Toxicology Research Scientist

Location: Boston, MA; on-site five days per week

Salary: $101,600–$152,400 per year, plus annual bonus and equity awards

Company

Vertex is a global biotechnology company focused on scientific innovation and developing treatments for serious diseases.

What you will do

• Design, execute, and interpret novel in vitro models and investigative safety assays for early drug discovery.
• Apply laboratory automation and data analytics to medium- and high-throughput toxicology experiments.
• Investigate mechanisms of toxicity and evaluate the human relevance of safety findings.
• Develop and refine predictive and translation approaches for complex drug modalities.
• Present data, recommendations, and safety insights to project teams, cross-functional partners, and leadership.
• Evaluate emerging cellular models, screening platforms, and analytics technologies while mentoring junior scientists.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s, Master’s, or PhD degree with the required academic or pharmaceutical industry experience: PhD plus 2 years, Master’s plus 5 years, or Bachelor’s plus 8 years.
• Expertise in biochemical and cell-based screening assays, cell culture, and assay development using immortalized cell lines, iPSC-derived models, or primary cells.
• Proficiency in R, Python, MATLAB, or a similar scripting language.
• Knowledge of cellular and molecular biology techniques, multi-well plate-based experiments, quantitative analysis, and interpretation of complex datasets.
• Strong scientific writing, communication, presentation, collaboration, organization, and time-management skills.
• Ability to work on-site in Boston five days per week.

Nice to have

• Experience with multiplexed ELISA platforms and cellular immunophenotyping by flow cytometry.
• Experience mentoring junior scientists or supervising research activities.
• External academic or industrial collaboration experience in discovery toxicology.

Culture & Benefits

• Collaborative, multidisciplinary research environment spanning Preclinical Sciences, Medicinal Chemistry, Data and Computational Sciences, Data Technology and Engineering, and Research.
• Medical, dental, and vision benefits, paid time off, and company shutdown weeks in summer and winter.
• Educational assistance, student loan repayment, commuting subsidy, matching charitable donations, and 401(k).
• Opportunities to develop expertise in AI, technology, automation, and emerging scientific capabilities.