About the role
At Gilead, we’re creating a healthier world for all people. For more than 35 years, we’ve tackled diseases such as HIV, viral hepatitis, COVID-19 and cancer – working relentlessly to develop therapies that help improve lives and to ensure access to these therapies across the globe. We continue to fight against the world’s biggest health challenges, and our mission requires collaboration, determination and a relentless drive to make a difference.
Every member of Gilead’s team plays a critical role in the discovery and development of life-changing scientific innovations. Our employees are our greatest asset as we work to achieve our bold ambitions, and we’re looking for the next wave of passionate and ambitious people ready to make a direct impact.
We believe every employee deserves a great leader. People Leaders are the cornerstone to the employee experience at Gilead and Kite. As a people leader now or in the future, you are the key driver in evolving our culture and creating an environment where every employee feels included, developed and empowered to fulfil their aspirations. Join Gilead and help create possible, together.
Job Description
Job Description: Post-Doctoral Scientist – Process Development – Edmonton, Alberta
Gilead Sciences is seeking a creative and highly motivated Postdoctoral Research Fellow to join the Analytical Development organization. This role will focus on developing nextgeneration spectromicroscopy strategies (Raman, FTIR, OPTIR, MALDI MS,) to characterize longacting injectable (LAI) drug depots and understand their intissue chemical and solidstate behavior.
This position provides a unique opportunity to integrate advanced spectroscopy, multimodal imaging, chemometrics, and machine learning to address key scientific questions related to drug release, depot stability, and injectionsite responses.
Responsibilities The Postdoctoral Fellow will:
Develop and optimize Raman, FTIR, OPTIR, and MALDI MS methods to characterize depot chemistry and solidstate forms across synthetic media and exvivo tissues.
Perform stressinduced solid form transition studies (pH, oxidative stress, moisturedriven transformations) for model LAI systems.
Build machinelearning and chemometric models (CLS, PLS, PCA, imagebased segmentation) to map drug distribution, degradation, and polymorphic transitions.
Characterize drug depots in porcine dermis, fat, and muscle tissue to assess intissue transformations and correlate analytical findings with histopathology and ISR outcomes.
Integrate multimodal datasets (Raman/IR/MALDI) into unified chemical imaging workflows to support formulation development.
Collaborate closely with Formulation, DMPK, DPP, and Toxicology teams on crossfunctional LAI development.
Present research in internal forums and contribute to highimpact external publications and conferences.
Job Responsibilities:
Initiate an independent research project to develop and subsequently implement more sustainable manufacturing practices within Gilead. (1) The expectation is that this work will support the expansion of Gilead’s continuous manufacturing capabilities and may result in novel contributions to the field of flow chemistry that will be of interest to both Gilead and the broader synthetic chemistry community. (2) Selected candidate will work in a highly collaborative environment at Gilead through a 2-year term. It also provides access to world class research facilities and the opportunity to leverage expertise and resources across multiple functional areas at Gilead.
Design and develop continuous flow reaction modules for pharmaceutical-relevant transformations
Demonstrates technical knowledge, scientific creativity, and collaboration skills in the development and execution of research
Implement in-line and at-line analytical tools to support process understanding and control
Collaborate with process chemistry, engineering, and manufacturing teams to ensure development relevance
Document workflows and technical learnings to support organizational knowledge transfer
Provide regular updates to supervision and propose future research directions
Prepare internal technical reports, presentations, and peer-reviewed publications
Knowledge, Experience and Skills:
Candidate should possess a Doctoral degree in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, or a closely related discipline and have a strong background in synthetic organic chemistry or pharmaceutical process development
Demonstrated hands-on experience in flow chemistry or continuous processing
Experience in reaction optimization and troubleshooting across multiple synthetic steps
Familiarity with analytical techniques such as NMR, UPLC, and LC-MS
Familiarity with in-line analytics, automation, or process control strategies is considered as an asset
Track record of peer-reviewed publications in flow chemistry or process development is considered as an asset
Strong organizational and planning skills
Ability to work independently while contributing effectively within cross-functional teams
Excellent verbal and written communication skills, and strong interpersonal collaboration skills
Required Qualifications
PhD in Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, or a closely related discipline and have a strong background in synthetic organic chemistry or pharmaceutical process development
For Current Gilead Employees and Contractors:
Please apply via the Internal Career Opportunities portal in Workday.
Aplyr's read
Gilead Sciences is a leader in antiviral drug development, attracting professionals committed to advancing treatments for HIV, hepatitis, and other critical diseases.
What's promising
- •Strong focus on antiviral drugs with a proven track record in HIV and hepatitis treatment.
- •Recent expansion into oncology and cell therapy indicates growth and diversification.
- •Robust pipeline of innovative medicines addressing unmet medical needs.
What to watch
- •High dependency on a few blockbuster drugs for revenue.
- •Regulatory challenges and pricing pressures in the pharmaceutical industry.
- •Potential for increased competition in the antiviral drug market.
Why Gilead Sciences
- •Pioneering role in developing antiviral therapies, particularly for HIV and hepatitis.
- •Integration of advanced technologies in research, such as AI for drug discovery.
- •Strategic expansion into oncology and cell therapy through acquisitions like Kite Pharma.
Aplyr’s read is generated by AI from public sources. Was it useful?
About Gilead Sciences
Gilead Sciences is a biopharmaceutical company that discovers, develops, and commercializes innovative medicines in areas of unmet medical need, with a focus on antiviral drugs used in the treatment of HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and influenza.