GlaxoSmithKline LLC Posted November 2, 2026

Principal Scientist, Oncology Drug Discovery

Cambridge 300 Technology Square, United States Full time
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About this opportunity

We create a place where people can grow, be their best, be safe, and feel welcome, valued and included. We offer a competitive salary, an annual bonus based on company performance, healthcare and wellbeing programs, pension plan membership, and shares and savings programme. We embrace modern work practices; our Performance with Choice programme offers a remote or hybrid working model, empowering you to find the optimal balance between remote and in-office work.

Discover more about our company-wide benefits and life at GSK on our webpage Life at GSK | GSK

Find out more about GSK and R&D: Our approach to R&D

 

Principal Scientist, Oncology Drug Discovery

The Intracellular Targeted Cancer Therapeutics (ITCT) Biology Unit within the Oncology Research Unit is seeking an experienced Cancer Biologist for an Investigator role that will support a growing portfolio of precision oncology assets. The successful candidate will have a background in cancer biology with experience designing and executing biological studies to understand the mechanism of action small molecule cancer therapeutics.

We value curious, motivated scientists who take ownership, communicate clearly, and thrive in a collaborative environment. This role offers you a chance to grow your skills, make a meaningful impact, and contribute to GSK’s mission of uniting science, technology, and talent to get ahead of disease together.

This role can be in the United States in either Cambridge, MA or Upper Providence, PA and requires working on-site. Hybrid or remote work options are not available for this position.

This role will provide YOU the opportunity to lead key activities to progress YOUR career.  These responsibilities include some of the following :

Work within a dynamic and global matrix team environment providing basic and translational biology support for target validation, drug discovery, and early clinical development of novel small molecule cancer therapies.

Work independently to design, execute, and/or oversee impactful in vitro experiments to inform the development of portfolio assets.

Champion innovative experimental techniques or technologies, including medium-throughput scalable assay development, target-specific mechanistic biology, and monotherapy and combination anti-cancer efficacy testing of assets.

Build communication networks across the Oncology Research Unit and broader organization.

Guide the maturation and de-risking of novel therapeutic concepts.

 

Basic Qualifications:

We are looking for professionals with these required skills to achieve our goals:

BS, MS, or PhD in Cell, Molecular, or Cancer Biology, Pharmacology, or a related life sciences field (BS and a minimum of 5 years of relevant industry experience, MS and a minimum of 3 years of relevant industry experience, or PhD and 0 years of relevant industry experience).

A minimum of 3 years of experience in designing, executing, and analyzing cellular and molecular biology experiments using small molecular therapeutics and a diverse array of current scientific techniques.

 

Preferred Qualifications:

Please note the following skills are not necessary, just preferred, if you do not have them, please still apply:

A minimum of 2 years of drug discovery experience in a biotech, preclinical CRO or pharmaceutical company

Deep knowledge in the field of molecular oncogenesis, signaling pathway, bivalent or molecular glue modality.

Deep expertise in assay development in a drug discovery setting

Experience in applying genomic editing techniques to dissect target biology and drug mechanisms.

Proven track record of scientific expertise and achievement in cell biology and cancer biology through peer-reviewed publications.

Working knowledge of omic methods (e.g., sequencing, transcriptomics, and/or proteomics) and databases (e.g., TCGA, CCLE, DepMap, etc.).

Attention to detail and proficient reasoning skills in experimental design, data analysis, statistical methods, and interpretation.

Independence, problem-solving abilities, self-motivation, resourcefulness, and organizational, interpersonal, and communication skills and the ability to work efficiently in a fast-paced team environment

Join us in making a difference in patients’ lives around the world. We value your unique perspective and invite all interested candidates to submit their application.

