Principal Scientist, Animal Genetic Engineering - Antibody Discovery

About this role

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 jnj.com

As guided by Our Credo, Johnson & Johnson is responsible to our employees who work with us throughout the world.  We provide an inclusive work environment where each person is considered as an individual.  At Johnson & Johnson, we respect the diversity and dignity of our employees and recognize their merit.

Job Function: Discovery & Pre-Clinical/Clinical Development

Job Sub Function: Biotherapeutics R&D

Job Category: Scientific/Technology

All Job Posting Locations: Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America, Spring House, Pennsylvania, United States of America

Job Description: 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  jnj.com .

As guided by Our Credo, Johnson & Johnson is responsible to our employees who work with us throughout the world. We provide an inclusive work environment where each person is considered as an individual. At Johnson & Johnson, we respect the diversity and dignity of our employees and recognize their merit.

We are searching for the best talent for a Principal Scientist, Animal Genetic Engineering – Antibody Discovery to be based in Cambridge, MA or Spring House, PA.

Purpose: We are seeking an innovative, hands-on Principal Scientist to design and engineer wild-type or transgenic mouse models that enhance the efficiency and success rate of antibody discovery against historically challenging target classes, including multi-pass membrane proteins and G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). This role sits at the intersection of mouse genetic engineering, B cell biology, and therapeutic antibody discovery, and contributes across the full arc of in vivo model innovation – from concept and proposal, through externally executed engineering, to in-house validation within our antibody discovery platform.

This role will combine expertise in mouse genetics, CRISPR genome engineering, B cell immunology, and antibody discovery to establish next-generation platforms for challenging therapeutic targets where conventional antigen-bait approaches are limited.  A deep understanding of B cell biology and the humoral immune response is central to this position. The successful candidate will apply that expertise to rationally engineer the mouse humoral system – for example, to broaden the antibody repertoire, break tolerance to conserved self-antigens, and improve the quality and diversity of B cell responses against difficult antigens, enables B cell identification without antigen labeling, and recover conformational and membrane-dependent binders often missed by bait-based sorting. They will identify opportunities, build the scientific rationale, draft detailed engineering and study plans, and secure endorsement from leadership. They will then partner with Contract Research Organizations (CROs) to execute the animal engineering work, and subsequently test and validate the engineered animals in end-to-end antibody discovery campaigns.

Responsibilities: • Strategy & Proposal Development: Identify and prioritize opportunities where genetic engineering of wild-type or transgenic mouse models can improve antibody discovery outcomes, enabling B cell identification without antigen labeling for difficult targets such as membrane proteins, GPCRs, and other low-immunogenicity or highly conserved antigens. Develop the scientific rationale, draft detailed engineering and study plans, and secure endorsement from leadership and relevant governance bodies.

• Animal Engineering via CRO Partnership: Partner with and scientifically manage external CROs to execute animal engineering work, including targeting/construct design, genome editing (e.g., CRISPR/Cas9), founder generation, and colony establishment. Serve as the primary scientific and technical point of contact, ensuring deliverables meet quality standards, timelines, and design intent.

• Testing & Validation: Design and execute studies to test and validate engineered animals within the antibody discovery workflow enabling B cell identification without antigen labeling and benchmark activation-based sorting against conventional antigen-bait approaches using diversity, affinity, specificity, functionality, and developability metrics.

• Technical Innovation & B Cell Engineering: Stay at the forefront of transgenic and genome-engineering technologies, B cell biology, and in vivo antibody discovery. Evaluate and integrate new approaches (e.g., humanized immunoglobulin loci, alternative genetic backgrounds, and tolerance-breaking or antigen-presentation strategies) that shape B cell development, repertoire, and the germinal-center response to overcome the challenges associated with recoveries of conformational and membrane-dependent binders often missed by bait-based sorting.

• Cross-Functional Portfolio Support: Lead the design of immunogens and immunization strategies, evaluate germinal center responses, and assess immune response quality to drive successful antibody discovery campaigns.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with antibody discovery, protein

Similar jobs

• Principal Scientist, Antibody Discovery and Engineering — Modernatx · Cambridge, Massachusetts | Research
• Sr Scientist, Antibody Discovery — Twistbioscience · USA - Quincy, MA
• Associate Scientist, Biology - in vivo Antibody Discovery — "Gilead Sciences · Foster City, California, United States
• Director, Antibody Discovery — Flagshippioneeringinc · Cambridge, MA USA
• Principal Scientist, Biologics Discovery — Johnson & Johnson · Spring House, Pennsylvania, United States
• Senior Scientist, Antibody Conjugation — Nurix · Brisbane, CA
• Research Associate, Upstream Antibody Discovery — Twistbioscience · USA - Quincy, MA
• Associate Principal Scientist, Immunology Discovery — Merck · San Diego (Science Park Road), California, United States