Gilead Sciences, Inc. Posted October 7, 2026

Senior Scientist, Analytical Development

Foster City, United States Full time
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Gilead Sciences, 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

At Gilead, we’re creating a healthier world for all people. For more than 35 years, we’ve tackled diseases such as HIV, viral hepatitis, COVID-19 and cancer – working relentlessly to develop therapies that help improve lives and to ensure access to these therapies across the globe. We continue to fight against the world’s biggest health challenges, and our mission requires collaboration, determination and a relentless drive to make a difference.

Every member of Gilead’s team plays a critical role in the discovery and development of life-changing scientific innovations. Our employees are our greatest asset as we work to achieve our bold ambitions, and we’re looking for the next wave of passionate and ambitious people ready to make a direct impact.

We believe every employee deserves a great leader. People Leaders are the cornerstone to the employee experience at Gilead and Kite. As a people leader now or in the future, you are the key driver in evolving our culture and creating an environment where every employee feels included, developed and empowered to fulfil their aspirations. Join Gilead and help create possible, together.

Job Description

As a Senior Scientist, Analytical Development, you’ll play a key role in advancing innovative biologic therapies from late-stage research through early clinical development, helping bring potential new medicines closer to patients. In this highly collaborative role, you’ll lead analytical activities focused on potency and biological activity, including developing and optimizing bioassay methods, supporting comparability studies, and guiding internal and outsourced testing. Working closely with scientists and cross-functional partners across Research, Clinical Development, Clinical Supply Management, and Program Strategy, you’ll solve complex scientific challenges and provide technical and strategic insight to support important development decisions. This is an opportunity to apply your expertise, influence analytical strategy, and contribute to a team united by a shared purpose: improving lives through transformative medicines.

This position is based in Foster City, CA, and requires onsite work five days per week.

As a Senior Scientist, Analytical Development at Gilead you will...

Key responsibilities:

Lead analytical activities for pre-pivotal Phase I and Phase II biologic molecules, including comparability studies.

Design, develop, and execute bioassay potency methods that reflect the mechanisms of action of biologic therapies.

Troubleshoot, improve, and optimize analytical methods, including ELISA- and qPCR-based methods.

Organize, prepare, and maintain critical reagents with appropriate system suitability criteria.

Author method development reports, test procedures, and relevant method transfer documents.

Oversee and advise on data generation and data integrity for internal and outsourced testing, ensuring compliance and analytical excellence at contract organizations.

Build and maintain strong relationships with key stakeholders and provide technical and strategic input across Research, Clinical Development, Clinical Supply Management, and Program Strategy.

Provide technical support for internal and external current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) manufacturing operations.

Present scientific findings and recommendations to senior staff and cross-functional internal and external teams.

Prepare research reports and peer-reviewed manuscripts and author or contribute to investigational new drug applications and patent filings.

Mentor and provide technical guidance to less experienced colleagues.

Basic Qualifications:

Bachelor’s degree and 8+ years of relevant experience

OR

Master’s degree and 6+ years of relevant experience

OR

PhD and 0+ years of relevant experience

Preferred Qualifications:

Biologics-relevant analytical development experience in the biotechnology or pharmaceutical industry.

Experience supporting Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls (CMC) activities and Phase I investigational new drug applications for biologic products, including IND support or authoring.

Strong experience developing, validating, and implementing analytical methods and control strategies for biologic products, including potency methods using ELISA and bioassays.

Hands-on laboratory experience with immunoassays, cell-based assays, and Biacore.

Experience with process-related impurity methods, including host-cell protein, host-cell DNA, and affinity-resin materials.

Experience supporting analytical comparability studies for biologic products from late-stage research through Phase I and Phase II development.

Experience overseeing analytical work performed internally and by contract organizations, including data generation, data integrity, compliance, and analytical excellence.

Working knowledge of current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) requirements and applicable U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and International Council for Harmonisation (ICH) guidance concerning registration, quality, and compliance for biologic drug substance and drug product.

Working knowledge of laboratory automation, computer system validation, data governance, data science, knowledge management, and data protection.

