Principal Scientist, Lab Head, Metabolism Drug Discovery

About the role

A healthier future drives us to innovate, advance science, and ensure access to healthcare for generations. At Genentech, we're seeking a Principal Scientist, Lab Head to lead groundbreaking efforts in metabolic disease research within the Cardiovascular, Renal, and Metabolism (CVRM) Discovery group. This role will make significant contributions to the early-stage cardiometabolic pipeline, including obesity and its comorbidities, spanning early target identification through clinical candidate advancement.

The successful candidate will build and manage a lab team focused on key biological questions, functional genomics, transcriptomics, drug pharmacology, and clinical translatability. This position reports to the VP and Head of CVRM Research Biology.

Responsibilities

• Build and manage a team (2-3 direct reports) of expert experimental biologists focused on cardiovascular and renal disease biology, target, and drug discovery.
• Conduct experimental biology with your team to support disease biology, target discovery, and validation.
• Apply expertise in biological pathways of cardiovascular and renal physiology, tissue remodeling, and disease adaptation to design, run, and interpret experiments at molecular, cellular, and organismal levels.
• Establish and leverage experimental models of disease, including models for genetic or drug screening and complex models capturing key aspects of human CVRM diseases.
• Serve as biology lead in preclinical drug discovery programs, guiding the evaluation and development of novel therapeutics for cardiovascular and renal diseases, including heart failure, chronic kidney disease, and related comorbidities.
• Drive biology strategy through a practical understanding of drug discovery optimization, screening cascades, and key biology experiments for go/no-go decisions.
• Partner closely with internal teams across Drug Development, Translational Medicine, Transcriptomics/Proteomics, Computational, and Clinical Science to drive innovative therapeutic strategies and advance transformative medicines.
• Communicate findings to internal meetings and governance boards, author documents including IND reports, and publish impactful scientific discoveries.
• Manage day-to-day lab operations, ensure best practices and compliance for ELN and documentation, and oversee external collaborations or outsourcing.
• Foster a collaborative, high-performance team culture, mentor and motivate the team, and provide career development for scientists and research associates.

Qualifications

• PhD, MD, or MD/PhD in Metabolism, Cardiovascular Research, Neuroscience, Endocrinology, Physiology, or a related discipline.
• Minimum 4 years of post-Ph.D. productive postdoctoral training and/or industry experience.
• Proven track record of driving innovative research in metabolic disease.
• Strong hands-on lab experience with state-of-the-art techniques applied to metabolic disease research.
• Demonstrated impact through high-quality publications, patents, and/or successful program advancement.
• Expertise in basic and translational research focusing on cardiovascular and renal diseases, including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, renal disease, heart failure, MASH, and related indications.
• Exceptional leadership potential, a track record of working with multidisciplinary teams, excellent written and verbal communication skills, and a collaborative spirit.

Preferred Skills

• Experience in functional genomics and transcriptomics.
• Application of AI/ML-based methodologies to biological research.
• Hands-on experience with in vivo CVRM models and techniques.

Benefits

Genentech offers a comprehensive benefits package. For more details, visit the Genentech benefits page.

Pay

The expected salary range for this position based on the primary location of California is $143,200–$265,900. Actual pay will be determined based on experience, qualifications, geographic location, and other job-related factors permitted by law. A discretionary annual bonus may be available based on individual and Company performance.

Relocation benefits are available for this posting.