Sr. Scientist, Assay Development, Infectious Disease Research

The Role:

Moderna Infectious Diseases is seeking a talented, experienced, and motivated Senior Scientist with expertise in viral vaccine development, viral immunology, and virological assay development. The candidate will be part of teams responsible for advancing therapeutic and vaccine candidates from early discovery to clinical studies. The candidate will work on development of assays to evaluate immune responses to vaccination and to support the identification and selection of novel vaccine antigens as well as establishing immune correlate of protection. In addition, the candidate will help to identify, develop, and use novel immunological tools to identify vaccine approaches that work best for targets of interest. The candidate will interface with collaborators and present results both internally and externally. The ability to effectively communicate across internal multi-disciplinary teams and with external partners is required.  Applicants should be curious, collaborative, and excited to work with cutting edge mRNA technology in the advancement of vaccines and therapies against unresolved infectious disease challenges. 

Here’s What You Will Do:

• Develop immunological assays to support Moderna vaccine development pipeline using diverse assay platforms such as MSD, Luminex, and Octet

• Support the evaluation of novel vaccine and immunotherapy candidates in vitro and in vivo and ex vivo

• Develop and support the routine performance of a variety of ligand binding assays, cell-based assays and neutralization assays

• Develop and implement a variety of functional assays to support the biological characterization of clinical and preclinical vaccine candidates

• Assist in the identification and validation of new targets for vaccine intervention

• Work closely with preclinical CROs to develop assays and immunological endpoint evaluations for preclinical studies, review and report results.    

• Identify and implement relevant novel immunological approaches and technology to accelerate infectious disease research

• Manage multiple experiments, projects, and interactions with supporting functions simultaneously

• Interpret, troubleshoot, and report complex data

• Propose novel vaccine and therapeutic targets aligned with Moderna ID strategy

• Work closely with cross-functional teams across the Moderna ecosystem, collaborators and CROs to progress candidates from Discovery through IND-enabling studies

Here’s What You Will Bring to the Table:

• Ph.D. in Virology, Microbiology, or Immunology, with 5+ years of related Post-Ph.D. research experience.  Preferred: 3+ years of independent research experience in the pharmaceutical or biotech industry

• Possess a deep understanding of viral pathogenesis and viral immunology

• Expertise in design and executing immunoassays and preclinical evaluations for viral vaccine and therapeutic candidates

• Proficient in the design and set up of in vitro assays, serological assays and cell-based assays

• Contributions to high impact publications and presentations in the field of virology, vaccinology and viral immunology

• Demonstrated ability to design and execute new experimental approaches

• Excellent team spirit, communication, and presentation skills

• The ability to work in a cross-functional work environment is critical; strong leadership skills and independence skills are expected

• Excellent written, presentation and interpersonal communication skills; ability to influence and collaborate in a team environment

• Candidate will be curious in exploring new path for drug discovery, bold in proposing creative experimental designs and ideas. Will work collaboratively with multifunctional teams and will be relentless in pursuing successful outcomes

• Preferred: Experience in management and collaboration

Moderna is pleased to provide you and your family with a comprehensive and innovative suite of benefits, including:

• Highly competitive and inclusive medical, dental and vision coverage options
• Flexible Spending Accounts for medical expenses and dependent care expenses
• Lifestyle Spending Account funds to help you engage in personal enrichment and self-care activities
• Family care benefits, including subsidized back-up care options and on-demand tutoring
• Free premium access to fitness, nutrition, and mindfulness classes 
• Exclusive preferred pricing on Peloton fitness equipment
• Adoption and family-planning benefits
• Dedicated care coordination support for our LGBTQ+ community
• Generous paid time off, including:
  •    Vacation, sick time and holidays
  •    Volunteer time to participate within your community
  •    Discretionary winter shut down 
  •    Paid sabbatical after 5 years; every 3 years thereafter
• Generous Paid Leave offerings, including 18 weeks of 100% paid parental leave for all new parents
• 401k match and Financial Planning tools
• Moderna-paid Life, LTD and STD insurance coverages, as well as voluntary benefit options
• Complimentary concierge service including home services research, travel booking, and entertainment requests
• Free parking or subsidized commuter passes
• Location-specific perks and extras!

Candidates should be aware that Moderna currently maintains a policy requiring all US-based employees to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and receive a booster shot once eligible. Newly hired employees must be vaccinated and boosted prior to their employment start date. Moderna is an equal opportunity employer and will provide a reasonable accommodation to those unable to be vaccinated or receive a booster where it is not an undue hardship to the company to do so as provided under federal, state, and local law.

About Moderna

In over 10 years since its inception, Moderna has transformed from a research-stage company advancing programs in the field of messenger RNA (mRNA), to an enterprise with a diverse clinical portfolio of vaccines and therapeutics across seven modalities, a broad intellectual property portfolio in areas including mRNA and lipid nanoparticle formulation, and an integrated manufacturing plant that allows for rapid clinical and commercial production at scale. Moderna maintains alliances with a broad range of domestic and overseas government and commercial collaborators, which has allowed for the pursuit of both groundbreaking science and rapid scaling of manufacturing. Most recently, Moderna's capabilities have come together to allow the authorized use and approval of one of the earliest and most effective vaccines against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Moderna's mRNA platform builds on continuous advances in basic and applied mRNA science, delivery technology and manufacturing, and has allowed the development of therapeutics and vaccines for infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, rare diseases, cardiovascular diseases and autoimmune diseases. Moderna has been named a top biopharmaceutical employer by Science for the past seven years. To learn more, visit www.modernatx.com.

Moderna is a smoke-free, alcohol-free and drug-free work environment.

Moderna is committed to equal employment opportunity and non-discrimination for all employees and qualified applicants without regard to a person’s race, color, gender, age, religion, national origin, ancestry, disability, veteran status, genetic information, sexual orientation or any characteristic protected under applicable law. Moderna will make reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with known disabilities, in accordance with applicable law.

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