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Senior Distinguished Scientist, Head of Translational Immunology

Cambridge, Massachusetts Salary Range   USD 202,500.00 - 292,500.00
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At a glance

Bring your curiosity to a team where deep immunoscience meets cutting-edge innovation. Across oncology, rare diseases, neurology, and vaccines, you’ll work at the intersection of lab science and AI-powered discovery — all while collaborating across boundaries to turn breakthrough ideas into real-world impact. Whether you want to deepen your scientific expertise or grow as a leader, you’ll find the opportunity here.

Job title: Senior Distinguished Scientist, Head of Translational Immunology

Location: Cambridge, MA

About the Job

 Are you ready to shape the future of medicine? The race is on to speed up drug discovery and development to find answers for patients and their families. Your skills could be critical in helping our teams accelerate progress.

Sanofi is a leader in immunoscience with a robust pipeline of approved and potential new medicines for the treatment of chronic dermatological, respiratory, and gastrointestinal diseases.  We have an unrelenting commitment to scientific exploration to expand our understanding of these diseases and discover targets for new therapeutics for the benefit of patients.

We have an exciting opportunity to join Sanofi at our Cambridge Crossing research campus as a (senior) distinguished scientific leader working in translational immunology.  With a focus on our rich development pipeline, your position will direct our research strategy for enhancing our understanding and competitiveness of our assets. These include potential best in class therapeutics such as Amlitelimab (anti-OX40L), lunsekimig (IL-13/TSLP bispecific) and Rilzabrutinib (BTKi) as examples. This translational immunology role will incorporate learnings from research and clinical studies into strategies developed together with our partners in Development, Medical Affairs and Commercial to drive our research directions and maximize the value of these innovations.   

Working in a highly matrix environment, this position will involve all aspects of the pharmaceutical business and require skills aligned with being able to integrate and contribute to decisions in Research, Development, Medical Affairs and Commercial.  The incumbent must be a strong communicator and skilled in managing stakeholder relationships.  There will also be significant opportunities to develop and contribute to our internal pre-clinical pipeline of next generation therapeutics as well as external collaborations with renowned academic institutions.

We are searching for someone with a strong knowledge of immunology, and an ability to lead through strategic coordination and collaboration. The position will lead a team of dedicated scientists and therefore significant managerial and mentorship experience is essential. The incumbent will work independently, pro-actively and serve as an impactful contributor to transverse initiatives to support our business objectives, including maintaining a national and international reputation in the external scientific community through high impact publications, productive scientific collaborations, and active participation in conferences.

We are an innovative global healthcare company with one purpose: to chase the miracles of science to improve people’s lives. We’re also a company where you can flourish and grow your career, with countless opportunities to explore, make connections with people, and stretch the limits of what you thought was possible. Ready to get started?​

Main Responsibilities:

  • Identifies and develops scientific strategies to support research business goals and lead a translational immunology research team to initiate, design, and execute research experiments.

  • Build strong collaborative relationships with our internal and external partners to ensure programmatic activities relevant to our clinical experience and research interests.

  • Work collaboratively with multifunctional teams across Sanofi to leverage resources and ensure our preclinical research efforts are aligned with strategies to support the successful development of our clinical pipeline.

  • Identify multidisciplinary solutions and make complex decisions and recommend a course of action to troubleshoot issues. 

  • Develop and manage relationships with external academic collaborators

  • Communicate research through peer-reviewed publications and presentations to internal and external audiences

  • Maintain a thorough and up to date knowledge of scientific and medical developments in the field and incorporate into in-house strategies as appropriate.

  • Understand and adhere to corporate standards regarding code of conduct, safety, appropriate handling of materials such as controlled drug and radioactive compounds.

  • Supervise a team several Ph.D. and non-Ph.D. scientists, guide and evaluate the performance of those individuals, and be accountable for the effective performance of the team/individuals.

About You

Basic Qualifications:

  • PhD in Immunology or a related field with 12+ years of industry experience.

  • Possesses leading-edge scientific understanding and working knowledge of principles, concepts, and practices across immunology, including peer-reviewed publications and presentation history in notable scientific journals and forums.

  • Outstanding track record of scientific publications, presentations, patents, projects as senior author/contributor.

  • Demonstrates continuous growth in depth and breadth of personal scientific knowledge and understanding of strategic goals of group, team, and company

  • Strong managerial and mentorship skills and experience

  • Possesses strong communication and presentation skills and an exceptional work ethic.

  • Acts independently to achieve pre-determined goals and objectives

  • Able to identify multidisciplinary solutions to problems, make complex decisions and recommend a course of action to senior level management

  • Highly motivated, independent, collaborative, and able to communicate effectively with a cross-functional team

  • Exercises foresight and judgement in planning, organizing, and guiding complex projects

  • Fosters a culture of employee growth and development

Preferred Qualifications:

  • Direct research and strategic experience across multiple immunological disciplines including work in the lung, gut and skin.

  • Experience with translational medicine, including precision immunology.

  • Proven track record in the pharmaceutical industry.

Why Choose Us?

  • Bring the miracles of science to life alongside a supportive, future-focused team.

  • Discover endless opportunities to grow your talent and drive your career, whether it’s through a promotion or lateral move, at home or internationally.

  • Enjoy a thoughtful, well-crafted rewards package that recognizes your contribution and amplifies your impact.

  • Take good care of yourself and your family, with a wide range of health and wellbeing benefits including high-quality healthcare, prevention and wellness programs and at least 14 weeks’ gender-neutral parental leave.

Sanofi Inc. and its U.S. affiliates are Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action employers committed to a culturally diverse workforce. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race; color; creed; religion; national origin; age; ancestry; nationality; marital, domestic partnership or civil union status; sex, gender, gender identity or expression; affectional or sexual orientation; disability; veteran or military status or liability for military status; domestic violence victim status; atypical cellular or blood trait; genetic information (including the refusal to submit to genetic testing) or any other characteristic protected by law. 

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All compensation will be determined commensurate with demonstrated experience. Employees may be eligible to participate in Company employee benefit programs, and additional benefits information can be found here.

Pursue Progress. Discover Extraordinary.

Join Sanofi and step into a new era of science - where your growth can be just as transformative as the work we do. We invest in you to reach further, think faster, and do what’s never-been-done-before. You’ll help push boundaries, challenge convention, and build smarter solutions that reach the communities we serve. Ready to chase the miracles of science and improve people’s lives? Let’s Pursue Progress and Discover Extraordinary – together.

At Sanofi, we provide equal opportunities to all regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity, protected veteran status or other characteristics protected by law.

Watch 'One day at Sanofi' and check out our Diversity Equity and Inclusion initiatives at sanofi.com

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Why work with us

  • Expand your horizons. Grow through curiosity, with support to move, learn, and lead in a culture that champions mentorship, mobility, and bold development.

  • Accelerate results with technology. Harness the power of AI and automation to push scientific boundaries and reimagine what's possible in drug discovery.

  • Impact through inclusive innovation. Help deliver better science and fairer outcomes by driving inclusive research that reaches more people, in more meaningful ways.

  • Turn patient needs into breakthrough science. Drive scientific breakthroughs that start with patient needs – and end in treatments that change lives.

Meet Nils Libert, Associate Scientist

Meet Nils Libert, an Associate Scientist in Belgium, where he plays a key role in advancing groundbreaking research. Learn how his work helps drive innovation, uncover new scientific possibilities, and contribute to life-changing treatments that impact patients around the world.

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EVP & Head of R&D

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