Principal Scientist, Bioinformatics

<div class="content-intro"><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Legend Biotech is a global biotechnology company dedicated to treating and, one day, curing life-threatening diseases. Headquartered in Bridgewater, New Jersey, we are advancing the next generation of cell therapy through a portfolio of innovative technologies, including autologous, allogeneic, and in vivo cell therapy approaches. Our research spans chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T), T-cell receptor (TCR-T), natural killer (NK) cell-based therapies, and other emerging platforms designed to transform the treatment of serious diseases. From our global network of research and development sites, we are committed to discovering and developing safe, effective, and cutting-edge therapies for patients worldwide.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Legend Biotech entered into a global collaboration agreement with Johnson & Johnson to jointly develop and commercialize CARVYKTI® (ciltacabtagene autoleucel; cilta-cel). Through this strategic partnership, we combine complementary expertise and capabilities to advance innovative immunotherapies for patients living with multiple myeloma.</span></p></div><p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Legend Biotech is seeking a <strong>Principal Scientist, Bioinformatics</strong> as part of the <strong>Research & Development </strong>team based in <strong>Somerset, NJ.</strong></span></p> <p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Role Overview</strong></span></p> <p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Legend Biotech is at the forefront of developing innovative cell-based therapies. We are seeking a highly motivated and innovative Principal Scientist of Bioinformatics with focus on AI for Drug Discovery & Protein Engineering to join our multidisciplinary R&D team. In this role, you will be a key driver in development of generative AI models and agentic AI systems to discover novel disease targets. </span><br><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Concurrently, you will apply geometric deep learning and structural biology principles to design and refine high-affinity binders (such as scFvs, VHHs, or novel scaffolds) specifically tailored for CAR-T cell therapies.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Key Responsibilities</strong></span></p> <ul> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>AI-driven target discovery & agentic architecture.</strong></span><br><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Architect and deploy agentic AI systems to mine multi-omic datasets, clinical literature, and biological pathways for novel, tumor-specific drug targets; Build predictive frameworks using transcriptomics and other datasets to evaluate target draggability and potential off-tumor toxicity.</span></li> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Generative AI & model development </strong></span><br><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Develop/adapt generative models (e.g., protein language models, diffusion models, and inverse folding algorithms) to design novel, highly specific binders for target tumor antigens; Model immune interfaces using advanced geometric deep learning to predict paratope-epitope interactions, ensuring high specificity and minimizing off-tumor toxicity.</span></li> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Rational design, refinement & developability engineering</strong></span><br><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Inspect AI-designed binders to fix physical anomalies, optimize hydrophobic packing and hydrogen bonding networks, and resolve steric clashes or backbone strain; Tune binder biophysical properties to achieve optimal CAR-T signaling and prevent T-cell exhaustion.</span></li> </ul> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Requirements</strong></span></p> <ul> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ph.D. in Computational Biology, Computer Science, Structural Biology, or Biophysics.</span></li> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">3+ years of post-PhD experience (or 6+ years for MS/BS) in biotech/pharmaceutical industry or advanced research setting focusing on computational drug discovery, target identification, and antibody/binder design.</span></li> <li style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Expert programming proficiency and deep learning frameworks in Python and primarily PyTorch.</span></li> <li