Director, Protein Sciences

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

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Job Function:

Discovery & Pre-Clinical/Clinical Development

Job Sub Function:

Biotherapeutics R&D

Job Category:

People Leader

All Job Posting Locations:

Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America, Spring House, Pennsylvania, United States of America

Job Description:

About Innovative Medicine

Our expertise in Innovative Medicine is informed and inspired by patients, whose insights fuel our science-based advancements. Visionaries like you work on teams that save lives by developing the medicines of tomorrow.

Join us in developing treatments, finding cures, and pioneering the path from lab to life while championing patients every step of the way.

Learn more at

Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine R&D is recruiting for a Director, Protein Sciences. This position is a hybrid role and can be located in Spring House, PA or Cambridge, MA.

The Director, Protein Sciences will integrate target biology insight, computational protein design, cell engineering, and experimental protein sciences to drive the generation of high-quality immunogens and screening reagents. As a key member in the Antibody Discovery Group, this position will play a central role in evaluating novel protein targets, including mining and interpreting public-domain data, and applying innovative structural and computational tools to inform antigen design strategies and deliver reagents for hit generation campaigns.

The Director will contribute to multiple aspects of antibody discovery in a globally-integrated research environment, with responsibility spanning from early target assessment through reagent generation and discovery enablement. This role represents a critical function within a dynamic Biologics Discovery organization committed to delivering next-generation biotherapeutics to patients.

We are seeking a scientifically thorough and collaborative leader who can work across discovery teams to drive impact across a diverse portfolio of innovative drug concepts. Success will require the ability to operate effectively within a highly coordinated, fast-paced environment, while contributing both strategically and hands-on to program advancement.

Principal Responsibilities:

Target Assessment and Antigen Strategy

Lead evaluation of therapeutic targets, including:

• Structural, sequence, and domain architecture analysis

• Integration of internal and external data (literature, databases, structural repositories)

Define antigen and engineered-cell design strategies to support antibody discovery:

• Construct design and domain selection

• Epitope exposure and conformational state optimization

• Strategies for difficult targets (e.g., multi-pass membrane proteins) including Nanodisc technology and nucleic acid immunogen design

Protein Design & Engineering

Apply computational and structural biology approaches to protein design:

• Homology modeling, structural analysis, and rational mutagenesis

• Integration of emerging AI/ML-based protein design tools

Engineer proteins to improve:

• Stability and expression

• Functional relevance for discovery assays and immunization

Qualifications:

• A minimum of a Ph.D. in Biochemistry, Structural Biology, Protein Engineering, or a related discipline is required.

• A minimum of 10 years of experience in biologics discovery or protein sciences is required.

• Demonstrated leadership experience within the pharmaceutical or biotech industry is required.

• Strong knowledge in the following is required: antigen design and generation for antibody discovery; structural biology and protein sequence analysis; biologics discovery workflows from target to lead identification.

• Experience or domain knowledge in Oncology, Immunology, and/or Neuroscience is preferred.

• People management experience is preferred.

• Must have excellent verbal and written communication skills.

• Must be strategic with a strong scientific mindset.

• The ability to operate effectively within a highly coordinated, fast-paced matrix environment is required.

Johnson & Johnson is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, disability, protected veteran status or other characteristics protected by federal, state or local law. We actively seek qualified candidates who are protected veterans and individuals with disabilities as defined under VEVRAA and Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act.

Johnson & Johnson is committed to providing an interview process that is inclusive of our applicants’ needs. If you are an individual with a disability and would like to request an accommodation, external applicants please contact us via internal employees contact AskGS to be directed to your accommodation resource.

#LI-Hybrid

Required Skills:

Preferred Skills:

Analytical Reasoning, Biochemistry, Business Savvy, Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Control (CMC), Clinical Research and Regulations, Clinical Trial Designs, Compliance Management, Developing Others, Drug Discovery Development, Inclusive Leadership, Leadership, Molecular Diagnostics, Operational Excellence, Pharmacovigilance, Process Improvements, Productivity Planning, Product Strategies, Program Management, Scientific Research, Stakeholder Management

The anticipated base pay range for this position is :

$164,000.00 - $282,900.00

Additional Description for Pay Transparency:

Subject to the terms of their respective plans, employees are eligible to participate in the Company’s consolidated retirement plan (pension) and savings plan (401(k)).

This position is eligible to participate in the Company’s long-term incentive program.

Subject to the terms of their respective policies and date of hire, employees are eligible for the following time off benefits:

Vacation –120 hours per calendar year

Sick time - 40 hours per calendar year; for employees who reside in the State of Colorado –48 hours per calendar year; for employees who reside in the State of Washington –56 hours per calendar year

Holiday pay, including Floating Holidays –13 days per calendar year

Work, Personal and Family Time - up to 40 hours per calendar year

Parental Leave – 480 hours within one year of the birth/adoption/foster care of a child

Bereavement Leave – 240 hours for an immediate family member: 40 hours for an extended family member per calendar year

Caregiver Leave – 80 hours in a 52-week rolling period10 days

Volunteer Leave – 32 hours per calendar year

Military Spouse Time-Off – 80 hours per calendar year

For additional general information on Company benefits, please go to: -