Amgen Inc. Posted September 9, 2026

Senior 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. 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.

Process Development Senior Principal Scientist Bioconjugates

What you will do

Let’s do this. Let’s change the world. In this vital role you will Amgen’s DSTS group within Process Development (PD) 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 Senior Principal Scientist who will lead a multidisciplinary team of chemists and chemical engineers in 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 a people-centered leader with deep expertise 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 3 years of Scientific experience

OR

Master’s degree and 6 years of Scientific experience

OR

Bachelor’s degree and 8 years of Scientific experience

Preferred Qualifications:

Doctoral degree and 6+ 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 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.

. Salary Range

157,737.05USD -213,408.95 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 222 comparable Principal Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research roles across 42 biopharma companies.

222Comparable roles tracked
213Currently active
42Companies hiring similar roles
13Countries represented

Salary context

92 of 222 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
Peer group range $91,450 – $322,000 (median $190,298)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 222 comparable roles

United States175
India11
China5
United Kingdom5
Spain4
China's Mainland4

+ 7 more countries

Seniority mix

222 of 222 peers have a known seniority level

Senior104
Principal79
Director39

Therapeutic area mix

25 of 222 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Oncology8
Immunology4
Cardiovascular / CVRM4
Respiratory3
Neuroscience3
Vaccines & Infectious Disease2
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.

60%similar
Lilly Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America Principal
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Lilly Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America Principal
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
AbbVie Worcester, MA Principal
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Novartis Cambridge (USA), United States Principal
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Amgen Inc. Thousand Oaks, United States Principal
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Amgen Inc. Thousand Oaks, United States Principal
Same function Same 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.

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%
Advisor / Senior Advisor, CNS/PNS NAMs – Investigative Toxicology
Lilly · Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America · Principal
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Principal Scientist II - Pharmacology
Novartis · Cambridge (USA), United States · Principal
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Principal Scientist, Computational Biology
Cambridge Discovery Hub · Cambridge Crossing, United States · Principal
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Principal Scientist, Systems and Disease Biology
Sanofi US Services Inc. · Cambridge, United States · 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.