Senior Research Associate - In Vitro Pharmacology: Molecular and Cell Biology

About the Department

As part of the establishment of our R&D Hub in greater Boston, Novo Nordisk is growing its efforts within Chemical Biology. A cornerstone of this is an expansion of our capabilities in bioassay development and screening to support the validation of drug targets and advance drug research programs that address unmet needs within a broad range of serious chronic diseases. Building on our success in delivering treatments for diabetes, obesity, and other chronic and rare diseases, we are growing our teams and technological capabilities to explore new drug targets and to pursue the next generation of novel therapies across a range of modalities.

In growing our presence in the greater Boston area via our R&D Hub, we seek to bring together the 100-year heritage and experience of Novo Nordisk with the unparalleled Boston innovation eco-system. In Vitro Pharmacology team is part of Chemical Biology department within Small Molecule and Cross Modality Research (SM&CMR) CVP area. We are part of Therapeutics Discovery and Accelerated Execution (TDAE), a key pillar of Novo Nordisk’s Research and Early Development (R&ED) organization, which thrives on exploring new drug modalities, innovating screening and characterization approaches, and enhancing delivery technologies to support projects across all therapeutic areas. Chemical Biology is an interdisciplinary team comprised of pharmacologist, assay development and screening scientists, binding and characterization experts, peptide chemists, and protein engineers, and we are currently expanding our in vitro pharmacology team to help drive early research programs from idea to lead candidate. You will join and be able to contribute to building a vibrant and science-focused team of researchers, where innovation is at the core.

We are based in newly established lab facilities in Lexington, and we are co-located with biologists and computational scientists representing some of our key therapeutic areas, as well as AI & Digital Innovation (ADI) unit. As part of a team of leading scientists and innovators, you will bring your own ideas and collaborate with others to develop the next generation of medicines. It’s ground-breaking work with the promise of improving the lives of millions of people with chronic diseases. If you want to make a difference, join us in pioneering research that can achieve a global impact.

The Position

In your role as Senior Research Associate – In Vitro Pharmacology: Molecular and Cell Biology, you will be responsible for development of cell-based assays for emerging targets and functional screening of drug candidates to guide candidate design and selection. You will design and drive molecular biology and cell line engineering workflows to enable cell-based assay development for mode-of-action studies and compound screening in projects across the therapeutic portfolio and designed for diverse drug modalities. You will further contribute to early screening strategy and execution of experimental work across the full scope of In Vitro Pharmacology team’s functions. Our team works with diverse modalities: peptides and proteins, and small molecules, as well as occasionally oligonucleotides, and their conjugates, and your work’s aim will be to enable identification of lead candidates with desired in vitro potency, efficacy and selectivity. To achieve that, you will design, evaluate and develop and implement new in vitro assay techniques and protocols and recommend instrumentation and technologies to support and enhance In Vitro Pharmacology team’s workflows and capabilities.

You will display subject matter knowledge within molecular and cell biology in the context of in vitro pharmacology throughout early-stage drug discovery, with a general understanding of the role of other scientific disciplines in applied drug research. To achieve this, you will conduct relevant research of primary scientific literature, internal records, and other databases, as well as draw upon your internal and external scientific network to obtain knowledge, advice, and/or experimental protocols. You may receive general instructions on routine work and detailed instructions on new projects or assignments and be expected to follow standard practices and procedures, but you will be expected to set and achieve your own day-to-day operations that may impact broader team operations. You will be relied upon informing research activities timelines to meet project deliverables, including data generation, analyses, and reporting.

As a member of various project teams, you will be responsible for driving projects as an individual contributor, you will participate and impact data-driven decisions making process regarding projects prioritisation and progression. You will be expected to develop, execute, and document experimental procedures and to ensure that data is interpreted, processed, and stored in line with FAIR data principles. You will be required to present ideas and data internally at various group and project team settings. Depending upon business need or circumstance, you may be required to mentor or be shadowed by other team members. You may also be called upon to provide input and training related to specific in vitro biology and pharmacology methods or technologies, and to develop, optimize, and draft experimental protocols and study reports.

