Novartis AG
Research Scientist / Senior Scientist - Protein Sciences (Novartis Biomedical Research)
Job ID
REQ-10051508
Jun 20, 2025
Switzerland
Summary
Novartis Biomedical Research (BR) serves as the innovation engine of Novartis, driving cutting-edge approaches to deliver therapeutic breakthroughs for patients. Within BR, the Discovery Sciences department pioneers early-stage drug discovery and promotes innovative therapeutics to tackle challenging disease targets.
The Protein Sciences group in Discovery Sciences is an interdisciplinary team specializing in protein biochemistry, biophysics, NMR, X-ray crystallography, and electron microscopy. Our focus is to enable target-based hit identification, validation, and structure-guided drug discovery, with an emphasis on challenging targets such as membrane proteins.
We are seeking a highly skilled and motivated Research Scientist / Senior Scientist with a strong background in protein expression and purification, ideally including experience with membrane proteins, to join our team in Basel, Switzerland. This is a unique opportunity to contribute to drug discovery across multiple disease areas within a dynamic, collaborative environment that values curiosity, innovation, and teamwork.
About the Role
Responsibilities
You will work to produce high-quality proteins for drug discovery, focusing on small molecule hit generation, validation, and structural biology. Key responsibilities include:
- Express proteins insect and mammalian cell culture systems.
- Purify proteins using chromatography techniques and FPLC equipment to enable downstream assays and structural biology for drug discovery.
- Collaborate with team members to enable cryo-EM structural characterization of membrane proteins.
- Optimize protocols and processes through literature research, ideation and hands-on wet lab exploration.
- Work closely in a matrix setting with lab associates and present findings to project teams.
Minimum Requirements
- Completed apprenticeship as a laboratory technician with 2 years of practical work experience or Bachelor/Masters in biochemistry, biology, molecular biology, life sciences, or a related field with strong experience in wet lab work.
- In-depth theoretical knowledge and hands-on experience in protein biochemistry, including expression, purification, and characterization.
- Strong collaboration, organizational, and communication skills in oral and written English, with the ability to effectively present results in team settings.
- Proactive interest in acquiring new techniques in protein biochemistry, biophysics, and structural biology.
Desirable Requirements
- Hands-on experience in membrane protein expression, purification, characterization, and familiarity with cryo-EM workflows (sample preparation, grid handling).
- Prior exposure to an industrial research environment.
- Familiarity with software tools for structural analysis and AI driven protein construct design (PyMol, AlphaFold, etc.).
Why Novartis: Helping people with disease and their families takes more than innovative science. It takes a community of smart, passionate people like you. Collaborating, supporting and inspiring each other. Combining to achieve breakthroughs that change patients- lives. Ready to create a brighter future together? https://www.novartis.com/about/strategy/people-and-culture
Join our Novartis Network: Not the right Novartis role for you? Sign up to our talent community to stay connected and learn about suitable career opportunities as soon as they come up: https://talentnetwork.novartis.com/network (link is external)
Benefits and Rewards: Read our handbook to learn about all the ways we-ll help you thrive personally and professionally: https://www.novartis.com/careers/benefits-rewards
Division
Biomedical Research
Business Unit
Pharma Research
Location
Switzerland
Site
Basel (City)
Company / Legal Entity
C028 (FCRS = CH028) Novartis Pharma AG
Functional Area
Research & Development
Job Type
Full time
Employment Type
Regular
Shift Work
No
Novartis is committed to building an outstanding, inclusive work environment and diverse teams' representative of the patients and communities we serve.