Principal Scientist, Computational Sciences - Protein Structure Prediction and Design

Working with Us
Challenging. Meaningful. Life-changing. Those aren’t words that are usually associated with a job. But working at Bristol Myers Squibb is anything but usual. Here, uniquely interesting work happens every day, in every department. From optimizing a production line to the latest breakthroughs in cell therapy, this is work that transforms the lives of patients, and the careers of those who do it. You’ll get the chance to grow and thrive through opportunities uncommon in scale and scope, alongside high-achieving teams. Take your career farther than you thought possible.

Bristol Myers Squibb recognizes the importance of balance and flexibility in our work environment. We offer a wide variety of competitive benefits, services and programs that provide our employees with the resources to pursue their goals, both at work and in their personal lives. Read more: careers.bms.com/working-with-us.

About the role

We are seeking an experienced, creative, and highly collaborative scientist to join our Biotherapeutics Computational Design team. In this role, you will build and deploy cutting edge machine learning and structure-based methods to accelerate biologics discovery across our preclinical portfolio (antibodies, multispecifics, ADCs, and novel scaffolds) and play a pivotal role in scaling an agentic antibody design platform from prototype to a core engine of research

innovation.

This position offers a unique opportunity to work at the intersection of machine learning, structural biology, and drug discovery. You will leverage large-scale proprietary and public datasets and collaborate with cross-functional teams of scientists to address complex challenges in biologics discovery and engineering. Your contributions will directly support and accelerate the development of next-generation therapies.

At Bristol Myers Squibb, we are driven by a shared mission: to deliver innovative, life-changing medicines for patients facing complex diseases with unmet medical needs. If you are motivated by meaningful scientific challenges and the opportunity to make a real impact, we encourage you to join us.

Key responsibilities

• Develop and scale antibody design capabilities from prototype to application:

Advance agentic antibody design approaches into robust, reusable workflows that support preclinical discovery efforts.

• Build and apply state-of-the-art models for biologics design: Develop methods for protein structure modeling, binder design, affinity/specificity prediction, and developability property prediction using internal and external datasets.

• Deliver reliable, production-ready research tools: Own end-to-end development of computational pipelines, with strong emphasis on reproducibility, benchmarking, and maintainable, well-documented code.

• Lead through influence: Partner with computational and wet-lab teams to prioritize capabilities, translate insights into actionable decisions, and communicate clearly to technical and non-technical audiences.

Required qualifications

• Ph.D. in structural bioinformatics, computational biology, computer science, engineering, physics, or a related discipline, along with 6 or more years of relevant industry or academic experience

• Expertise in modern machine learning approaches (e.g. transformers and diffusion/flow-based generative models) and strong fundamentals in classical machine learning methods

• Experience developing and evaluating predictive models, including familiarity with model assessment, benchmarking, and experimental design• Hands-on experience with protein modeling approaches, including state-of-the-art methods for protein structure prediction and generative protein design

• Experience developing or applying agentic AI frameworks to build applications that automate and accelerate research workflows

• Strong Python skills and commitment to reproducible research and high-quality scientific software

• Ability to identify high-impact problems, work independently to drive solutions through implementation and evaluation

• Collaborate effectively across disciplines and communicate technical finding clearly through visualization, concise narratives, and actionable recommendation

Preferred qualifications

• Experience with physics-based modeling (e.g. molecular dynamics, free energy

perturbation) or closed-loop optimization methods (e.g. Bayesian optimization, active learning)

• Background knowledge in biochemistry, protein engineering, or related experimental disciplines

#LI-Onsite

If you come across a role that intrigues you but doesn’t perfectly line up with your resume, we encourage you to apply anyway. You could be one step away from work that will transform your life and career.

San Diego - CA - US: $156,890 - $190,117

The starting compensation range(s) for this role are listed above for a full-time employee (FTE) basis. Additional incentive cash and stock opportunities (based on eligibility) may be available. The starting pay rate takes into account characteristics of the job, such as required skills, where the job is performed, the employee’s work schedule, job-related knowledge, and experience. Final, individual compensation will be decided based on demonstrated experience. 

Eligibility for specific benefits listed on our careers site may vary based on the job and location. For more on benefits, please visit https://careers.bms.com/life-at-bms/.
 

