Amgen Inc. Posted October 23, 2026

Principal Scientist Oligonucleotides

Cambridge, United States Full time
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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. Amgen is advancing a broad and deep pipeline and portfolio of medicines to treat heart disease, obesity and obesity-related conditions, rare diseases, inflammatory conditions and cancer.  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.

Principal Scientist Oligonucleotides

What you will do

Let’s do this. Let’s change the world. In this vital role you will be part of  DSTS group within Process Development (PD) which  is responsible for the invention, development, and implementation of drug substance manufacturing processes and technologies to advance Amgen's exciting portfolio of synthetic and hybrid assets. Process chemists within our team to apply their training to invent synthetic routes and chemical processes to support drug substance manufacturing from early to late-stage development.

Amgen is currently seeking a talented Principal Scientist who will who will lead the development of efficient and sustainable manufacturing processes, drive capacity expansion projects, and lead technology transfers for oligonucleotides. The candidate will drive technology innovation, provide technical expertise, and develop and mentor staff within the organization. The successful candidate for this role will be experienced in oligonucleotide process development and industrialization with a proven track record of scientific innovation and leadership within the pharmaceutical industry. The role will be located at either our Thousand Oaks, California or Cambridge, Massachusetts campus.

Lead a multidisciplinary project team in the development of sustainable and cost-effective processes for oligonucleotide manufacturing.

Work with cross-functional teams to develop strategies and implementation plans to expand production capacity and improve yield.

Drive oligonucleotide technology innovation

Support cGMP manufacturing and technology transfer to GMP production facilities

Develop strategies to ensure process performance through process understanding, modeling and characterization

Guide successful completion of project deliverables and ensure timelines are met

Work cross-functionally to deliver regulatory documents and support regulatory filings

Serve as a technical expert and keep current in the field of bioconjugate manufacturing

Coach and provide career and scientific / technical advice to colleagues within the organization

What we expect of you

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

Basic Qualifications:

Doctorate degree PhD OR PharmD OR MD [and relevant post-doc where applicable] and 2 years of Scientific experience

OR

Master’s degree and 5 years of Scientific experience

OR

Bachelor’s degree and 7 years of Scientific experience

Preferred Qualifications:

 

Doctoral degree and 4+ years in the pharmaceutical industry with expertise in oligonucleotide process development

GMP manufacturing and technology transfer to CMOs

Demonstrated functional representation on a CMC or PDT team

Demonstrated ability to work within a dynamic and interdisciplinary environment to achieve results

People-centered leadership skills in building strong teams through mutual trust and respect and exhibits Amgen leadership attributes of inspire, accelerate, integrate, and adapt

Proven track record of publications, patents and presentations

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 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. We make all employment decisions without regard to race, color, religion, sex or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

We provide reasonable accommodations to applicants and employees with disabilities, consistent with legal requirements. Please contact us to request accommodation.

. Salary Range

141,836.95USD -191,897.05 USD

Job details

Seniority
Principal
Function
Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
Cambridge, 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 425 comparable Principal Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research roles across 58 biopharma companies.

425Comparable roles tracked
404Currently active
58Companies hiring similar roles
22Countries represented

Salary context

196 of 425 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 Primate Behavior Specialist · Labcorp $70,000/yr – $80,000/yr
Peer group range $75,000 – $322,000 (median $166,400)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 425 comparable roles

United States321
China22
India17
United Kingdom8
Switzerland8
Germany6

+ 16 more countries

Seniority mix

425 of 425 peers have a known seniority level

Senior216
Principal148
Director61

Therapeutic area mix

52 of 425 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Oncology20
Immunology16
Neuroscience9
Cardiovascular / CVRM5
Vaccines & Infectious Disease2

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 Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America Principal
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60%similar
Lilly Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America Principal
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60%similar
AbbVie North Chicago, IL Principal
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60%similar
AbbVie North Chicago, IL Principal
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AbbVie San Francisco, CA Principal
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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.

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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%
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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.