Amgen Inc. Posted October 15, 2026

Scientist – Disease Biology Discovery Research

South San Francisco, 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.

Scientist – Disease Biology Discovery Research

What you will do

Let’s do this. Let’s change the world. In this vital role you will commit to developing a deep understanding of disease biology, identify novel drug targets in the non-oncology space, and play a pivotal role in advancing our pre-clinical pipeline.

This position is within the Cardiometabolic Disorders Department of Amgen Research in South San Francisco. You will join a team of dedicated scientists committed to finding treatments for a diverse set of disease indications, including but not limited to cardiac, cardiovascular, fibrotic, and renal diseases.

To be successful in this role, you will need to have great molecular and cell biology laboratory skills, deep scientific curiosity, and strong interpersonal and communication skills to thrive in a collaborative environment. This is a permanent role that offers opportunities for advancement and career development.

If you have a passion for science and want to be part of an organization discovering new medicines that will impact patients’ lives, we invite you to join us!

Key Responsibilities:

Work collaboratively with a team of experts to generate robust data to support the preclinical validation of novel therapeutic targets and to advance the understanding of disease biology.

Independently design and execute in vitro and ex vivo mechanism-of-action experiments, including troubleshooting, assay optimization, and data collection, analysis, and interpretation.

Present research findings effectively in both written and oral formats for internal teams and external collaborators.

Participating in cross-functional drug development teams as a key intellectual and technical contributor

What we expect of you

We are all different, yet we all use our unique contributions to serve patients. The dedicated professional we seek is a highly motivated laboratory scientist with these qualifications.

Basic Qualifications:

 

Doctorate degree PhD

OR

Master’s degree and 2 years of Molecular and Cell Biology experience

OR

Bachelor’s degree and 4 years of Molecular and Cell Biology experience

 

Preferred Qualifications:

Extensive experience in cell-based, molecular and biochemical techniques, including RNA isolation/qPCR, protein immunoprecipitation, immunoblotting, ELISA, flow cytometry, and cell imaging and image processing.

Extensive experience in performing in vitro and cellular assays to dissect the function of genes of interest or the mechanism of action of therapeutic molecules as demonstrated by high-impact publications.

Strong interpersonal and organizational skills, a high level of accuracy, commitment to record keeping, and attention to details.

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Expertise with cell line engineering technologies, including CRISPR and virus-based stable cell line generation is preferred

·         Demonstrated experience analyzing and interpreting complex datasets.

Expertise with human iPSCs, especially iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes, is preferred

What you can expect from 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.

Amgen will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance. Salary Range

123,052.80USD -166,483.20 USD

Job details

Seniority
Not listed
Function
Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
South San Francisco, 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 1022 comparable Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research roles across 81 biopharma companies.

1022Comparable roles tracked
937Currently active
81Companies hiring similar roles
31Countries represented

Salary context

429 of 1022 peers report a salary range (USD, annualized)

Peers share this role's job function. This posting doesn't list a seniority level, so peers aren't narrowed by seniority either -- the range below may span more levels than usual.

This roleSubject Not listed on this posting
Highest disclosed · Vice President, Therapeutics Immunology · ModernaTX, Inc. $272,200/yr – $490,100/yr
Peer group range $0 – $381,150 (median $159,000)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 1022 comparable roles

United States692
Germany50
China44
Switzerland36
United Kingdom35
France26

+ 25 more countries

Seniority mix

739 of 1022 peers have a known seniority level

Senior235
Principal171
Intern/Fellow/Postdoc84
Associate78
Director62
Associate Director43
Senior Director26
Manager26
Executive/VP14

Therapeutic area mix

134 of 1022 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Immunology54
Oncology41
Neuroscience23
Cardiovascular / CVRM6
Vaccines & Infectious Disease3
Respiratory3
Dermatology & Aesthetics2
Gastroenterology1
Rare Disease1

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.

40%similar
AstraZeneca Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America Executive/VP
Same function Same country
40%similar
Lilly Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America Intern/Fellow/Postdoc
Same function Same country
40%similar
Lilly Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America Principal
Same function Same country
40%similar
Lilly Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America Intern/Fellow/Postdoc
Same function Same country
40%similar
Lilly Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America
Same function Same country
40%similar
Lilly Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America
Same function 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.

Or follow a whole field: get every new Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research job in the United States, and choose locations and companies.

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.

40%
Executive Director, Global Product Lead, Immunology Research and Development
AstraZeneca · Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America · Executive/VP
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
40%
QSP postdoctoral scientist
Lilly · Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America · Intern/Fellow/Postdoc
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
40%
Sr. Scientist / Principal Scientist, Global Sample Management
Lilly · Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America · Principal
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
40%
Advisor / Senior Advisor, Cardiovascular NAMs – Investigative Toxicology
Lilly · Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America · 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.