#LI-GSK

Skills

Biological Pathways, Cancer Research, Cross-Functional Teamwork, Drug Discovery Process, Drug Target Identification, Influencing Without Authority, Interpersonal Communication, Matrix Leadership, Proper Documentation, Scientific Presentations, Scientific Research, Scientific Writing

• If you are based in Cambridge, MA; Waltham, MA; Rockville, MD; or San Francisco, CA, the annual base salary for new hires in this position ranges $115,500 to $192,500. The US salary ranges take into account a number of factors including work location within the US market, the candidate’s skills, experience, education level and the market rate for the role. In addition, this position offers an annual bonus and eligibility to participate in our share based long term incentive program which is dependent on the level of the role. Available benefits include health care and other insurance benefits (for employee and family), retirement benefits, paid holidays, vacation, and paid caregiver/parental and medical leave. If salary ranges are not displayed in the job posting for a specific country, the relevant compensation will be discussed during the recruitment process.

Please visit  GSK US Benefits Summary to learn more about the comprehensive benefits program GSK offers US employees.

Why GSK?

Uniting science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together.

GSK is a global biopharma company with a purpose to unite science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together. We aim to positively impact the health of 2.5 billion people by the end of the decade, as a successful, growing company where people can thrive. We get ahead of disease by preventing and treating it with innovation in specialty medicines and vaccines. We focus on four therapeutic areas: respiratory, immunology and inflammation; oncology; HIV; and infectious diseases – to impact health at scale.

People and patients around the world count on the medicines and vaccines we make, so we’re committed to creating an environment where our people can thrive and focus on what matters most. Our culture of being ambitious for patients, accountable for impact and doing the right thing is the foundation for how, together, we deliver for patients, shareholders and our people.

If you require an accommodation or other assistance to apply for a job at GSK, please contact the appropriate Recruitment Staff by emailing us at -  usrecruitment.adjustments@gsk.com

GSK is an Equal Opportunity Employer. This ensures that all qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual orientation), parental status, national origin, age, disability, genetic information (including family medical history), military service or any basis prohibited under federal, state or local law.

Important notice to Employment businesses/ Agencies

GSK does not accept referrals from employment businesses and/or employment agencies in respect of the vacancies posted on this site. All employment businesses/agencies are required to contact GSK's commercial and general procurement/human resources department to obtain prior written authorization before referring any candidates to GSK. The obtaining of prior written authorization is a condition precedent to any agreement (verbal or written) between the employment business/ agency and GSK. In the absence of such written authorization being obtained any actions undertaken by the employment business/agency shall be deemed to have been performed without the consent or contractual agreement of GSK. GSK shall therefore not be liable for any fees arising from such actions or any fees arising from any referrals by employment businesses/agencies in respect of the vacancies posted on this site.

Please note that if you are a US Licensed Healthcare Professional or Healthcare Professional as defined by the laws of the state issuing your license, GSK may be required to capture and report expenses GSK incurs, on your behalf, in the event you are afforded an interview for employment. This capture of applicable transfers of value is necessary to ensure GSK’s compliance to all federal and state US Transparency requirements. For more information, please visit the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) website at https://openpaymentsdata.cms.gov/

Job details

Seniority
Principal
Function
Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research
Therapeutic area
Oncology
Location
Cambridge 300 Technology Square, 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 423 comparable Principal Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research roles across 59 biopharma companies.

423Comparable roles tracked
403Currently active
59Companies hiring similar roles
22Countries represented

Salary context

192 of 423 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 $115,500/yr – $192,500/yr
Lowest disclosed · Senior Primate Behavior Specialist · Labcorp $70,000/yr – $80,000/yr
Peer group range $75,000 – $322,000 (median $170,100)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 423 comparable roles

United States314
China22
India19
United Kingdom10
Germany9
Switzerland9

+ 16 more countries

Seniority mix

423 of 423 peers have a known seniority level

Senior210
Principal151
Director62

Therapeutic area mix

49 of 423 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Oncology19
Immunology14
Neuroscience8
Cardiovascular / CVRM5
Vaccines & Infectious Disease2
Dermatology & Aesthetics1

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
100%similar
Boehringer Ingelheim Ridgefield, Connecticut, 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
100%similar
Johnson & Johnson Spring House, 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

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.

100%
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Celgene - Summit (Corp) · Seattle 400 Dexter, United States · Principal
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
100%
Principal Scientist - Computational Cancer Immunology
Cambridge Discovery Hub · Cambridge Crossing, 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%
Director, Oncology Clinical Pharmacology Modeling & Simulation
GlaxoSmithKline LLC · Upper Providence, United States · 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.