Merck KGaA Posted October 7, 2026

Senior Scientist Functional Genomics

Billerica, Massachusetts, United States Full time
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Merck KGaA 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

Work Your Magic with us!  Start your next chapter and join EMD Serono.

Ready to explore, break barriers, and discover more? We know you’ve got big plans – so do we! Our colleagues across the globe love innovating with science and technology to enrich people’s lives with our solutions in Healthcare, Life Science, and Electronics. Together, we dream big and are passionate about caring for our rich mix of people, customers, patients, and planet. That's why we are always looking for curious minds that see themselves imagining the unimaginable with us.

United As One for Patients, our purpose in Healthcare is to help create, improve and prolong lives. We develop medicines, intelligent devices and innovative technologies in therapeutic areas such as Oncology, Neurology and Fertility. Our teams work together across 6 continents with passion and relentless curiosity in order to help patients at every stage of life. Joining our Healthcare team is becoming part of a diverse, inclusive and flexible working culture, presenting great opportunities for personal development and career advancement across the globe.

This role does not offer sponsorship for work authorization. External applicants must be eligible to work in the US.

Your Role:

EMD Serono is hiring a functional genomics specialist Scientist/Senior Scientist to join the Discovery Biology group within Research Unit Neuroscience & Immunology (RU-N&I) at our state-of-the-art research facility in Billerica, MA. We are building a functional genomics group to collaborate with an international team of scientists, contributing to the discovery of drugs for neurodegenerative/neuroinflammatory and autoimmune diseases. Working with disease biology experts, the functional genomics team will use gene editing methods to identify and validate new targets as well as to generate cell models. Our cross-functional group will explore novel biology and deliver genetic evidence to advance the Neuroscience & Immunology pipeline.

 

What you’ll do

Independently plan, execute and lead in vitro studies using complex cell systems

Leverage your skills in advanced CRISPR techniques and cell biology to identify and validate new targets and advance our pipeline

Use pooled, arrayed, and single cell functional genomics methods to interrogate disease biology at scale

Work with a range of NGS, imaging, and FACS-based readouts to explore the roles of candidate genes in neurologic and immunologic disease

Work with disease biology experts to develop cellular models and assays

Record data accurately in an Electronic Laboratory Notebook and maintain records per company policy and legal requirements

Prepare data reports and present to lab heads, project teams, and at external meetings

Provide technical support to colleagues in own area of expertise when necessary

Work closely with members in RU-N&I to support departmental goals

Who You Are

Minimum Qualifications:

PhD in a life science field, (e.g., Biology, Biotechnology, Genetics, etc.)

OR

Masters Degree in a life science field (e.g., Biology, Biotechnology, Genetics, etc.) with  6+ years of lab academic or industry experience

AND

2+ years’ experience with complex cell culture systems and primary cells or iPSCs

2+ years using and designing gene editing tools for high throughput applications and hands-on execution of pooled or arrayed CRISPR or siRNA screens

Preferred Qualifications:

Background in immunology or neuroscience, with experience working with in vitro cell systems e.g. iPSC differentiation or immune cell isolation

Experience analyzing and disseminating data to support key decision making

Broad experience in molecular and cellular biology, including

Multicolored FACS and analysis

High-content imaging and analysis

NGS library preparation

Single cell omics data generation and principals of analysis

Lentiviral vector design and experience packaging and using lentivirus for gene expression

Reporter construct design

Familiarity with documentation practices in a pharmaceutical or biotechnology discovery setting

Strong verbal and written communication skills and practiced at communicating research findings to cross-disciplinary teams

Curious, highly collaborative scientist with enthusiasm for exploring novel biology

Pay Range for this position: $96,600 – 159,600

The offer range represents the anticipated low and high end of the base pay compensation for this position. The actual compensation offered will be determined by factors such as location, level of experience, education, skills, and other job-related factors. Position may be eligible for sales or performance-based bonuses. Benefits offered by the Company include health insurance, paid time off (PTO), retirement contributions, and other perquisites. For more information click here .

What we offer: We are curious minds that come from a broad range of backgrounds, perspectives, and life experiences. We believe that this variety drives excellence and innovation, strengthening our ability to lead in science and technology. We are committed to creating access and opportunities for all to develop and grow at your own pace. Join us in building a culture of inclusion and belonging that impacts millions and empowers everyone to work their magic and champion human progress!

Apply now and become a part of a team that is dedicated to Sparking Discovery and Elevating Humanity!

Job details

Seniority
Senior
Function
Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research
Therapeutic area
Not listed
Location
Billerica, Massachusetts, 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 396 comparable Senior Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research roles across 55 biopharma companies.

396Comparable roles tracked
375Currently active
55Companies hiring similar roles
21Countries represented

Salary context

182 of 396 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 $96,600/yr – $159,600/yr
Lowest disclosed · Senior Primate Behavior Specialist · 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 $159,125)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 396 comparable roles

United States304
China14
India13
United Kingdom9
Switzerland8
Germany7

+ 15 more countries

Seniority mix

396 of 396 peers have a known seniority level

Senior215
Principal149
Associate Director32

Therapeutic area mix

40 of 396 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Oncology16
Immunology10
Neuroscience9
Cardiovascular / CVRM4
Vaccines & Infectious 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.

60%similar
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Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Pharmacia & Upjohn Company Groton, United States Senior
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60%similar
AbbVie North Chicago, IL Senior
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60%similar
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60%similar
Gilead Sciences, Inc. Foster City, United States Senior
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60%similar
Amgen Inc. Thousand Oaks, United States 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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Pharmacia & Upjohn Company · Groton, United States · Senior
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
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Gilead Sciences, Inc. · Foster City, United States · Senior
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
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Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
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Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc (USA) · Cambridge, United States · Senior
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.