Horizon Therapeutics USA, Inc. Posted September 9, 2026

Scientist - Rare Disease Biology

South San Francisco, United States Full time
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Horizon Therapeutics USA, 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. With our focus on four therapeutic areas –Oncology, Inflammation, General Medicine, and Rare Disease– we reach millions of patients each year. Amgen is advancing a broad and deep pipeline of medicines to treat cancer, heart disease, inflammatory conditions, rare diseases, and obesity and obesity-related conditions.

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 - Rare Disease Biology

What you will do

Let’s do this. Let’s change the world. In this vital role you will contribute to the discovery and advancement of innovative therapies for rare diseases as a core member of multidisciplinary, disease-focused research teams. You will apply experimental and data-driven approaches to investigate disease mechanisms, evaluate novel therapeutic targets, and generate insights that inform scientific and portfolio decisions.

This role offers the opportunity to work at the intersection of autoimmune disease biology, fibro-inflammatory mechanisms, tissue remodeling, human disease data, and emerging technologies within a highly collaborative and scientifically rigorous environment.

Key Responsibilities:

Design, execute, analyze, and interpret in vitro and ex vivo studies to investigate disease mechanisms and evaluate therapeutic hypotheses.

Generate high-quality, reproducible experimental data to support target identification, validation, and progression of rare disease research programs.

Investigate biological mechanisms relevant to Thyroid Eye Disease (TED), including immune dysregulation, fibroblast activation, inflammatory signaling, extracellular matrix regulation, and tissue remodeling.

Integrate experimental findings with scientific literature, human genetics, clinical observations, and multi-omic datasets to develop mechanistic insights and inform scientific decision-making.

Develop and implement innovative experimental approaches that enhance scientific rigor, efficiency, and translational relevance.

Collaborate closely with disease biologists, computational scientists, translational researchers, and other partner functions within multidisciplinary research teams.

Contribute data-driven insights and recommendations to scientific discussions, target reviews, program strategy, and portfolio evaluations.

Build productive relationships with internal and external collaborators, including academic investigators, foundations, CROs, and scientific experts, as appropriate.

Communicate scientific findings, interpretations, and recommendations effectively to project teams, governance forums, and departmental audiences.

Maintain accurate experimental documentation and contribute to organizational knowledge sharing.

Foster a culture of scientific curiosity, collaboration, continuous learning, and operational excellence.

What we expect of you

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

Basic Qualifications:

Doctorate degree

OR

Master’s degree and 2 years of relevant scientific research experience

OR

Bachelor’s degree and 4 years of relevant scientific research experience

Preferred Qualifications:

Expertise in one or more areas relevant to fibroblast biology, stromal cell biology, tissue remodeling, fibrosis, extracellular matrix biology, inflammation, or fibro-inflammatory disease.

Experience investigating cellular and molecular mechanisms that drive tissue inflammation, remodeling, and pathological structural changes.

Demonstrated expertise in designing and executing cell-based, molecular, and biochemical assays to interrogate complex disease biology and therapeutic hypotheses.

Hands-on experience with primary human cells, fibroblast systems, tissue-derived cultures, organoids, or other advanced in vitro/ex vivo disease models.

Strong understanding of biological pathways involved in fibroblast activation, extracellular matrix regulation, fibrosis, wound healing, inflammation, and tissue remodeling.

Experience applying multi-omics data or other data-rich approaches to characterize cellular phenotypes and disease mechanisms.

Strong quantitative and data-analysis skills, with demonstrated ability to interpret complex biological datasets and translate findings into testable hypotheses.

Experience integrating experimental data with human genetics, omics, clinical data, and scientific literature to generate mechanistic and translational insights.

Ability to combine experimental and computational approaches to solve complex biological questions and support target evaluation.

Scientific curiosity and demonstrated ability to rapidly learn new disease areas, biological systems, technologies, and analytical approaches.

Ability to work effectively in collaborative, multidisciplinary, and matrixed research environments.

Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to communicate complex scientific concepts clearly to diverse audiences.

Ability to balance scientific rigor, urgency, and adaptability in a dynamic research environment.

Demonstrated commitment to teamwork, knowledge sharing, and continuous improvement.

Familiarity with AI-enabled scientific tools, computational workflows, image analysis, automation, or advanced data analytics is desirable.

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 anticipates accepting applications until September 16th, 2026; however, we may continue accepting applications beyond this date if we do not receive a sufficient number of candidates.

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 diverse, 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 and will consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, or any other basis protected by applicable law.

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation. Amgen is an Equal Opportunity employer and will consider you without regard to your race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, or disability status.

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
Rare Disease
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 466 comparable Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research roles across 64 biopharma companies.

466Comparable roles tracked
415Currently active
64Companies hiring similar roles
19Countries represented

Salary context

157 of 466 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 · Executive Director, Biotherapeutics DMPK · Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc (US) $268,000/yr – $402,000/yr
Peer group range $0 – $335,000 (median $168,090)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 466 comparable roles

United States350
Germany18
India18
United Kingdom12
Switzerland11
Canada11

+ 13 more countries

Seniority mix

373 of 466 peers have a known seniority level

Senior117
Principal82
Intern/Fellow/Postdoc52
Director39
Associate25
Associate Director23
Senior Director15
Executive/VP11
Manager9

Therapeutic area mix

60 of 466 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Oncology27
Cardiovascular / CVRM8
Neuroscience8
Immunology7
Vaccines & Infectious Disease3
Respiratory3
Rare Disease2
Ophthalmology1
Gastroenterology1

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.

80%similar
Horizon Therapeutics USA, Inc. Thousand Oaks, United States
Same function Same therapeutic area Same country
40%similar
AstraZeneca Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
Same function Same country
40%similar
Lilly San Francisco, California, United States of America Executive/VP
Same function Same country
40%similar
Lilly Indianapolis, Indiana, 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 San Diego, California, United States of America Intern/Fellow/Postdoc
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.

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.

80%
Scientist, Rare Disease Biology
Horizon Therapeutics USA, Inc. · Thousand Oaks, United States · Seniority not listed
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
40%
Director/Sr. Director/Exec. Director, Molecular Pharmacology (AMD)
Lilly · San Francisco, California, United States of America · Executive/VP
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
40%
Postdoctoral Research Scientist: Receptor-Mediated Enhancement of AAV Gene Delivery
Lilly · San Diego, California, United States of America · Intern/Fellow/Postdoc
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
40%
Scientist/Sr Scientist, Discovery Strategy and Operations
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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.