Senior Scientist, Pharmacokinetics

About the role

Our Company is a global health care leader with a diversified portfolio of prescription medicines, vaccines, and animal health products. The difference between potential and achievement lies in the spark that fuels innovation and inventiveness; this is the space where Our Company has codified its legacy for over a century. Our Company's success is backed by ethical integrity, forward momentum, and an inspiring mission to achieve new milestones in global healthcare.

At Our Company, we are inspired by the belief that a research-driven enterprise dedicated to scientific excellence can create medicines that save and improve lives. Every employee is building on our proud legacy of scientific breakthroughs. Our ability to impact the lives of patients worldwide depends on the integrity, creativity, humility, and scientific acumen of our team.

We are creating an organization that is inspired by invention and founded on a culture of respect and collaboration. At Our Company Research Laboratories, you'll have the opportunity to expand your knowledge and skills through collaboration with talented and dedicated colleagues while advancing your career.

The Pharmacokinetics, Dynamics, Metabolism and Bioanalytics (PDMB) group is seeking a strategic-thinking and collaborative Senior Scientist to contribute to Our Company's drug discovery and early clinical development efforts. This position will be based at our research laboratories in West Point, PA.

The ideal candidate will utilize demonstrated expertise in advanced LC/MS techniques to characterize the drug metabolism and pharmacokinetic (DMPK) properties of peptides and protein therapeutics from discovery through early development. Development and implementation of novel bioanalytical and automated workflows, including HRMS and proteomic approaches, to better characterize new modalities will be a key focus area of this role.

The ability to innovate and execute independently while also succeeding in a collaborative team environment is highly desired.

In this exciting position, your primary roles will include

• Independent design and execution of LC-MS methods to characterize therapeutic antibodies, peptides, and various drug conjugates using LC-MS based platforms including high resolution (HRMS) mass spectrometers.
• Provide scientific leadership for automation-enabled discovery workflows, helping define future capabilities that increase throughput, reproducibility, and data generation across optimization platforms.
• Utilization of state-of-the-art bioanalytical approaches to characterize large molecule drug properties in various in vitro matrices to support candidate selection
• Close collaboration with PDMB subject-matter experts in Boston (MA), South San Francisco (CA) and West Point (PA) aimed at building highly efficient strategies to identify and optimize drug candidates

Education Minimum Requirement

• Ph.D (with 0 - 3 years relevant experience) or Master's (minimum of 6 years relevant experience) or Bachelor's (minimum of 10 years relevant experience) degree in biochemistry, chemistry, pharmacology, pharmaceutical sciences, biomedical engineering or related field

Required Experience and Skills

• Demonstrated method development and validation experience with various platforms with deep expertise in LC/MS for macrocyclic peptides and monoclonal antibodies and drug conjugates
• Strong hands-on experience with different chromatographic separation and mass spectrometry methodologies for analysis of therapeutic proteins and peptides.
• Strong leadership, interpersonal, communication, problem solving and collaborative qualities to deliver high-quality results in a team-oriented, fast-paced environment
• Foster a team-based approach to research. Commitment to working synergistically and harmoniously with others.

Preferred Experience and Skills

• Experience with DMPK in vitro and in vivo experimental design and analysis.
• Familiarity with electronic laboratory notebooks and related record-keeping approaches
• Experience working within a research-driven pharmaceutical company
• Strong publication track record

Required Skills

ADME, Cell-Based Assays, Drug Metabolism, Electronic Lab Notebook (ELN), High Resolution Mass Spectrometry (HRMS), In Vitro Research, Monoclonal Antibodies, Peptides, Pharmacokinetics

Preferred Skills

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• Current Contingent Workers apply HERE

US and Puerto Rico Residents Only

• Our company is committed to inclusion, ensuring that candidates can engage in a hiring process that exhibits their true capabilities. Please click here if you need an accommodation during the application or hiring process.
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• We are proud to be a company that embraces the value of bringing together, talented, and committed people with diverse experiences, perspectives, skills and backgrounds.
• The fastest way to breakthrough innovation is when people with diverse ideas, broad experiences, backgrounds, and skills come together in an inclusive environment.
• We encourage our colleagues to respectfully challenge one another's thinking and approach problems collectively.

• Learn more about your rights, including under California, Colorado and other US State Acts
• The primary location for this posting is: USA - Pennsylvania - West Point

Pay and benefits

Where required by law, the compensation range for this role is provided below.

The salary range for the primary location of this role is

$117,000.00 - $184,200.00

This range reflects the Company's reasonable expectation of the base salary applicable to this role at the time of posting. An employee's position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, government requirements, and business or organizational needs. The successful candidate will be eligible for annual bonus and long-term incentive, if applicable.

We offer a comprehensive package of benefits. Available benefits include medical, dental, vision healthcare and other insurance benefits (for employee and family), retirement benefits, including 401(k), paid holidays, vacation, and compassionate and sick days.

Additional location(s): Please note the salary range above applies to the Primary Location of the position. Where a role has other listed locations, different compensation guidelines may apply. You may find the salary ranges for additional locations below. If the salary range is not listed for the location you are applying to, our Talent Acquisition team will provide further information to you relevant to your location.

Search Firm Representatives Please Read Carefully

Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ, USA, also known as Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC, Rahway, NJ, USA, does not accept unsolicited assistance from search firms for employment opportunities. All CVs / resumes submitted by search firms to any employee at our company without a valid written search agreement in place for this position will be deemed the sole property of our company.

No fee will be paid in the event a candidate is hired by our company as a result of an agency referral where no pre-existing agreement is in place. Where agency agreements are in place, introductions are position specific. Please, no phone calls or emails.

• Employee Status: Regular
• Relocation: Domestic
• VISA Sponsorship: No

Travel Requirements

• 10%
• Flexible Work Arrangements: Not Applicable
• Shift: Not Indicated
• Valid Driving License: No
• Hazardous Material(s): NA
• Job Posting End Date: 11/16/2026

Additional information

*A job posting is effective until 11:59:59PM on the day BEFORE the listed job posting end date. Please ensure you apply to a job posting no later than the day BEFORE the job posting end date.