Senior Distinguished Scientist, Immunoscience Frontier Lead

Job Title: Senior Distinguished Scientist, Immunoscience Frontier Lead

Location: Cambridge

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. 

We are redefining the boundaries of immunoscience by exploring how immune pathways contribute to disease across a wide spectrum of conditions—well beyond our core therapeutic areas. By focusing on shared immune mechanisms, we are uncovering opportunities to advance therapies into novel indications. This approach opens new scientific frontiers and allows us to address areas of high unmet need with greater speed, precision, and impact.

We are seeking an accomplished and visionary immunologist to join the Immunoscience Frontiers Group as a Senior Distinguished Scientist (Individual Contributor, no direct reports). This is a highly strategic and visible role for a scientific leader with deep expertise in immune biology, a strong translational mindset, and a proven track record of innovation across therapeutic areas. You will play a critical role in expanding the reach of our R&D pipeline by identifying new disease indications for therapies in research and development and by helping shape future areas of immunoscience for therapeutic innovation.

This position requires a highly autonomous, forward-thinking scientist who can bridge foundational biology with disease relevance, integrate complex datasets, and influence R&D strategy without formal line management. You will collaborate across all therapeutic areas, partner with CROs and internal teams to lead target validation efforts, support biomarker strategy, and establish external collaborations with leading academic labs. As an internal champion of immunoscience, you will elevate the visibility and impact of immune-driven approaches across the organization. You will also represent the Immunoscience Frontiers Group in governance forums and strategic discussions, and support business development efforts through scientific due diligence and strategic insight. Success in this role requires strong communication skills and the ability to influence within a highly matrixed environment.

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

• Lead strategic assessments to identify novel disease indications for therapies in early- and mid-stage research and development, grounded in immune pathway relevance and unmet clinical need

• Advance therapies into frontier indications with the explicit goal of future regulatory approval, by applying strong mechanistic rationale, translational insight, and strategic prioritization

• Drive entry into emerging scientific areas by exploring under-recognized immune mechanisms, novel biology, and cross-disease pathway insights that broaden the scientific reach of the pipeline

• Design and oversee target validation experiments executed by CROs or in partnership with internal research teams; develop hypotheses, define experimental strategies, and interpret results to inform indication positioning

• Support biomarker strategy and validation by contributing to the identification, biological rationale, and interpretation of biomarkers relevant to new indications and target engagement

• Integrate diverse datasets—including human immunobiology, transcriptomics, preclinical models, and clinical evidence—to inform indication mapping, prioritization, and translational strategy

• Collaborate across all therapeutic areas, working closely with discovery, translational, clinical, and commercial teams to align scientific direction with portfolio goals

• Establish and lead external scientific collaborations with academic labs and investigators at the cutting edge of immunology and related fields

• Champion immunoscience across the organization by providing scientific leadership, promoting cross-functional engagement, and contributing to a shared vision of immune-driven innovation

• Operate effectively within a highly matrixed R&D environment, using strong communication and collaboration skills to influence stakeholders and align priorities

• Represent the Immunoscience Frontiers Group in portfolio governance and strategic meetings, contributing scientific expertise to cross-functional decision-making

• Support business development activities by contributing to scientific due diligence, competitive assessments, and evaluation of external opportunities

• Contribute to external scientific visibility through impactful publications, invited presentations, participation in scientific societies, and collaborative partnerships

• Provide informal mentorship and serve as a scientific thought leader, helping foster a culture of innovation, curiosity, and scientific rigor across R&D

About You

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Immunology or related discipline with extensive experience with immune-targeted therapeutics

• 12+ years (post-Ph.D.) of hands-on drug discovery and scientific leadership experience in biotech, biopharma, or pharma settings

• Deep scientific expertise in emerging immunology indications, including cardiovascular, metabolic, vascular, liver, neurological or reproductive system diseases, or in emerging scientific immunoscience fields such as inflammaging and immune senescence

• Demonstrated track record of scientific impact, including milestone achievements in discovery and early development

• Strong history of peer-reviewed publications and scientific presentations

• Experience working in fast-paced or entrepreneurial environments is preferred

Core Competencies

• Strategic and creative scientific thinker with a strong translational orientation

• Excellent scientific judgment with the ability to make sound decisions in complex and ambiguous settings

• Proven ability to lead and influence cross-functional collaborations without formal authority

• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to convey complex science to diverse audiences

• Highly self-directed, proactive, and aligned with long-term R&D and business strategy

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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