Principal Scientist, Cell Line Genome Engineering
Bristol-Myers Squibb
- Location
- Princeton - NJ - US
- Work model
- On-Site
- Level
- Principal
- H-1B history
- 57 approvals (FY2023)
- Posted
- Aug 14, 2026
About this role
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 . We are seeking a highly motivated and innovative scientist to join the Cell Line Genome Engineering team at Bristol Myers Squibb. The successful candidate will play a key role in developing advanced engineered cellular models to support drug discovery, contributing to a foundational capability within Lead Discovery and Optimization. In this fast-paced and collaborative environment, the individual will work across therapeutic areas and global sites to design, engineer, and validate physiologically and/or disease-relevant cellular systems that enable the initiation and progression of drug discovery programs. In addition, the candidate will help guide project teams in selecting the most appropriate cellular models at the outset of projects to ensure strong biological alignment and maximize translational impact. To succeed in this role, the candidate should bring strong experience in drug discovery, along with a broad and deep technical background in cell and molecular biology. Expertise in emerging functional genomics technologies is highly desirable, with a demonstrated ability to implement and adapt these approaches to advance cell line engineering strategies. The ideal candidate will be able to translate cutting-edge concepts into practical, scalable solutions that enhance biological understanding and discovery outcomes. This laboratory-based position requires effective collaboration with both internal teams and external academic and industry partners. The successful candidate will be expected to integrate insights from these collaborations into innovative, research-driven solutions. This role is critical to maintaining Bristol Myers Squibb’s leadership in leveraging next-generation cellular and genomic engineering approaches to transform the drug discovery process. The successful candidate will have: A deep and comprehensive understanding of genome biology, including gene regulation and its impact on cellular function, with a demonstrated ability to apply this knowledge to design and guide strategy for engineered cellular systems in drug discovery. Extensive hands-on and strategic experience with CRISPR-based genome engineering technologies (e.g., Cas9, Cas12a, dCas9, base-editing, prime-editing and related systems), and gene delivery methods (lentiviral, AAV, electroporation, transposon), with a proven track record of leveraging these tools to build, scale, and optimize cellular models that advance discovery programs. Demonstrated expertise in engineering and deploying diverse cellular systems, including established cell lines, primary cells, and physiologically relevant models, with the ability to guide project teams in selecting appropriate model systems for specific discovery questions. Experience/familiarity with high-content imaging and cell painting and their application in drug discovery. Strong proficiency in genomic sequence analysis and bioinformatics, including short and long-read sequencing, enabling rigorous experimental design, clonal characterization, and high-confidence validation of engineered systems.