Gilead Sciences, Inc. Posted August 26, 2026

Sr Research Associate, FPD

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

We are seeking a highly motivated, attentive, and self-driven candidate to join our team, Biologics Pivotal Formulation and Process Development, as a Senior Research Associate. Once onboarded, the successful candidate will contribute in developing formulation and drug product processes for innovative molecules in pivotal clinical and commercial stages. The candidate will have tremendous opportunities for career growth in a fast-paced and resource-rich environment through training and professional relationships. The ideal candidate is expected to be action oriented with high expectations of themselves and others. They should have good verbal and written communication interpersonal skills.

Specific Job Responsibilities:

Plan and successfully execute experiments and activities to support formulation and drug product process development.

With general guidance, operate analytical equipment and tools such as HPLCs, UV-Vis, CE-SDS, iCIEF etc. to ensure applicable methods and techniques are followed

Clearly, timely, and accurately document data in appropriate repositories such as lab notebooks, reports, protocols etc

Analyze, interpret, draw conclusion, and present or share data from experiments executed including preparation of approptiate documents such as reports and memos

Fully embrace a lean-agile mindset, matrix working environment, and continuous improvement

Help support key project or department stakeholders as needed to ensure that company objects are met

Use established data, reports and previous results to identify inappropriate variances and concerns as well as identity and report inconsistent results to manager or supervisor

Participate in group meetings and efforts by presenting data or preparing information for others to present

Support team initiative to drive business process excellence, scientific innovation, laboratory and work safety etc

Qualifications: 

B.S. with 2+ years of industrial experience in biologics CMC development.

or

M.S in Pharmaceutical Science, Chemistry, Biochemistry, Chemical Engineering, or related scientific fields with 0+ years

Preferred Qualifications:

Hands on experience working with biologic products is strongly preferred

Strong desire and ability to learn new skills and excel in a fast-moving, dynamic and evolving environment.

Ability to work collaboratively with others.

Organized and strong ability to work independently in multiple complex workflows.

The salary range for this position is: $94,945.00 - $122,870.00. 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 210 comparable Senior Drug Discovery & Preclinical Research roles across 39 biopharma companies.

210Comparable roles tracked
197Currently active
39Companies hiring similar roles
12Countries represented

Salary context

71 of 210 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 $94,945/yr – $122,870/yr
Lowest disclosed · Senior Research Associate, Analytical Operations · Gilead Sciences, Inc. $94,945/yr – $122,870/yr
Highest disclosed · Sr. Dir, Biology-Discovery · Merck $194,100/yr – $305,600/yr
Peer group range $108,908 – $249,850 (median $180,000)

Where these roles are based

Top locations among the 210 comparable roles

United States171
India9
United Kingdom7
Germany6
Canada4
China3

+ 6 more countries

Seniority mix

210 of 210 peers have a known seniority level

Senior110
Principal78
Associate Director22

Therapeutic area mix

33 of 210 peers have a known therapeutic area; the rest are genuinely unlabeled, not hidden

Oncology18
Cardiovascular / CVRM8
Immunology3
Neuroscience2
Gastroenterology1
Respiratory1

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 Senior
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Lilly Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America Senior
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Merck South San Francisco, California, United States of America Senior
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Merck Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America Senior
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
Pharmacia & Upjohn Company San Diego, United States Senior
Same function Same seniority Same country
60%similar
AbbVie North Chicago, IL Senior
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%
Scientist/Sr Scientist, Discovery Strategy and Operations
Lilly · Indianapolis, Indiana, United States of America · Senior
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Sr. Dir, Biology-Discovery
Merck · Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America · Senior
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Senior Scientist l, QTAS & ADME Sciences
AbbVie · North Chicago, IL · Senior
Function Therapeutic area Seniority Country
60%
Sr Scientist, Drug Metabolism
Gilead Sciences, Inc. · Foster City, 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.