chemical characterization and toxicological evaluation.

Strong understanding of pharmaceutical development, CMC and product quality risk assessment.

Experience supporting medical devices and combination products under ISO 10993.

Deep knowledge of regulatory expectations including ICH, ISO, PQRI, BPOG and applicable global regulations.

Expertise applying toxicological thresholds including:

PDEs, TTC, ICH M7, Cramer TTC

Experience using toxicology databases and computational toxicology tools including OECD Toolbox, Toxtree and Benchmark Dose software.

Excellent scientific writing, technical communication and presentation skills.

Demonstrated ability to influence senior stakeholders across multiple functions.

Experience leading complex scientific programs and driving organizational change.

Strong project management and operational excellence capabilities.

What you can expect of us

As we work to develop treatments that take care of others, we also work to care for your professional and personal growth and well-being. From our competitive benefits to our collaborative culture, we’ll support your journey every step of the way.

The expected annual salary range for this role in the U.S. (excluding Puerto Rico) is posted. Actual salary will vary based on several factors including but not limited to, relevant skills, experience, and qualifications.

In addition to the base salary, Amgen offers a Total Rewards Plan, based on eligibility, comprising of health and welfare plans for staff and eligible dependents, financial plans with opportunities to save towards retirement or other goals, work/life balance, and career development opportunities that may include:

A comprehensive employee benefits package, including a Retirement and Savings Plan with generous company contributions, group medical, dental and vision coverage, life and disability insurance, and flexible spending accounts

A discretionary annual bonus program, or for field sales representatives, a sales-based incentive plan

Stock-based long-term incentives

Award-winning time-off plans

Flexible work models where possible. Refer to the Work Location Type in the job posting to see if this applies.

Apply now and make a lasting impact with the Amgen team.

careers.amgen.com

In any materials you submit, you may redact or remove age-identifying information such as age, date of birth, or dates of school attendance or graduation. You will not be penalized for redacting or removing this information.

Application deadline

Amgen does not have an application deadline for this position; we will continue accepting applications until we receive a sufficient number or select a candidate for the position.

Sponsorship

Sponsorship for this role is not guaranteed.

As an organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for people around the world, Amgen fosters an inclusive environment of diverse, ethical, committed and highly accomplished people who respect each other and live the Amgen values to continue advancing science to serve patients. Together, we compete in the fight against serious disease.

Amgen is an Equal Opportunity employer and will consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, or any other basis protected by applicable law.

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

. Salary Range

211,407.75USD -286,022.25 USD

Job details

Seniority
Director
Function
Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
Thousand Oaks, United States
Employment type
Full time

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 94 comparable Director Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research roles across 23 biopharma companies.

94Comparable roles tracked
89Currently active
23Companies hiring similar roles
8Countries represented

Salary context

41 of 94 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
Peer group range $129,125 – $322,650 (median $224,445)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 94 comparable roles

United States82
China3
India2
China's Mainland2
United Kingdom2
Spain1

+ 2 more countries

Seniority mix

94 of 94 peers have a known seniority level

Principal57
Director25
Senior Director12

Therapeutic area mix

22 of 94 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Oncology11
Immunology4
Cardiovascular / CVRM4
Vaccines & Infectious Disease1
Neuroscience1
Respiratory1

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
Lilly San Francisco, California, United States of America Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Lilly Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Lilly Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Lilly Louisville, Colorado, United States of America Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Gilead Sciences, Inc. Foster City, United States Director
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Gilead Sciences, Inc. Foster City, United States Director
Same function Same seniority Same country

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%
Director / Sr / Exec Dir - Applied Intelligence for Discovery (AI4D)
Lilly · San Francisco, California, United States of America · Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Director, Medicinal Chemistry
Lilly · Louisville, Colorado, United States of America · Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Director, Research Systems
Gilead Sciences, Inc. · Foster City, United States · Director
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Director, Clinical Pharmacology Modelling and Simulation (CPMS) Oncology
GlaxoSmithKline LLC · Upper Providence, United States · Director
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.