Benefit offerings are subject to the terms and conditions of the applicable plans in effect at the time and may require enrollment. Our benefits include:

• Health Coverage: Medical, pharmacy, dental, and vision care.

• Wellbeing Support: Programs such as BMS Well-Being Account, BMS Living Life Better, and Employee Assistance Programs (EAP).

• Financial Well-being and Protection: 401(k) plan, short- and long-term disability, life insurance, accident insurance, supplemental health insurance, business travel protection, personal liability protection, identity theft benefit, legal support, and survivor support.

​Work-life benefits include:

Paid Time Off

• US Exempt Employees: flexible time off (unlimited, with manager approval, 11 paid national holidays (not applicable to employees in Phoenix, AZ, Puerto Rico or Rayzebio employees)

• Phoenix, AZ, Puerto Rico and Rayzebio Exempt, Non-Exempt, Hourly Employees: 160 hours annual paid vacation for new hires with manager approval, 11 national holidays, and 3 optional holidays

Based on eligibility*, additional time off for employees may include unlimited paid sick time, up to 2 paid volunteer days per year, summer hours flexibility, leaves of absence for medical, personal, parental, caregiver, bereavement, and military needs and an annual Global Shutdown between Christmas and New Years Day.

All global employees full and part-time who are actively employed at and paid directly by BMS at the end of the calendar year are eligible to take advantage of the Global Shutdown.

*Eligibility Disclosure: The summer hours program is for United States (U.S.) office-based employees due to the unique nature of their work. Summer hours are generally not available for field sales and manufacturing operations and may also be limited for the capability centers. Employees in remote-by-design or lab-based roles may be eligible for summer hours, depending on the nature of their work, and should discuss eligibility with their manager. Employees covered under a collective bargaining agreement should consult that document to determine if they are eligible. Contractors, leased workers and other service providers are not eligible to participate in the program.

Uniquely Interesting Work, Life-changing Careers
With a single vision as inspiring as “Transforming patients’ lives through science™ ”, every BMS employee plays an integral role in work that goes far beyond ordinary. Each of us is empowered to apply our individual talents and unique perspectives in a supportive culture, promoting global participation in clinical trials, while our shared values of passion, innovation, urgency, accountability, inclusion and integrity bring out the highest potential of each of our colleagues.

On-site Protocol

BMS has an occupancy structure that determines where an employee is required to conduct their work. This structure includes site-essential, site-by-design, field-based and remote-by-design jobs. The occupancy type that you are assigned is determined by the nature and responsibilities of your role:

Site-essential roles require 100% of shifts onsite at your assigned facility. Site-by-design roles may be eligible for a hybrid work model with at least 50% onsite at your assigned facility. For these roles, onsite presence is considered an essential job function and is critical to collaboration, innovation, productivity, and a positive Company culture. For field-based and remote-by-design roles the ability to physically travel to visit customers, patients or business partners and to attend meetings on behalf of BMS as directed is an essential job function.

Supporting People with Disabilities

BMS is dedicated to ensuring that people with disabilities can excel through a transparent recruitment process, reasonable workplace accommodations/adjustments and ongoing support in their roles. Applicants can request a reasonable workplace accommodation/adjustment prior to accepting a job offer. If you require reasonable accommodations/adjustments in completing this application, or in any part of the recruitment process, direct your inquiries to adastaffingsupport@bms.com. Visit careers.bms.com/eeo-accessibility to access our complete Equal Employment Opportunity statement.

Candidate Rights

BMS will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records, pursuant to applicable laws in your area.

If you live in or expect to work from Los Angeles County if hired for this position, please visit this page for important additional information: https://careers.bms.com/california-residents/

Data Protection

We will never request payments, financial information, or social security numbers during our application or recruitment process. Learn more about protecting yourself at https://careers.bms.com/fraud-protection.

Any data processed in connection with role applications will be treated in accordance with applicable data privacy policies and regulations.

If you believe that the job posting is missing information required by local law or incorrect in any way, please contact BMS at TAEnablement@bms.com. Please provide the Job Title and Requisition number so we can review. Communications related to your application should not be sent to this email and you will not receive a response. Inquiries related to the status of your application should be directed to Chat with Ripley.

R1602146 : Principal Scientist, Computational Sciences - Protein Structure Prediction and Design