Johnson & Johnson is currently seeking a Senior Scientist to join our Translational Sciences (TS), Immunology Translational Sciences and Medicine (TSM) team located in San Diego, CA, Spring House, PA, or Cambridge, MA.

At Johnson & Johnson, we believe health is everything. Our strength in healthcare innovation empowers us to build a world where complex diseases are prevented, treated, and cured, where treatments are smarter and less invasive, and solutions are personal. Through our expertise in Innovative Medicine and MedTech, we are uniquely positioned to innovate across the full spectrum of healthcare solutions today to deliver the breakthroughs of tomorrow, and profoundly impact health for humanity. Learn more at https://www.jnj.com/.Janssen Immunology has a history of bringing life-changing therapies to patients with immune-mediated diseases.

Translational Sciences and Medicine (TSM) is an integrated group of scientists composed of a clinical Translational Medicine (TM) team which conducts early clinical development and experimental medicine studies, and a Translational Sciences (TS) team which uses human based data and tissues to support the end-to-end portfolio. Together, the TSM group will provide the key learnings/insights on the next wave of novel therapies for these patients. Organizationally, TSM serves as a pivotal bridge between Discovery Research and the later phase Clinical Development group. TSM provides the necessary scientific and clinical expertise to advance an industry-leading pipeline of novel mechanism small molecules and biologic agents to address unmet need in immune-mediated diseases.

TS has a broad remit stretching from support of discovery with human data to support target selection, through development of novel decision- making biomarkers for early phase clinical trials, target-centric indication sequencing and prioritization, and biomarker support of regulatory filings. It has expertise in biomarker development, disease biology research and in the application of immunology and data science technologies to support drug discovery and development.

This position will reside within the Rheumatology group in Immunology Translational Sciences department and requires a highly motivated and skilled candidate to assist in the clinical progression of innovative therapies across immunologic diseases. The Senior Scientist will be collaboratively contributing to the design and conduct of translational science research to support the immunology portfolio. They will lead translational research to support clinical biomarker analysis, back-translational research, molecular and cellular profiling of therapeutics, patient stratification and combination strategies. They will interact with the laboratory teams, CROs, & data analysts to support the planning, execution, and interpretation of laboratory experiments, such as assay optimization and development, data collection, data QC and data analysis. The candidate will also evaluate and optimize methods for novel platforms to enable multiparameter analysis of patient derived samples as needed. Further, the candidate will operate in a highly collaborative environment and deliver high quality support for key stakeholders such as the Compound Development Teams, the Disease/Pathway Area Strongholds (DAS/PAS), and the Translational Science and Medicine team. The candidate will ensure delivery of completed data and analyses in support of key program milestones and drive technical excellence in translational science and biomarker research and contribute to the group’s strategic direction.

Responsibilities include the following:

• Contribute to biomarker translational strategic planning by researching and understanding relevant target/disease biology


• Oversee the design and execution of translational science and biomarker plans integrating both disease and pathway approaches to support portfolio programs


• Contribute to the strategies on molecular understanding of human diseases, patient stratification and biomarker-based endpoint translational strategies


• Design, execute and oversee experiments to discover new biomarkers for portfolio assets


• Perform biomarker analyses, in partnership with computational leads, to provide summary of results.


• Communicate study results and guide stakeholders in applying those results to making strategic decisions


• Representation of TS on project teams as Translational Sciences Study Lead


• Take initiative to identify, pilot and internalize emerging technical approaches that may drive increased value for portfolio execution


• Contribute to the preparation and review of protocols, clinical study reports and translational science sections of translational plans, IBs, INDs, abstracts, manuscripts, and technical reports


• Design, execute, and troubleshoot molecular and/or cellular assays for patient stratification in clinical trials for the Immunology Therapeutic Area


• Collaborate with key translational, clinical, regulatory, and compound development colleagues to develop and validate assays for use in the clinic


• Partner with providers as needed to support development and execution of assays in support of Immunology assets


• Work closely with lab-based personnel within Translational Sciences to ensure optimal laboratory environment (collaboration, culture, safety, etc.)


• Provide project update and experimental findings in oral and written communication


• Engage with external vendors and academic partners to drive method development, implementation of biomarker strategies and data generation, and manage other operational responsibilities to ensure project progress


• Design and execute experimental plans with minimal guidance; analyze and record data, establish laboratory protocols, and contribute to technical reports