Senior Scientist, Cellular Automation

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Job Description

At Takeda we are a forward-looking world-class R&D organization that unlocks innovation and delivers transformative therapies to patients. By focusing R&D efforts on three therapeutic areas and other targeted investments we push the boundaries of what is possible to bring life-changing therapies to patients worldwide.

Objective / Purpose:

The Senior Scientist will play a pivotal role in Takedas Lab of the Future initiative building a capability to provide robust cell lines at scale to enable the execution of robust cellular assays on fully automated integrated platforms. The Senior Scientist will partner closely with Drug Discovery Units (DDUs) Lead Profiling and automation engineering to help design build and leverage an automated infrastructure to supply cells to scientists running assays to drive Takedas DMTA this role you will:

• Accelerate Discovery through Automation and AI-Integrated DMTA: Support the design and execution of cellular assays in 384- and 1536-well formats on fully automated robotic platforms with robust processes to ensure delivery of consistent cells through continuous culture or cryopreservation.
• Help create an infrastructure that operates in a highly efficient way leveraging state-of-the-art automation and technology.
• Drives Cross-Functional Impact: Partners with DDUs Lead Profiling and data science teams to interpret cellular data in the context of SAR disease biology and mechanism-of-action informing compound progression and portfolio decisions.

Accountabilities:

Advance Automated Cell Culture

• Design develop optimize and validate cellular automation platforms to enable continuous culture and large-scale cell banks.
• Partner with assay designers to drive assay miniaturization to 1536-well formats ensuring robustness reproducibility and biological relevance.

Drive Quality and Efficiency

• Ensure that all cell lines are appropriately QCd and banked.
• Leverage automation to minimize manual culture and support an assay environment that runs 24/7
• Ensure that the most disease relevant cells lines are used to drive SAR
• Contribute to seamless integration of instrumentation with LIMS/ELN systems scheduling software and digital data pipelines to enable end-to-end automation.

Ensure Data Excellence & AI-Readiness

• Apply advanced statistical analysis and visualization tools to assess assay robustness variability and data quality.
• Ensure datasets are standardized curated and appropriately annotated to support AI/ML-driven analytics and cross-program insights.
• Contribute to data governance practices that promote longitudinal learning across Takedas discovery portfolio.

Collaborate Across Takeda

• Partner closely with DDUs data sciences translational sciences and medicinal chemistry to advance program objectives.
• Communicate findings clearly in cross-functional forums and contribute to scientific discussions that shape portfolio decisions.
• Uphold Takedas values of Integrity Fairness Honesty and Perseverance in all scientific and operational activities.

Education & Competencies (Technical and Behavioral):

• Ph.D. in Cell Biology Pharmacology Oncology Molecular Biology Chemical Biology or related discipline with at least 2 years of industry experience OR
• M.S. with 8 years; OR B.S. with 10 years of relevant pharmaceutical or biotech R&D experience.
• Expert in cell culture biobanking and cell line maintenance
• Significant experience in building and leveraging cell culture automation to support high throughput workflows
• Familiarity with developing optimizing and executing High Content Assays and other assay modalities such as reporter gene CTG GPCR HTRF AlphaScreen MSD and qPCR for primary secondary and mechanistic profiling.
• Experience embedding AI/ML and advanced analytics into DMTA processes and decision-making
• Hands-on familiarity with scheduling software LIMS/ELN and data pipeline tools commonly used in automated labs.
• Proficiency in data analysis and figure generation using tools such as Dotmatics Spotfire or GraphPad.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and collaboratively in a highly matrixed cross-functional environment while managing multiple priorities and contribute to mentoring or guiding junior scientific staff.

Proven track record of:

• Hands-on experience with live-cell imaging platforms such as Incucyte for real-time monitoring of cell growth morphology and confluence kinetics.
• Design and implementation of cellular profiling workflows to track growth kinetics passage number effects and phenotypic drift over time.
• Deep understanding of media formulation optimization and supplementation strategies to support diverse cell types (primary iPSC-derived engineered lines).
• Experience establishing and maintaining automated cell expansion passaging and seeding workflows with tight control over cell health and consistency.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• The position will be based in Cambridge MA.

Takeda Compensation and Benefits Summary

We understand compensation is an important factor as you consider the next step in your career. We are committed to equitable pay for all employees and we strive to be more transparent with our pay practices.

For Location:

U.S. Base Salary Range:

The estimated salary range reflects an anticipated range for this position. The actual base salary offered may depend on a variety of factors including the qualifications of the individual applicant for the position years of relevant experience specific and unique skills level of education attained certifications or other professional licenses held and the location in which the applicant lives and/or from which they will be performing the actual base salary offered will be in accordance with state or local minimum wage requirements for the job location.

U.S. based employees may be eligible for short-term and/ or long-term incentives. U.S. based employees may be eligible to participate in medical dental vision insurance a 401(k) plan and company match short-term and long-term disability coverage basic life insurance a tuition reimbursement program paid volunteer time off company holidays and well-being benefits among others. U.S. based employees are also eligible to receive per calendar year up to 80 hours of sick time and new hires are eligible to accrue up to 120 hours of paid vacation.

EEO Statement

Takeda is proud in its commitment to creating a diverse workforce and providing equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race color religion sex sexual orientation gender identity gender expression parental status national origin age disability citizenship status genetic information or characteristics marital status status as a Vietnam era veteran special disabled veteran or other protected veteran in accordance with applicable federal state and local laws and any other characteristic protected by law.

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