Incyte Posted July 21, 2026

Principal Investigator, Translational Biomarker Discovery Laboratory

Wilmington, Delaware Type not listed
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Incyte 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

Overview A global biopharmaceutical company on a mission to Solve On, Incyte follows science to find solutions for patients with unmet medical needs. Through the discovery, development, and commercialization of proprietary therapeutics, Incyte has established a portfolio of first-in-class medicines for patients and a strong pipeline of products in Hematology, Oncology and Inflammation and Autoimmunity Headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, Incyte has operations in North America, Europe, and Asia. Job Summary (Primary function) The Principal Investigator , Translational Sciences is a senior, lab‑embedded translational scientist who leads the design and execution of strategies that bridge preclinical discovery and early clinical development. This role is responsible for converting patient‑derived, multi‑omic data generated internally and through external collaborations into actionable assays, biomarkers, and translational insights that support therapeutic target discovery, preclinical de‑risking, and dose prediction and optimization. The Principal Investigator provides scientific and technical leadership by integrating multi‑omic analyses (e.g., transcriptomic, proteomic, and cellular profiling) with advanced assay development to define mechanism‑aligned biomarkers and pharmacodynamic readouts that inform target selection, exposure–response understanding, and early clinical strategy. The role partners closely with Discovery, Bioinformatics, Biomarker, Clinical, and other development functions to ensure mechanistic hypotheses and patient‑relevant data are fully integrated into program decisions. This position is intentionally designed as a scientist‑first role, emphasizing hands‑on laboratory engagement, technology implementation, and data interpretation. The Principal Investigator will primarily operate as a senior individual contributor, with the potential to oversee a small team of laboratory scientists or matrixed contributors over time, while remaining actively involved in experimental design, assay execution, and cross‑functional program support. Essential Functions of the Job (Key responsibilities) • Lead the design, development, and implementation of state‑of‑the‑art translational assays and platforms, including molecular, cellular, and multi‑omic technologies. • Drive biomarker discovery and validation from exploratory research through fit‑for‑purpose assay development for preclinical and early clinical use. • Apply advanced technologies (e.g., transcriptomics, proteomics, spatial biology, and single‑cell approaches) to address key translational and mechanistic questions. • Integrate patient‑derived multi‑omic datasets to support therapeutic target discovery, prioritization, and validation across oncology and inflammation/autoimmune programs. • Collaborate with bioinformatics and data science partners to translate complex multi‑omic data into biologically and translationally actionable insights. • Provide translational input to preclinical development programs, including mechanism‑of‑action confirmation, exposure–response evaluation, and dose optimization strategy. • Contribute to early toxicology assessment and de‑risking, including identification of safety‑relevant biomarkers and translational readouts. • Design and utilize in vivo, ex vivo, and human‑relevant model systems, including patient‑derived samples, organoids, primary cells, and PBMC‑based platforms. • Ensure scientific rigor, reproducibility, and high‑quality data interpretation across all assays and experimental approaches. • Provide technical leadership and mentorship within the Translational Biomarker Discovery Lab, including hands‑on experimental guidance and oversight of external collaborations or CROs as needed. Qualifications (Minimal acceptable level of education, work experience, and competency) • PhD with post doc (or equivalent) in Oncology, Molecular Biology, Systems Biology, Immunology, or a related life sciences discipline • 3-10 years of experience in translational research within pharma, biotech, or a comparable research environment • Strong, demonstrable expertise in assay development, optimization, and implementation • Hands on experience with advanced molecular and cellular technologies and multi omic platforms • Proven ability to integrate biological data across multiple modalities to inform discovery and translational decisions • Experience working with human samples and clinically relevant model systems • Strong scientific communication skills and ability to collaborate effectively in matrixed teams Preferred • Experience supporting biomarker strategies for early clinical programs • Familiarity with oncology and/or inflammatory/autoimmune disease biology • Experience interacting with toxicology, DMB, or CQP functions • Comfort working in a role that combines scientific independence with focused team oversight, rather than large scale management Disclaimer: The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed by employees assigned to this job. They are not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, and qualifications. Management reserves the right to change or modify such duties as required. Incyte Corporation is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We Respect Your Privacy Learn more at: http://www.incyte.com/privacy-policy The Incyte hiring organization processes your personal data to manage your job application in order to enter into an employment relationship with you if you are the successful candidate. During the process, you may be asked to respond to questions that will screen out your application if you do not meet certain objective criteria required by the job. You can learn more about this process here. You may have the right to access, delete, restrict, edit, move, or object to the use of your personal data. You may also have a right to report concerns to the authority responsible for data privacy in the country where the position is based or where you live or work. You can learn more about Incyte’s data protection practices here. By accessing this link you can learn about the types of personal data we collect, how we use it, whether collection and processing is optional, sources of the personal data we process, how it is shared, where it is stored or transferred to, how long we keep it, and contact information for Incyte, Incyte’s data protection officer, and your supervisory authority (if applicable). Please contact privacy@incyte.com if you have any questions or concerns or would like to exercise your rights.

Job details

Seniority
Principal
Function
Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
Wilmington, Delaware
Employment type
Not listed

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 207 comparable Principal Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research roles across 39 biopharma companies.

207Comparable roles tracked
199Currently active
39Companies hiring similar roles
11Countries represented

Salary context

74 of 207 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 Research Associate, Analytical Operations · Gilead Sciences, Inc. $94,945/yr – $122,870/yr
Peer group range $108,908 – $322,000 (median $184,800)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 207 comparable roles

United States168
India9
United Kingdom8
Germany5
China4
Canada4

+ 5 more countries

Seniority mix

207 of 207 peers have a known seniority level

Senior99
Principal74
Director34

Therapeutic area mix

34 of 207 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Oncology19
Cardiovascular / CVRM6
Neuroscience3
Immunology2
Respiratory2
Gastroenterology1
Vaccines & Infectious Disease1

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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.

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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.

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Amgen Inc. · Thousand Oaks, United States · 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.