In your daily work, you will collaborate closely with scientists within the Chemical Biology department, colleagues across Greater Boston and global R&D sites. The working environment in Research & Early Development is dynamic and innovative and involves interactions with colleagues from research sites in Denmark, UK, and China, with an excellent opportunity to establish a strong scientific network.

Relationships

Internal relationships include working closely with researchers and scientific leadership within Greater Boston R&ED Hub and across global research sites and other areas and functions within Novo Nordisk. May interact with external partners and collaborators as required. Reports to of the head of In Vitro Pharmacology and may be supervised by other team members. Individual Contributor: does not manage other employees or contingent workers.

Essential Functions

• Advances research projects by applying broad knowledge of early drug discovery.
• Develops, validates, and implements in vitro pharmacology assay technologies from molecular design of genetically encoded biosensors, including nucleic acid engineering and cloning, reporter cell line generation, monoclonal selection and expansion through to assay validation.
• Stays updated with industry trends, evaluates and recommends new research tools, technologies and approaches for broad in vitro pharmacology and high throughput screening applications.
• Contributes to the design and executes mode-of-action studies to aid target validation and maturation.
• Adapts and validates in vitro cell-based assays for laboratory automation and executes high-throughput screening to enable timely and effective data-driven drug candidate selection.
• Analyses data, draws conclusions and provides expert guidance on assay development, screening approaches, design and selection of drug candidates, ensuring alignment with strategic goals and project objectives.
• Ensures data integrity so that the In Vitro Pharmacology area abides by FAIR data standards, furnishing project teams with the highest quality data and in a timely fashion to enable efficient decision-making, and enabling long-term data repurposing and machine learning ambitions.
• Collaborates and contributes to the strategic direction of cross-functional teams by providing insights and recommendations within subject matter expertise. Communicates data, findings and insights effectively to stakeholders.
• Actively contributes to building psychologically and physically safe work environment. Foster a culture of continuous learning and development within the team. Fosters integrity, cooperativity and mutual respect within the team and across the organization.

Qualifications

• High School Diploma and 10+ years’ relevant experience required, an Associate, Vocational or Bachelor’s degree with 2+ years’ relevant experience or Master’s degree with limited to no experience may be considered.
• If scientific/college degree obtained, a degree within pharmacological, biological, biochemical or biotechnological sciences preferred.
• Relevant required experience includes:
• Molecular biology skills in plasmid DNA engineering/mutagenesis, and nucleic acid cloning and purification
• Proficiency in mammalian cell culture techniques
• Hands-on experience with pharmacological characterisation of compounds in cell- and membrane-based binding and functional assay
• Competence in using industry standard laboratory equipment and instrumentation, including multimode plate readers and automated liquid handling
• Familiarity with industry standard scientific software including electronic record-keeping, entity registration, and inventory management tools
• Knowledge of basic molecular pharmacology principles, analysis and interpretation of dose-response curves, various modes of ligand binding and receptor activation
• Preferred experience includes:
• Competency in cell line engineering, selection and subcloning
• Familiarity with working with peptides, proteins and small molecules
• Hands-on experience working with lab automation and its programming
• Command of advanced data processing tools such as Prism, Python, and/or R
• Demonstrates excellent verbal and written communication skills
•  

We commit to an inclusive recruitment process and equality of opportunity for all our job applicants.

At Novo Nordisk we recognize that it is no longer good enough to aspire to be the best company in the world. We need to aspire to be the best company for the world and we know that this is only possible with talented employees with diverse perspectives, backgrounds and cultures. We are therefore committed to creating an inclusive culture that celebrates the diversity of our employees, the patients we serve and communities we operate in. Together, we’re life changing.

Novo Nordisk is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by local, state or federal laws, rules or regulations.

If you are interested in applying to Novo Nordisk and need special assistance or an accommodation to apply, please call us at 1-855-411-5290. This contact is for accommodation requests only and cannot be used to inquire about the status of applications.