Principal Scientist Jobs in San Francisco, CA

JOB ID: R-259496 LOCATION: US - California - South San Francisco ; US - California - Thousand Oaks WORK LOCATION TYPE: On Site DATE POSTED: Oct. 27, 2026 CATEGORY: Scientific SALARY RANGE: 170,568.65USD -230,769.35 USD

Join Amgen’s Mission of Serving Patients

At Amgen, if you feel like you’re part of something bigger, it’s because you are. Our shared mission—to serve patients living with serious illnesses—drives all that we do.

Since 1980, we’ve helped pioneer the world of biotech in our fight against the world’s toughest diseases. Amgen is advancing a broad and deep pipeline and portfolio of medicines to treat heart disease, obesity and obesity-related conditions, rare diseases, inflammatory conditions and cancer. As a member of the Amgen team, you’ll help make a lasting impact on the lives of patients as we research, manufacture, and deliver innovative medicines to help people live longer, fuller happier lives.

Our award-winning culture is collaborative, innovative, and science based. If you have a passion for challenges and the opportunities that lay within them, you’ll thrive as part of the Amgen team. Join us and transform the lives of patients while transforming your career.

R-259496 Senior Principal Scientist, Skin Biology and Inflammation

What you will do

Let’s do this. Let’s change the world. In this vital role you will serve as a Senior Scientific leader in skin biology, shaping therapeutic hypotheses, programs, and capabilities across Inflammation Research.

You will connect rigorous experimental biology with human data, computation, AI, automation, and emerging technologies to accelerate high-quality decisions from target discovery through early development.

Key Responsibilities:

• Provide scientific leadership for discovery programs, technology platforms, or strategic initiatives focused on skin biology and inflammatory disease.

• Define compelling, human-biology-driven hypotheses and translate them into integrated experimental and computational strategies for target identification, validation, patient segmentation, and differentiated therapeutic approaches.

• Bring deep expertise in keratinocyte biology, stem cells, stromal and fibroblast biology, epithelial-neuro-immune interactions, skin inflammation, tissue remodeling, barrier biology, and/or diseases of the skin.

• Design, direct, and interpret complex studies using relevant human tissues and advanced preclinical systems, which may include primary cells, organotypic cultures, co-culture systems, spatial and single-cell approaches, perturbational biology, and disease-relevant in vivo models.

• Continuously apply AI-enabled, computational, agentic, and data-science approaches to synthesize evidence, generate mechanistic insights, prioritize experiments, and improve the speed and quality of scientific decision-making.

• Partner with computational scientists, engineers, automation experts, translational scientists, human geneticists, clinicians, and project teams to develop integrated datasets and predictive biological models.

• Identify, evaluate, and implement emerging technologies that materially improve how skin biology is studied, including next-generation tissue models, imaging, multi-omics, high-content phenotyping, functional genomics, and scalable experimental platforms.

• Guide program strategy, milestone definition, experimental prioritization, risk assessment, and resolution of complex scientific issues. Be accountable for scientific quality and delivery against longer-term objectives.

• Influence project, departmental, and broader functional strategy by recognizing external scientific and technology trends and translating them into actionable opportunities.

• Lead and contribute to cross-functional teams, creating clarity in an evolving environment and connecting expertise across the organization to deliver results.

• Coach and provide scientific and technical guidance to colleagues across the function, while fostering an inclusive, connected, curious, and high-performing research culture.

• Communicate scientific strategy, evidence, uncertainty, and recommendations effectively to project teams, senior leaders, governance bodies, and external scientific audiences.

• Build external scientific eminence through influential collaborations, conference participation, publications, patents, and other reviewed scientific or technical outputs.

What we expect of you

We are all different, yet we all use our unique contributions to serve patients. The Scientific leader we seek is a researcher with these qualifications.

Basic Qualifications:

Doctorate degree PhD

OR

PharmD

OR

MD [and relevant post-doc where applicable] and 3 years of relevant experience

OR

Master’s degree and 6 years of relevant experience

OR

Bachelor’s degree and 8 years of relevant experience

Preferred Qualifications:

• Deep expertise in keratinocyte biology, stromal or fibroblast biology, skin inflammation, epithelial-immune crosstalk, wound repair, tissue remodeling, and/or inflammatory diseases of the skin.

• Strong record of applying human tissues, disease-relevant cellular systems, organotypic models, spatial biology, single-cell methods, imaging, omics, functional genomics, or perturbational approaches to define mechanisms.

• Demonstrated experience using AI-enabled tools, machine learning, computational biology, agentic research workflows, advanced analytics, or data integration to generate and test biological hypotheses.

• Ability to identify where technology can create a step change in biological understanding, then build partnerships and workflows that convert promising concepts into robust capabilities.

• Experience advancing drug discovery programs and understanding how target biology connects to modality, biomarkers, translational strategy, clinical differentiation, and portfolio value.

• Evidence of scientific influence beyond an immediate team, such as cross-functional leadership, external collaborations, invited presentations, senior authorship, patents, or other recognized contributions.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to frame complex science, uncertainty, and recommendations for technical and senior leadership audiences.

• Demonstrated excellence in project leadership and the ability to balance scientific rigor, strategic focus, urgency, adaptability, and operational execution.

• Commitment to coaching others, sharing knowledge, and building a connected, inclusive, and inspiring environment in which colleagues can thrive.

What you can expect of us

As we work to develop treatments that take care of others, we also work to care for your professional and personal growth and well-being. From our competitive benefits to our collaborative culture, we’ll support your journey every step of the way.

The expected annual salary range for this role in the U.S. (excluding Puerto Rico) is posted. Actual salary will vary based on several factors including but not limited to, relevant skills, experience, and qualifications.

In addition to the base salary, Amgen offers a Total Rewards Plan, based on eligibility, comprising of health and welfare plans for staff and eligible dependents, financial plans with opportunities to save towards retirement or other goals, work/life balance, and career development opportunities that may include:

• A comprehensive employee benefits package, including a Retirement and Savings Plan with generous company contributions, group medical, dental and vision coverage, life and disability insurance, and flexible spending accounts

• A discretionary annual bonus program, or for field sales representatives, a sales-based incentive plan

• Stock-based long-term incentives

• Award-winning time-off plans

• Flexible work models where possible. Refer to the Work Location Type in the job posting to see if this applies.

and make a lasting impact with the Amgen team.

careers.amgen.com

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Application deadline

Amgen does not have an application deadline for this position; we will continue accepting applications until we receive a sufficient number or select a candidate for the position.

Sponsorship

Sponsorship for this role is not guaranteed.

As an organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for people around the world, Amgen fosters an inclusive environment of ethical, committed and highly accomplished people who respect each other and live the Amgen values to continue advancing science to serve patients. Together, we compete in the fight against serious disease.

Amgen is an Equal Opportunity employer. We make all employment decisions without regard to race, color, religion, sex or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

We provide reasonable accommodations to applicants and employees with disabilities, consistent with legal requirements. Please contact us to request accommodation.