Scientific Investigator Immune Cell Biology

Job description

Site Name: UK - Hertfordshire - Stevenage
Posted Date: Apr 17 2024

GSK is a world leading research-based pharmaceutical company that combines both individual talent and technical resources to support our mission to improve the quality of human life by enabling people to get ahead of disease together.

We have an exciting opportunity available for a bright and innovative cell biologist to join GSK's Respiratory Immunology Research Unit in Stevenage. You will be working in a stimulating and fast-moving environment, where we put great emphasis on high quality science. Within this context and building on GSK's capabilities in B-cell therapeutics, the role will be within the B cell biology team to help identify new targets and drive new B-cell therapies through to early clinical development.

Our role is to identify novel genetically-associated targets for immune-mediated diseases through disease phenotyping, integration of genetic and genomic datasets, to validate these targets using disease- and mechanism-relevant in vitro cell and tissue-based assays, and to progress modulators of these targets through lead optimisation and into early clinical development.

As a Scientific Investigator in Immunology, you will play a critical role in advancing our understanding of immune-mediated diseases, and developing innovative therapeutic approaches for patients that will sustain and expand our GSK Immunology product pipeline in line with Specialty Care Product ambitions. You will independently design, execute, and analyse experiments, driving the progression of our Immunology portfolio. This role requires effective communication, personal accountability skills, scientific expertise, and experience in immunology, and cellular or molecular biology, problem solving and collaboration skills.

In this role you will

• Provide intellectual input into biology strategy across a range of projects, influencing project direction by interpreting results outside area of expertise, identifying new scientific opportunities or directions and novel strategies to achieve goals and utilise a growing internal and external network of experts to build expertise. May act as a go to expert on specific scientific techniques or immune mechanisms.
• Develop and optimize in vitro/ex vivo models reflecting relevant immune mediated diseases to evaluate potential therapeutic interventions.
• Independently design, execute and analyse experiments to investigate potential therapies in immune diseases.
• Demonstrate a variety of techniques, such as cell culture (isolation, culture and analysis of primary human cells), optimisation and execution of cell-based assays (phenotypic and mechanistic) molecular biology (including RNA isolation and analysis, gene editing/silencing, CRISPR, siRNA), ELISA, MSD, Western blotting, and flow cytometry, to understand disease biology, mechanisms, targets and the potential of our molecules and targets to impact disease mechanisms.
• Analyse and interpret experimental data to understand disease pathways and therapeutic responses.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to support drug discovery and development projects focused on immune mediated diseases.
• Stay up to date with the latest scientific literature and emerging technologies in the field of immunology, both experimentally and in the field of analytics.
• Present findings to internal teams, stakeholders, and governance in a balanced, clear, and precise manner.
• Maintain accurate and detailed laboratory records in alignment with data integrity expectations and ensure compliance with all relevant protocols and safety guidelines.
• Foster a culture of innovation, collaboration, inclusion, and continuous learning within the Immunology research team and across the organization.
• Ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and ethical guidelines in all research activities.

Why you?

Qualifications & Skills:

We are looking for professionals with these required skills to achieve our goals:

• PhD in Immunology, Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, or a related field or minimum comparable track record of lab research experience.
• Independently able to design, execute and interpret experimental studies across a wide range of laboratory techniques, including cell culture (isolation and culture of primary human cells from human whole blood), optimisation and execution of cell-based assays (phenotypic and mechanistic), and molecular biology (RNA isolation and analysis).
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to effectively present scientific findings to multidisciplinary internal and external stakeholders in a balanced, clear, and precise manner.
• Proven ability to balance priorities across multiple objectives, meeting timelines while maintaining attention to detail and high-performance standards.
• Able to independently define strategic approach to tackle specific project or department goals.
• Good understanding of drug discovery, ability to influence project direction by interpreting results outside their area of expertise.
• Track record of scientific innovation as evidenced by effective support of drug discovery projects, peer-reviewed publications, conferences, internal reports, TED documents or patents.

