Job Details

Scientific Project Manager I

Job ID: req1530
Employee Type: exempt full-time
Facility: Frederick: Ft Detrick
Location: PO Box B, Frederick, MD 21702 USA

The Frederick National Laboratory is a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and operated by Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc.  The lab addresses some of the most urgent and intractable problems in the biomedical sciences in cancer and AIDS, drug development and first-in-human clinical trials, applications of nanotechnology in medicine, and rapid response to emerging threats of infectious diseases.

Our core values of accountability, compassion, collaboration, dedication, integrity, and versatility serve as a guidepost for how we do our work every day in serving the public’s interest.  

 Position Overview:

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research (FNL) is a Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and operated by the prime contractor Leidos Biomedical Research, Inc. FNL is responsible for pursuing a unique mission in translational and applied biomedical research that is unsuitable for academia, the pharmaceutical industry, or other federal contractors.  This open position in is ideally suited for a scientist who is more interested in applied Research & Development than in pursuing basic research knowledge. The selected candidate will join the NExT/CBC support group.

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) established the Chemical Biology Consortium (CBC) as the drug discovery engine of the NCI Experimental Therapeutics (NExT) Program (http://next.cancer.gov). The NExT Program mission is to produce agents that move along a milestone-based path to become anticancer therapeutics. The consortium is composed of members from academic, government, and private institutions that provide the essential scientific knowledge, skills, and technical capabilities required to discover new therapeutic compounds and advance them into clinical candidates. Scientific Project Managers at Leidos Biomed work with the NCI Chemical Biology Consortium (CBC) and the drug discovery project teams to help manage the program for NCI. The CBC serves to bridge the gap between scientifically-based therapeutic hypotheses and the creation of a novel chemical entity with potential to provide clinical benefit to cancer patients.

KEY ROLES/RESPONSIBILITIES

• Collection, quality control evaluation, and curation of data and results, from CBC Centers and other subcontractors working on drug discovery project teams, for deposition into a relational database
• Communicating with CBC Centers regarding submission of assay results, formatting of data, and identifying and troubleshooting potential issues
• Communicating with NCI and Leidos staff involved in database administration to ensure deposited results can be accurately retrieved
• Communicating with end users of the database, at CBC Centers, Leidos, and NCI
• Preparation of new protocol documents to enable results from new or different assays to be uploaded and searchable in the database
• Contributing to project teams through scientific engagement, discussion with other SPMs, and participation at team meetings
• Providing project management where needed to project teams
• Assisting in preparation of project team reports and/or presentations, as requested

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS

• Possession of a Masters degree or higher from an accredited college or university according to the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) in a relevant field to (Biomedical Science, Physical Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Informatics, etc.). Foreign degrees must be evaluated for U.S. equivalency
• In addition to education requirements, eight (8) years of experience with progressive responsibility working in the pharmaceutical or biotech industry as a scientist integrated in a drug discovery program as a data generator, database administrator, or person responsible for the curation of biological data that is generated by the project team
• Demonstrated ability to interact constructively with other drug discovery scientists (e.g., biologists, chemists, informatics staff, etc.) in a complex discovery project environment
• Ability to critically evaluate the quality of scientific assay data and results
• Possess a thorough understanding of theoretical and applied biochemical, biophysical, or cellular biology disciplines and their associated assays and typical outputs used to measure the effects of small molecules on biological targets
• Experience in running, processing, and enforcing quality control of biological assay(s) and translating the derived information into a format or template suitable for upload into a database
• Familiarity with chemical structures and related biological activity
• An understanding of project management concepts and principles and experience applying them in a drug discovery setting
• Excellent written and oral communication skills and attentiveness to detail
• Must be able to obtain and maintain a security clearance

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience using data surfacing and analysis applications such as Accord, Pipeline Pilot, D360, or Spotfire
• Understanding of relational database structure
• Experience working in a collaborative project team that is composed of one or more external research groups
• Familiarity with CambridgeSoft and BioAssay software
• Experience with administration of Microsoft SharePoint work spaces

Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE) | Minority/Female/Disabled/Veteran (M/F/D/V) | Drug Free Workplace (DFW)

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