Preclinical Research Jobs

463 open positions right now

Remote Preclinical Research Jobs (11) →

Drug discovery and preclinical research is the earliest stage of drug development -- identifying and validating new drug targets, discovering candidate compounds, and testing them in non-human (preclinical) studies before a compound is ever tried in a human trial.

Common titles include Research Associate, Research Scientist, Preclinical Study Director, and Director of Discovery Research. Hiring comes from biotech and pharma R&D labs and from CROs that run preclinical studies on a sponsor's behalf.

Research associate roles often accept a bachelor's or master's degree in a life science; research scientist and study director titles typically expect a PhD. Because the work involves hands-on bench research and animal studies, most roles are lab-based and on-site rather than remote.

Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research Jobs by Location

Thousand Oaks, United States 69
Cambridge, United States 35
Foster City, United States 28
Indianapolis, United States 23
South San Francisco, United States 22
Boston, United States 19
San Diego, United States 18
Hyderabad, India 18

Open Roles

Advisor / Sr. Advisor – PK/PD & Pharmacometrics
Lilly · Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America
Principal Scientist, Antibody Discovery and Engineering
ModernaTX, Inc. · Cambridge, United States
Discovery Scientist – Neural Retina & Ocular Disease
Roche · Basel, Basel-City, Switzerland
DMPK-PD Project Leader
Roche · Basel, Basel-City, Switzerland
Postdoctoral Fellow – Materials Engineering & Advanced Microfabrication - Next-Gen Sequencing and Diagnostics Systems, Research & Early Development
Roche · Santa Clara, California, United States of America
Principal /Senior Principal Scientist - Toxicology
Roche · Shanghai, Shanghai, China's Mainland
(Senior) Scientist, Protein Engineering
Roche · Shanghai, Shanghai, China's Mainland
Discovery ADME Project Leader
Lilly · Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America
Principal Scientist, Applied AI, Immune Pathway Discovery
Johnson & Johnson · Cambridge, United States
Principal Associate, Immunology Discovery
Roche · Shanghai, Shanghai, China's Mainland
Principal Research Scientist I, Process Chemistry (Biocatalysis)
AbbVie · North Chicago, IL
ViiV Healthcare (GSK) Scientific Leader, Pre-clinical DMPK Drug Discovery Modeling
ViiV Healthcare Company · Branford, United States
Process Development Associate – Large Molecule Release Testing, Pre-Pivotal Attribute Science
Amgen Inc. · Thousand Oaks, United States
Senior Scientist - Targeted Protein Degradation
Amgen Inc. · Thousand Oaks, United States
Assoc. Director - Human Data & Computational Biology
Horizon Therapeutics USA, Inc. · Thousand Oaks, United States
Scientist, Rare Disease Biology
Horizon Therapeutics USA, Inc. · Thousand Oaks, United States
Lab Ops Specialist I
Kite Pharma, Inc. · Frederick, United States
Sr Associate Scientist, Biology
Gilead Sciences, Inc. · Foster City, United States
Postdoctoral Scientist – Vascularized Kidney Organoids (at the Institute of Human Biology (IHB))
Roche · Basel, Basel-City, Switzerland
Discovery ADME Project Leader (Radioligand Therapeutics)
Lilly · Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America

Frequently Asked Questions

What does a preclinical research job pay?

Pay varies significantly by role and degree level. Where an employer discloses a salary range, it's shown directly on the individual job listing.

What degree do you need for a preclinical research job?

A bachelor's or master's in a life science is common for research associate roles; a PhD is typically expected for research scientist and study director titles.

Are preclinical research jobs remote?

Mostly no -- this is hands-on bench and animal-study research that requires being in the lab.

What's the difference between preclinical research and clinical development?

Preclinical research happens before a compound is ever tested in humans. Clinical development takes over once a compound clears preclinical testing and moves into human trials.