Director - Target Discovery Biology (TD&B)

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. With our focus on four therapeutic areas –Oncology, Inflammation, General Medicine, and Rare Disease– we reach millions of patients each year. 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-239403 Director - Target Discovery Biology (TD&B)

Let’s do this. Let’s change the world. n this vital leadership role, you will join Amgen’s Target Discovery & Biology (TD&B) organization within DATA, helping to define and deliver the next generation of discovery biology. TD&B integrates perturbation technologies, multi-omics profiling, regulatory genomics, human genetics, and advanced disease models to uncover novel therapeutic targets and deep biological insights that fuel Amgen’s mission to serve patients.

As Director, you will lead a multidisciplinary discovery organization spanning functional perturbation biology, viral technologies, high-throughput screening, and advanced cellular model systems. Together, these capabilities form a core engine for the identification of novel therapeutic targets across Amgen’s therapeutic areas. This role also sits at the intersection of human genetics and experimental biology, driving systematic functional interrogatoin of genetic hypotheses and building scalable discovery platforms that accelerate target identification and validation.

Key Responsibilities:

Lead and Inspire

• Provide scientific and strategic leadership for perturbation-based discovery platforms to drive innovation in target identification and mechanistic biology.
• Oversee cell technology and model development efforts, including cell engineering, complex in vitro systems, and viral technology platforms.
• Guide and mentor team leaders and their lab in setting priorities, developing talent, and executing high-impact discovery programs.
• Build a culture of scientific curiosity, technical excellence, and collaborative discovery across multidisciplinary biology and technology teams.

Collaborate and Integrate

• Partner closely with therapeutic area leaders across Amgen, particularly within inflammation, oncology, metabolism, and cardiovascular research, to align priorities and identify new target opportunities.
• Work collaboratively with TD&B and DATA colleagues to integrate human genetics, regulatory genomics, perturbation biology, and multi-omics profiling to drive end-to-end discovery.
• Collaborate with Amgen’s deCODE Genetics (ADG)  team to translate genetic signals into mechanistic insight through variant-to-gene-to-function discovery strategies.
• Serve as a scientific connector across discovery platforms, ensuring insights from genetics, profiling, and perturbation studies inform target discovery and validation efforts.

Innovate and Advance

• Drive innovation through the implementation next-generation perturbation approaches, including pooled and arrayed screening, combinatorial perturbation strategies, and emerging in vivo functional genomics approaches.
• Champion the adoption of automation, AI/ML, and scalable discovery technologies to enhance throughput, data integration, and reproducibility.
• Contribute to strategic planning and portfolio prioritization, ensuring TD&B capabilities continue to enable Amgen’s long-term discovery strategy.
• Represent TD&B internally and externally through scientific presentations, collaborations, and publications.

What we expect of you

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

Basic Qualifications:

Doctorate degree and 4 years of relevant industry experience

OR

Master’s degree and 8 years of relevant industry experience

OR

Bachelor’s degree and 10 years of relevant industry experience

In addition to meeting at least one of the above requirements, you must have at least 4 years experience directly managing people and/or leadership experience leading teams, projects, programs, or directing the allocation or resources.  Your managerial experience may run concurrently with the required technical experience referenced above

Preferred Qualifications:

• Ph.D. in genetics, genomics, molecular or cellular biology, systems biology, or a related discipline and 8 years of relevant industry experience.
• Proven track record of leading discovery efforts in pharma or biotech, with deep experience in functional genomics, CRISPR screening, and experimental target discovery.
• Experience building or leading perturbation and screening platforms that support multiple therapeutic areas within a matrixed discovery organization.
• Demonstrated ability to connect human genetic insights to functional biology, including variant-to-gene-to-function discovery and genetic target validation.
• Experience with viral vector technologies, genome engineering, and/or advanced cellular model systems.
• Familiarity with automation, high-throughput screening, and AI/ML-enabled discovery pipelines.
• Strong leadership skills, with experience managing multiple scientific teams and mentoring senior scientists.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to influence across complex, matrixed R&D environments.

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.

Apply now and make a lasting impact with the Amgen team.

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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 diverse, 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 and will consider all qualified applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, or any other basis protected by applicable law.

We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.