Scientist, Rare Disease Biology
Scientist, Rare Disease Biology
US - California - Thousand Oaks Apply NowJoin 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. Amgen is advancing a broad and deep pipeline of medicines to treat cancer, heart disease, inflammatory conditions, rare diseases, and obesity and obesity-related conditions. 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.
Scientist, Rare Disease Biology
What you will do
Let’s do this. Let’s change the world. Amgen is seeking a rare disease biology scientist. The successful candidate will contribute to the discovery and advancement of innovative therapies for rare diseases by serving as a core member of multidisciplinary disease-focused research teams. The scientist will apply both experimental and data-driven approaches to investigate disease mechanisms, evaluate novel therapeutic targets, and generate insights that inform portfolio decisions. This role offers the opportunity to work at the intersection of autoimmune disease biology, tissue remodeling, human data, and emerging technologies within a highly collaborative and scientifically rigorous environment.
- Design, execute, analyze, and interpret in vitro and ex vivo studies to investigate disease mechanisms and evaluate therapeutic hypotheses.
- Generate high-quality experimental data to support target identification, validation, and progression of rare disease research programs.
- Investigate biological processes relevant to Thyroid Eye Disease, including immune dysregulation, fibroblast activation, tissue remodeling, and inflammatory signaling pathways.
- Integrate experimental findings with published literature, human genetics, clinical observations, and other data sources to develop mechanistic insights and inform scientific decision-making.
- Apply computational and data analysis tools to evaluate datasets, identify trends, and support target prioritization efforts.
- Contribute to the development and implementation of innovative experimental approaches that improve scientific rigor, efficiency, and translational relevance.
- Serve as an active member of disease-focused research pods, collaborating closely with disease biologists, computational scientists, translational researchers, and partner functions.
- Participate in scientific discussions, target reviews, and portfolio evaluations by contributing data-driven insights and recommendations.
- Build and maintain productive relationships with internal and external collaborators, including academic partners, foundations, and scientific experts when appropriate.
- Present scientific findings and recommendations to project teams, governance forums, and departmental meetings.
- Maintain accurate documentation and contribute to organizational knowledge-sharing efforts.
- Embrace and contribute to a culture of scientific curiosity, collaboration, continuous learning, and operational excellence.
What we expect of you
We are all different, yet we all use our unique contributions to serve patients. The professional we seek is a Scientist with the following qualifications:
Basic Qualifications
- PhD in Immunology, Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, Pharmacology, Biomedical Sciences, or related discipline
OR
- Master's degree and 2 years of scientific research experience
OR
- Bachelor's degree and 4 years of scientific research experience
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience in fibroblast biology, tissue remodeling, fibrosis, stromal cell biology, extracellular matrix biology, or related disease mechanisms.
- Experience studying cellular interactions that drive tissue inflammation, remodeling, and pathological structural changes.
- Demonstrated expertise in designing and executing cell-based, molecular, and biochemical assays to investigate complex disease biology.
- Experience working with primary human cells, fibroblast systems, tissue-derived cultures, organoid models, or advanced in vitro disease models.
- Understanding of pathways involved in tissue remodeling, fibrosis, wound healing, extracellular matrix regulation, and/or fibro-inflammatory disease processes.
- Experience applying transcriptomic, proteomic, imaging, or other data-rich approaches to investigate cellular phenotypes and disease mechanisms.
- Strong data analysis and interpretation skills, including experience working with complex biological datasets.
- Experience integrating experimental findings with scientific literature, human genetics, omics, or clinical datasets to generate mechanistic insights.
- Demonstrated ability to combine experimental and computational approaches to scientific problem-solving.
- Scientific curiosity and the ability to rapidly learn new disease areas, biological systems, and technologies.
- Experience working effectively within highly collaborative and matrixed research environments.
- Excellent communication skills and ability to present scientific concepts clearly to diverse audiences.
- Ability to balance scientific rigor with urgency and adaptability in a dynamic research environment.
- Demonstrated commitment to teamwork, knowledge sharing, and continuous improvement.
- Familiarity with AI-enabled scientific tools, computational workflows, image analysis, or advanced data analytics is desirable.
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.
