At Roche you can show up as yourself, embraced for the unique qualities you bring. Our culture encourages personal expression, open dialogue, and genuine connections, where you are valued, accepted and respected for who you are, allowing you to thrive both personally and professionally. This is how we aim to prevent, stop and cure diseases and ensure everyone has access to healthcare today and for generations to come. Join Roche, where every voice matters.

The Position

In Roche’s Pharmaceutical Research and Early Development organization (pRED) , we focus on the discovery and early clinical development of innovative treatments for some of the world’s toughest unmet healthcare needs.

To complement the immunology team in Cardiovascular, Metabolism, Immunology (CMI) Discovery and Translational Area (DTA), we are seeking a creative and collaborative scientist with deep knowledge and broad experience in building advanced in vitro models to develop, validate and apply more predictive human lung model systems to study mechanisms of respiratory diseases and accelerate drug discovery.

The Opportunity

In this hands-on lab-based position, you will be leading the development of advanced in vitro airway and alveolar models and the buildup of in vitro COPD models in a highly collaborative environment.

You will be the point of contact for scientists and research associates if projects require in vitro lung model support. Your work will support our efforts to bring new targets into the portfolio and help advance them to the clinic.

Key responsibilities

• Develop, validate, and apply advanced in vitro lung models (air-liquid interface cultures & organoids in co-culture with primary immune cells)
• Further develop in vitro models from patient cells, maintaining and/or inducing a disease phenotype, including the automation of model generation
• Establish quantitative in vitro assays to evaluate epithelial and immune cell functions (e.g. mucociliary clearance, structural remodelling, inflammation)
• Establish, execute and oversee genomic and drug screening in relevant in vitro lung models
• Analyze data using appropriate statistical methods and present data in a professional format suitable for external publication
• Work in cooperation with Research Associates and Scientists

Who you are

• You hold a PhD degree in Life Sciences (cellular/molecular biology, pharmacology, immunology) or a closely related discipline with 0-4 years post-PhD experience.
• You bring a strong technical and theoretical background/ expertise in (lung) epithelial biology.
• You have extensive hands-on experience with the development, validation and application of complex in vitro systems (organoids, air-liquid interface), preferably in the area of lung epithelial barriers or mucosal immunology.
• You come with scientific accomplishments and successful collaborations documented by publications in high-impact journals.
• You can effectively present scientific data and concepts to colleagues and teams and communicate fluently in English.
• You bring excellent data management and record-keeping skills and can effectively interact with people, both internally and externally. Your experience with lab automation is a plus.

Scientific rigour and creativity, inclusive teamwork and exceptional delivery are key behaviours that drive our mission of doing now what patients need next. Together, we can be transformative.

If you are passionate about contributing to a committed team and have the dedication to partnership and innovation, Roche is the place for you!

Every role at Roche plays a part in making a difference in patients’ lives.

Who we are

A healthier future drives us to innovate. Together, more than 100’000 employees across the globe are dedicated to advance science, ensuring everyone has access to healthcare today and for generations to come. Our efforts result in more than 26 million people treated with our medicines and over 30 billion tests conducted using our Diagnostics products. We empower each other to explore new possibilities, foster creativity, and keep our ambitions high, so we can deliver life-changing healthcare solutions that make a global impact.

Let’s build a healthier future, together.