Senior Principal Scientist, Spatial Omics

Johnson & Johnson

Senior Principal Scientist driving advanced computational innovation in Spatial Omics at Johnson & Johnson. Leading AI/ML frameworks to transform biological complexity in therapeutic discovery.

Posted 5/22/2026full-timeCambridge • Massachusetts, Pennsylvania • 🇺🇸 United StatesSenior💰 $137,000 - $235,750 per yearWebsite

Tech Stack

Tools & technologies

AWSAzureCloudGoogle Cloud PlatformNumpyPandasPythonPyTorchTensorflow

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Develop and apply state‑of‑the‑art AI/ML, statistical, and computational frameworks to analyze genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, single‑cell, and multi‑omics datasets.
Lead the design and execution of spatial omics analyses at massive scale, integrating imaging‑based, sequencing‑based, and multiplexed spatial platforms to uncover tissue architecture, cellular neighborhoods, and microenvironmental dynamics.
Build scalable pipelines to preprocess, QC, harmonize, and integrate terabyte‑ to petabyte‑scale spatial omics datasets, enabling discovery‑ready data layers and advanced modeling.
Deploy, adapt and develop agent‑based models (ABM) to simulate cellular interactions, tissue‑level organization, and dynamic biological processes, incorporating outputs from multimodal omics and spatial measurements.
Fuse mechanistic models with ML/AI frameworks to generate hybrid predictive systems for target discovery, perturbation response, and disease progression modeling.
Deploy and create novel ML architectures, including deep learning, generative models, graph neural networks, and causal inference frameworks that are tailored for biological complexity.
Design and implement scalable algorithms for high‑dimensional, multimodal integration of spatial, molecular, and phenotypic data.
Prototype and benchmark cutting‑edge computational approaches, pushing the frontier of in silico biological inference.
Map, influence, and guide the development of computational and data architecture needed to support next‑generation omics and ML workloads.
Partner with data engineering and platform teams to define standards for data ingestion, modeling workflows, metadata management, and reproducible research ecosystems.
Ensure infrastructure supports large‑scale distributed training, complex spatial analytics, cloud‑native computation, and long‑term model governance.
Act as a senior scientific authority, shaping strategy and guiding decision‑making across discovery and platform innovation, without direct people management.
Provide high‑level technical mentorship, scientific critique, and modeling guidance to colleagues and collaborators.
Drive cross‑disciplinary project teams by defining computational strategy, interpreting results, and ensuring scientific rigor.
Deliver insights that advance target identification, mechanism‑of‑action exploration, pathway modeling, biomarker discovery, and patient stratification.
Translate computational discoveries into actionable biological hypotheses, experimental designs, and portfolio‑impacting recommendations.
Communicate findings effectively to scientific and strategic stakeholders.

Requirements

What you’ll need

Minimum of a Ph.D. in Computational Biology, Bioinformatics, Computer Science, Statistical Genetics, Systems Biology, Applied Mathematics/Physics, or a related quantitative discipline.
Minimum of 9 years of post‑doctoral, industry or academic experience applying advanced computational, statistical, and machine‑learning methods to biological problems.
Deep expertise across multiple omics modalities, including genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and spatial omics (e.g., spatial transcriptomics, multiplexed imaging, spatial proteomics).
Demonstrated ability to analyze, integrate, and interpret very large‑scale, multimodal datasets (multi‑TB to PB scale), including the design of scalable pipelines and distributed computation strategies.
Expert‑level proficiency in modern ML/AI frameworks, such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, JAX, scikit‑learn, and deep‑learning architectures relevant to biological modeling.
Strong background in agent‑based modeling, systems biology modeling, or hybrid mechanistic‑ML modeling frameworks.
Proven ability to design and influence data and computational architectures, including experience working with cloud‑native analytical ecosystems (Azure, AWS, or GCP) and large‑scale data engineering workflows.
Demonstrated scientific leadership as an individual contributor, including the ability to independently drive complex research programs, set technical direction, and influence cross‑functional strategy.
A strong publication record in high‑impact journals or top‑tier ML/AI conferences, reflecting innovation in computational biology or applied machine learning.
Proficiency in Python and experience with scientific computing libraries (NumPy, SciPy, pandas) and workflow orchestration tools.

Benefits

Comp & perks

medical
dental
vision
life insurance
short and long-term disability
business accident insurance
group legal insurance
consolidated retirement plan
savings plan (401(k))
long-term incentive program
vacation –120 hours per calendar year
sick time - 40 hours per calendar year
Holiday pay, including Floating Holidays –13 days per calendar year
Work, Personal and Family Time - up to 40 hours per calendar year
Parental Leave – 480 hours within one year of the birth/adoption/foster care of a child
Bereavement Leave – 240 hours for an immediate family member: 40 hours for an extended family member per calendar year
Caregiver Leave – 80 hours in a 52-week rolling period
Volunteer Leave – 32 hours per calendar year
Military Spouse Time-Off – 80 hours per calendar year

ATS Keywords

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Hard Skills & Tools

AI/ML frameworksstatistical methodscomputational frameworksagent-based modelingdeep learninggenerative modelsgraph neural networkscausal inference frameworkshigh-dimensional data integrationlarge-scale data analysis

Soft Skills

technical mentorshipscientific critiquecross-disciplinary collaborationstrategic decision-makingcommunication of findingsproject leadershipinfluencing strategyscientific rigorproblem-solvingindependent research direction