Sanofi Vaccines US Inc. Posted September 23, 2026

Senior Associate Scientist, In Vitro Biology and Mechanism of Action

Waltham, United States Full time
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Sanofi Vaccines US 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

Job Title: Senior Associate Scientist, In Vitro Biology and Mechanism of Action

Location: Waltham, MA

About the Job

We are seeking a highly motivated individual to join the In vitro biology and mechanism of action team within the mRNA center for Excellence to support the advancement of our RNA vaccine platform. As a Senior Associate Scientist, you will be designing and executing experiments to understand the mechanism of RNA therapeutics and vaccines for the treatment of infectious and non-infectious diseases.

We are an innovative global healthcare company that helps the world stay ahead of infectious diseases by delivering more than 500 million vaccine doses a year. Across different countries, our talented teams are exploring new technologies to protect people and promote healthy communities. We chase the miracles of science every single day, pursuing progress to make a real impact on millions of patients around the world.​

Join the team protecting half a billion lives every year with next-gen science, mRNA innovation, and AI-driven breakthroughs. In Vaccines, you’ll help advance prevention on a global scale - and shape the future of immunization.

About Sanofi:

We’re an R&D-driven, AI-powered biopharma company committed to improving people’s lives and delivering compelling growth. Our deep understanding of the immune system – and innovative pipeline – enables us to invent medicines and vaccines that treat and protect millions of people around the world. Together, we chase the miracles of science to improve people’s lives.

Main Responsibilities:

Lead from the bench to support the pre-clinical research of Sanofi’s next generation RNA platform and support programs by designing and executing experiments targeted toward elucidating the mechanism of action for RNA vaccines and therapeutics

Perform cell transfection with RNA and LNP formulations to determine efficacy and protein expression using immunofluorescence, live imaging, and reporter assays

Utilize and adapt to a variety of lab techniques such as RT-qPCR, Flow cytometry, western blot, and ELISA to generate high-quality data to support the RNA platform and programs

Maintain both immortalized and primary cell cultures for downstream protein expression and NGS analysis

Conduct decision-quality research, organize, analyze and interpret data, summarize results and prepare technical reports.

Prepare scientific presentations and report project progress at internal team meetings and scientific research forums

Work in a highly collaborative team to drive overall group objectives forward

Assume additional responsibilities as assigned.

About You:

Basic Qualifications:

Education:

Bachelor's OR Master's degree in biology, chemistry, biomedical sciences, pharmaceutical sciences, life sciences or related fields

​Experience:

Bachelor's holders: Minimum of 2 years of relevant industry, academic or research experience

Master's holders: Minimum of 1 year of relevant industry, academic or research experience

Hands-on background in cell culture

Experience with imaging techniques and microscopy

Preferred Qualifications:

Experience working with nucleic acid modalities such as mRNA, siRNA, miRNA, or gene editing

Familiarity with additional lab techniques such as gene expression analysis, protein detection methods, and flow cytometry

Prior experience in a biopharma or biotech company setting

Desire to learn new techniques and scientific concepts to follow the research as it progresses

Excellent communication skills, both oral and written with the ability to convey key experimental findings to internal stakeholders

Well organized with a curious mindset and extreme attention to detail. Strong desire to make an impact

Ability to work collaboratively in a fast-paced, cross-functional, demanding work environment without compromising quality. Understand the sense of urgency and respect project timelines

Why Choose Us?

Bring the miracles of science to life alongside a supportive, future-focused team.

Discover endless opportunities to grow your talent and drive your career, whether it’s through a promotion or lateral move, at home or internationally.

Enjoy a thoughtful, well-crafted rewards package that recognizes your contribution and amplifies your impact.

Take good care of yourself and your family, with a wide range of health and wellbeing benefits including high-quality healthcare, prevention and wellness programs and at least 14 weeks’ gender-neutral parental leave.

Work at the forefront of AI-driven research, smart manufacturing, and groundbreaking mRNA platforms that are redefining the future of immunology.

Help protect half a billion people every year, contributing to one of the largest global vaccination efforts in healthcare.

Develop your career with access to mentoring, international mobility programs, and opportunities to grow across four continents.

Sanofi Inc. and its U.S. affiliates are Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action employers committed to a culturally diverse workforce. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race; color; creed; religion; national origin; age; ancestry; nationality; marital, domestic partnership or civil union status; sex, gender, gender identity or expression; affectional or sexual orientation; disability; veteran or military status or liability for military status; domestic violence victim status; atypical cellular or blood trait; genetic information (including the refusal to submit to genetic testing) or any other characteristic protected by law.

#GD-SP

#LI-SP

#LI-Onsite

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Pursue progress , discover extraordinary

Better is out there. Better medications, better outcomes, better science. But progress doesn’t happen without people – people from different backgrounds, in different locations, doing different roles, all united by one thing: a desire to make miracles happen. So, let’s be those people.

Sanofi US endeavours to make our career center accessible to any and all users. If you are experiencing difficulty and need assistance applying online, please call 1-866-SANOFI2 (1-866-726-6342) or click here

US and Puerto Rico Residents Only

Sanofi Inc. and its U.S. affiliates are Equal Opportunity employers committed to a culturally inclusive workforce. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race; color; creed; religion; national origin; age; ancestry; nationality; marital, domestic partnership or civil union status; sex, gender, gender identity or expression; affectional or sexual orientation; disability; veteran or military status or liability for military status; domestic violence victim status; atypical cellular or blood trait; genetic information (including the refusal to submit to genetic testing) or any other characteristic protected by law.

North America Applicants Only

The salary range for this position is:

$75.000,00 - $108.333,33

All compensation will be determined commensurate with demonstrated experience. Employees may be eligible to participate in Company employee benefit programs, and additional benefits information can  be found here.

Job details

Seniority
Senior
Function
Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
Waltham, 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 206 comparable Senior Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research roles across 37 biopharma companies.

206Comparable roles tracked
198Currently active
37Companies hiring similar roles
12Countries represented

Salary context

85 of 206 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
Highest disclosed · Senior Principal Scientist, Pharmacokinetics · Merck $194,100/yr – $305,600/yr
Peer group range $91,450 – $249,850 (median $183,250)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 206 comparable roles

United States164
India9
United Kingdom5
Belgium5
Spain4
China's Mainland4

+ 6 more countries

Seniority mix

206 of 206 peers have a known seniority level

Senior103
Principal80
Associate Director23

Therapeutic area mix

21 of 206 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Oncology6
Immunology4
Cardiovascular / CVRM4
Neuroscience3
Respiratory2
Gastroenterology1
Vaccines & Infectious Disease1

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Notify me about similar jobs

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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.