Johnson & Johnson Posted October 16, 2026

Principal Scientist, Discovery-Oncology

Spring House, United States Full time
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Johnson & Johnson 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

At Johnson & Johnson, we believe health is everything. Our strength in healthcare innovation empowers us to build a world where complex diseases are prevented, treated, and cured, where treatments are smarter and less invasive, and solutions are personal. Through our expertise in Innovative Medicine and MedTech, we are uniquely positioned to innovate across the full spectrum of healthcare solutions today to deliver the breakthroughs of tomorrow, and profoundly impact health for humanity. Learn more at jnj.com .

As guided by Our Credo, Johnson & Johnson is responsible to our employees who work with us throughout the world. We provide an inclusive work environment where each person is considered as an individual. At Johnson & Johnson, we respect the diversity and dignity of our employees and recognize their merit.

Job Function:

Discovery & Pre-Clinical/Clinical Development

Job Sub Function:

Biological Research

Job Category:

Scientific/Technology

All Job Posting Locations:

Spring House, Pennsylvania, United States of America

Job Description:

About Innovative Medicine

Our expertise in Innovative Medicine is informed and inspired by patients, whose insights fuel our science-based

advancements. Visionaries like you work on teams that save lives by developing the medicines of tomorrow.

Join us in developing treatments, finding cures, and pioneering the path from lab to life while championing patients every

step of the way.

About Oncology

Our expertise in Innovative Medicine is informed and inspired by patients, whose insights fuel our science-based advancements. Visionaries like you work on teams that save lives by developing the medicines of tomorrow.

Our Oncology team is focused on the elimination of cancer by discovering new pathways and modalities to finding treatments and cures. We lead where medicine is going and need innovators with an unwavering commitment to results.

Join us in developing treatments, finding cures, and pioneering the path from lab to life while championing patients every step of the way.

We are searching for the best talent for 2 Principal Scientists, in Oncology Discovery, Innovative Medicine, located in Spring House, PA

Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine Oncology Discovery is seeking 2 outstanding and highly motivated scientists to join our team focused on creating best-in-class therapeutics for prostate cancer treatment. These positions will be for experienced individual contributors and subject matter experts responsible for developing robust pharmacology packages for T-cell engagers (TCEs) and small molecule therapeutics.

Candidates should have expertise in cancer biology or immunology, and the mechanisms required to trigger robust anti-tumor response. Additionally, candidates must demonstrate direct experience in small/large molecule design and/or combination strategies to overcome solid tumor microenvironment. Furthermore, knowledge of current assays required to characterize optimal T-cell functional performance is a requirement. Successful candidates are expected to drive future innovation around TCE design by identifying enabling technologies through either internal or external efforts. Candidates must demonstrate prior program leadership experience in industry and must have a track record of excellence in managing projects and collaborating effectively with colleagues in other functional areas.

The Principal Scientists will:

Work with and/or lead a team of scientists in nominating candidates for discovery portfolio programs

Plan, develop and execute state-of-the-art assays that enable the identification of optimal TCE candidates to maximize therapeutic potential and durability in solid tumors

Partner with leaders in other therapeutic areas to select optimal binders, molecular configuration and delivery strategies

While delivering on prioritized goals, foster a culture of scientific excellence and innovation

Eliminate barriers to collaboration across workstreams and functions by encouraging a culture of open communication and transparency

Contribute to intellectual property, public presentations, and manuscript writing. Identify partnerships in academia to compliment key research initiatives

Mentor junior scientists on the team, and promote personal and professional development

Qualifications

Demonstrate matrixed leadership behavior and capabilities including design, guide, and perform highly complex experiments, accurately interpret data, and effectively communicate impact to stakeholders through formal and informal disclosures

Ph.D. in Cancer Biology and/or Immunology with at least 6+ years of industry experience leading Discovery programs and teams, or performing progressively advanced duties at the Principal Scientist level, or the equivalent training/experience

Hands-on experience with TCE or small molecule therapeutics, and a track record of successfully advancing therapeutic candidates through lead selection and IND-enabling activities

Possess drug development knowledge

Demonstrate track record of innovating in the drug discovery space. Constantly seek new technologies, processes, and techniques. Able to identify, implement, and master new models and improvements

Able to integrate diverse subject areas to achieve research objectives

Experienced supporting research collaborations with academic institutions, industry partners and research institutions

Possess highly effective verbal and written communication skills

Johnson & Johnson is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, disability, protected veteran status or other characteristics protected by federal, state or local law. We actively seek qualified candidates who are protected veterans and individuals with disabilities as defined under VEVRAA and Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act.

Johnson & Johnson is committed to providing an interview process that is inclusive of our applicants’ needs. If you are an individual with a disability and would like to request an accommodation, external applicants please contact us via https://www.jnj.com/contact-us/careers , internal employees contact AskGS to be directed to your accommodation resource.

#LI-Onsite

Required Skills:

Preferred Skills:

Big Data Management, Critical Thinking, Data Reporting, Data Savvy, Drug Discovery Development, Molecular Diagnostics, Organizing, Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Problem Solving, Product Knowledge, Project Reporting, Project Schedule, Research Proposals, Scientific Research, Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), Standard Scientific Processes and Procedures, Strategic Thinking, Sustainability

Job details

Seniority
Principal
Function
Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research
Therapeutic area
Oncology
Location
Spring House, 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 212 comparable Principal Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research roles across 44 biopharma companies.

212Comparable roles tracked
203Currently active
44Companies hiring similar roles
13Countries represented

Salary context

81 of 212 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 · Sr Research Associate, FPD · Gilead Sciences, Inc. $94,945/yr – $122,870/yr
Peer group range $108,908 – $322,000 (median $194,220)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 212 comparable roles

United States167
India14
China9
United Kingdom4
Canada3
Spain3

+ 7 more countries

Seniority mix

212 of 212 peers have a known seniority level

Senior101
Principal70
Director41

Therapeutic area mix

33 of 212 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Oncology13
Neuroscience9
Immunology5
Cardiovascular / CVRM3
Vaccines & Infectious Disease1
Gastroenterology1
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.

100%similar
Celgene - Summit (Corp) Seattle 400 Dexter, United States Principal
Same function Same therapeutic area Same seniority Same country
100%similar
Cambridge Discovery Hub Cambridge Crossing, United States Principal
Same function Same therapeutic area Same seniority Same country
90%similar
GlaxoSmithKline LLC Waltham, United States Director
Same function Same therapeutic area Adjacent seniority Same country
90%similar
Amgen Inc. South San Francisco, United States Director
Same function Same therapeutic area Adjacent seniority Same country
90%similar
AstraZeneca Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America Director
Same function Same therapeutic area Adjacent seniority Same country
90%similar
Amgen Inc. Thousand Oaks, United States Senior
Same function Same therapeutic area 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.

100%
Senior Principal Scientist, Cancer Immunology, Discovery Biology, Oncology Thematic Research Center
Celgene - Summit (Corp) · Seattle 400 Dexter, United States · Principal
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
90%
Director - Oncology Research
Amgen Inc. · South San Francisco, United States · Director
Function Therapeutic area Adjacent seniority Country
90%
Senior Scientist, Discovery- Oncology In Vivo
Johnson & Johnson · Spring House, United States · Senior
Function Therapeutic area Adjacent seniority Country
75%
Clinical Scientist Director, Early Development Oncology
Amgen Capability Center Portugal Ltda · Remote, Spain · Director
Function Therapeutic area Adjacent 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.