Preferred Qualifications & Skills:

If you have the following characteristics, it would be a plus:

• Experienced and proficient in the isolation, stimulation, and functional characterisation of primary human immune cells, particularly B cells.
• Knowledge of relevant statistical analysis methodology.
• Prior experience with establishing disease relevant complex primary immune cell systems.
• Hands-on experience in multi-parameter flow cytometry techniques for the study of cellular responses.

Closing Date for Applications: Wednesday 1st May 2024 (COB)

Please take a copy of the Job Description, as this will not be available post closure of the advert. When applying for this role, please use the 'cover letter' of the online application or your CV to describe how you meet the competencies for this role, as outlined in the job requirements above. The information that you have provided in your cover letter and CV will be used to assess your application.

During the course of your application, you will be requested to complete voluntary information which will be used in monitoring the effectiveness of our equality and diversity policies. Your information will be treated as confidential and will not be used in any part of the selection process. If you require a reasonable adjustment to the application / selection process to enable you to demonstrate your ability to perform the job requirements, please contact 0808 234 4391. This will help us to understand any modifications we may need to make to support you throughout our selection process.

#LI-GSK

Why Us?

GSK is a global biopharma company with a special purpose - to unite science, technology and talent to get ahead of disease together - so we can positively impact the health of billions of people and deliver stronger, more sustainable shareholder returns - as an organization where people can thrive. Getting ahead means preventing disease as well as treating it, and we aim to positively impact the health of 2.5 billion people by the end of 2030.

Our success absolutely depends on our people. While getting ahead of disease together is about our ambition for patients and shareholders, it's also about making GSK a place where people can thrive. We want GSK to be a workplace where everyone can feel a sense of belonging and thrive as set out in our Equal and Inclusive Treatment of Employees policy. We're committed to being more proactive at all levels so that our workforce reflects the communities we work and hire in, and our GSK leadership reflects our GSK workforce.

As an Equal Opportunity Employer, we are open to all talent. In the US, we also adhere to Affirmative Action principles. This ensures that all qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment without regard to neurodiversity, race/ethnicity, colour, national origin, religion, gender, pregnancy, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, age, disability, genetic information, military service, covered/protected veteran status or any other federal, state or local protected class*(*US only).

We believe in an agile working culture for all our roles. If flexibility is important to you, we encourage you to explore with our hiring team what the opportunities are.

Should you require any adjustments to our process to assist you in demonstrating your strengths and capabilities contact us on [email protected] or 0808 234 4391.

Please note should your enquiry not relate to adjustments, we will not be able to support you through these channels. However, we have created a UK Recruitment FAQ guide. Click the link and scroll to the Careers Section where you will find answers to multiple questions we receive .

As you apply, we will ask you to share some personal information which is entirely voluntary. We want to have an opportunity to consider a diverse pool of qualified candidates and this information will assist us in meeting that objective and in understanding how well we are doing against our inclusion and diversity ambitions. We would really appreciate it if you could take a few moments to complete it. Rest assured, Hiring Managers do not have access to this information and we will treat your information confidentially.

Important notice to Employment businesses/ Agencies

GSK does not accept referrals from employment businesses and/or employment agencies in respect of the vacancies posted on this site. All employment businesses/agencies are required to contact GSK's commercial and general procurement/human resources department to obtain prior written authorization before referring any candidates to GSK. The obtaining of prior written authorization is a condition precedent to any agreement (verbal or written) between the employment business/ agency and GSK. In the absence of such written authorization being obtained any actions undertaken by the employment business/agency shall be deemed to have been performed without the consent or contractual agreement of GSK. GSK shall therefore not be liable for any fees arising from such actions or any fees arising from any referrals by employment businesses/agencies in respect of the vacancies posted on this site.

Please note that if you are a US Licensed Healthcare Professional or Healthcare Professional as defined by the laws of the state issuing your license, GSK may be required to capture and report expenses GSK incurs, on your behalf, in the event you are afforded an interview for employment. This capture of applicable transfers of value is necessary to ensure GSK's compliance to all federal and state US Transparency requirements. For more information, please visit GSK's Transparency Reporting For the Record site.