Strong collaboration and communication skills, with the ability to present scientific findings and provide technical and strategic input to cross-functional internal and external teams.

Demonstrated curiosity, intellectual humility, and a collaborative approach to scientific problem-solving.

Ability to work independently with limited guidance and contribute effectively in a fast-paced team environment.

Experience mentoring or providing technical guidance to less experienced colleagues.

People Leader Accountabilities:

Create Inclusion - knowing the business value of diverse teams, modeling inclusion, and embedding the value of diversity in the way they manage their teams.

Develop Talent - understand the skills, experience, aspirations and potential of their employees and coach them on current performance and future potential. They ensure employees are receiving the feedback and insight needed to grow, develop and realize their purpose.

Empower Teams - connect the team to the organization by aligning goals, purpose, and organizational objectives, and holding them to account. They provide the support needed to remove barriers and connect their team to the broader ecosystem.

The salary range for this position is: $169,320.00 - $219,120.00. Gilead considers a variety of factors when determining base compensation, including experience, qualifications, and geographic location. These considerations mean actual compensation will vary. This position may also be eligible for a discretionary annual bonus, discretionary stock-based long-term incentives (eligibility may vary based on role), paid time off, and a benefits package. Benefits include company-sponsored medical, dental, vision, and life insurance plans*.

For additional benefits information, visit:

https://www.gilead.com/careers/compensation-benefits-and-wellbeing

* Eligible employees may participate in benefit plans, subject to the terms and conditions of the applicable plans.

For jobs in the United States:

Gilead Sciences Inc. is committed to providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment, and is dedicated to fostering an inclusive work environment comprised of diverse perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences. Employment decisions regarding recruitment and selection will be made without discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, sex , age, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, genetic information or characteristic, gender identity and expression, veteran status, or other non-job related characteristics or other prohibited grounds specified in applicable federal, state and local laws. In order to ensure reasonable accommodation for individuals protected by Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Vietnam Era Veterans' Readjustment Act of 1974, and Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, applicants who require accommodation in the job application process may contact ApplicantAccommodations@gilead.com  for assistance.

For more information about equal employment opportunity protections, please view the  'Know Your Rights' poster.

NOTICE: EMPLOYEE POLYGRAPH PROTECTION ACT

YOUR RIGHTS UNDER THE FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT

Gilead Sciences will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, (c) consistent with the  legal duty to furnish information; or (d) otherwise protected by law.

Our environment respects individual differences and recognizes each employee as an integral member of our company. Our workforce reflects these values and celebrates the individuals who make up our growing team.

Gilead provides a work environment free of harassment and prohibited conduct. We promote and support individual differences and diversity of thoughts and opinion.

For Current Gilead Employees and Contractors:

Please apply via the Internal Career Opportunities portal in Workday.

Job details

Seniority
Senior
Function
Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
Foster City, 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 448 comparable Senior Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research roles across 53 biopharma companies.

448Comparable roles tracked
406Currently active
53Companies hiring similar roles
18Countries represented

Salary context

224 of 448 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 $169,320/yr – $219,120/yr
Lowest disclosed · Senior Animal Behaviorist - Primate · Labcorp $70,000/yr – $80,000/yr
Highest disclosed · Toxicology Senior Research Fellow · Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc (US) $232,000/yr – $348,000/yr
Peer group range $75,000 – $290,000 (median $164,000)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 448 comparable roles

United States338
China15
India14
United Kingdom14
Belgium10
Switzerland10

+ 12 more countries

Seniority mix

448 of 448 peers have a known seniority level

Senior234
Principal171
Associate Director43

Therapeutic area mix

49 of 448 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Immunology17
Oncology14
Neuroscience13
Cardiovascular / CVRM3
Gastroenterology1
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.

60%similar
Merck Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America Senior
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Pharmacia & Upjohn Company Groton, United States Senior
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60%similar
Pharmacia & Upjohn Company Groton, United States Senior
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60%similar
AbbVie South San Francisco, CA Senior
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AbbVie North Chicago, IL Senior
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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.

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.