Principal Scientist
Scientific ResearchPosted 16 Jul 2026
Advertised as “Principal Scientist, Data Science (Translational Knowledge Engineering)”
Posted 16 Jul 2026
Advertised as “Principal Scientist, Data Science (Translational Knowledge Engineering)”
The original posting with the fluff stripped out
| Base salary | US$117,000 – US$201,500 / yr |
|---|
Field of studyInformation Science, Biomedical Informatics, Computational Biology, Computer Science, Bioinformatics, Knowledge Engineering (or related)
Study levelMaster's or higher
At Johnson & Johnson, we believe health is everything. Our strength in healthcare innovation empowers us to build a world where complex diseases are prevented, treated, and cured, where treatments are smarter and less invasive, and solutions are personal. Through our expertise in Innovative Medicine and MedTech, we are uniquely positioned to innovate across the full spectrum of healthcare solutions today to deliver the breakthroughs of tomorrow, and profoundly impact health for humanity. Learn more at jnj.com
As guided by Our Credo, Johnson & Johnson is responsible to our employees who work with us throughout the world. We provide an inclusive work environment where each person is considered as an individual. At Johnson & Johnson, we respect the diversity and dignity of our employees and recognize their merit.
Job Function:
Data Analytics & Computational Sciences
Job Sub Function:
Data Science
Job Category:
Scientific/Technology
All Job Posting Locations:
Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America, Horsham, Pennsylvania, United States of America, Raritan, New Jersey, United States of America, Spring House, Pennsylvania, United States of America, Titusville, New Jersey, United States of America
Job Description:
About Innovative Medicine
Our expertise in Innovative Medicine is informed and inspired by patients, whose insights fuel our science-based advancements. Visionaries like you work on teams that save lives by developing the medicines of tomorrow.
Join us in developing treatments, finding cures, and pioneering the path from lab to life while championing patients every step of the way.
Learn more at https://www.jnj.com/innovative-medicine
Position Summary
The Principal Translational Knowledge Architect & Graph Lead will be responsible for designing and implementing the semantic and knowledge architecture that enables AI-driven reasoning across the drug discovery and development lifecycle.
This role will serve as the scientific and technical lead for ontology development, knowledge graph design, semantic interoperability, and AI-ready knowledge representation. Working at the intersection of translational science, patient safety, biomedical informatics, and artificial intelligence, this individual will help establish the semantic foundation required to connect discovery biology, preclinical safety, clinical development, real-world evidence, and post-marketing safety into a unified reasoning framework.
The successful candidate will partner closely with scientists, safety experts, data scientists, AI engineers, and platform teams to create knowledge assets that support GraphRAG, agentic AI, scientific reasoning, and next-generation translational intelligence capabilities.
Mission
Build the semantic foundation that enables AI systems to reason across discovery, preclinical, clinical, and post-marketing domains while preserving scientific meaning, provenance, and translational fidelity.
Key Responsibilities
Semantic Architecture & Knowledge Modeling
Design and maintain enterprise knowledge models spanning:
Discovery biology
Toxicology
Safety pharmacology
Pathology
Clinical development
Pharmacovigilance
Real-world evidence
Develop semantic frameworks that support translational reasoning across the R&D lifecycle.
Create conceptual, logical, and physical knowledge models supporting AI-enabled scientific discovery.
Ontology Engineering & Governance
Lead ontology strategy, development, governance, and lifecycle management.
Curate and extend biomedical ontologies supporting translational safety and efficacy use cases.
Establish ontology governance processes, quality standards, and semantic review procedures.
Ensure semantic consistency, provenance, traceability, and FAIR data principles.
Knowledge Graph & Reasoning Infrastructure
Design RDF-based knowledge graph architectures and related semantic technologies.
Develop semantic mappings, inference rules, and reasoning frameworks supporting scientific decision-making.
Define knowledge representations enabling GraphRAG, semantic retrieval, AI agents, and reasoning systems.
Establish semantic interoperability across heterogeneous data sources and standards.
Translational Data Harmonization
Develop semantic bridges across major industry standards and ontologies, including:
SEND
SDTM
ADaM
MedDRA
HPO
MONDO
SNOMED CT
FHIR
OMOP
Cell Ontology
Protein Ontology
Enable AI systems to traverse translational boundaries while preserving biological and clinical context.
Scientific & Cross-Functional Leadership
Partner with stakeholders across Discovery, Preclinical Safety, Clinical Development, Pharmacovigilance, Data Science, and Digital Health.
Collaborate with engineering teams responsible for data products, pipelines, and AI platforms.
Influence enterprise semantic strategy and represent the organization in external standards and ontology communities when appropriate.
Required Qualifications
Education
PhD or Master’s degree in:
Biomedical Informatics
Bioinformatics
Computational Biology
Computer Science
Information Science
Knowledge Engineering
Related scientific discipline
Experience
5+ years of experience in biomedical informatics, semantic technologies, knowledge engineering, or scientific data architecture.
Demonstrated experience designing ontology-driven knowledge systems in life sciences, healthcare, or pharmaceutical R&D environments.
Experience working across multiple phases of drug discovery and development.
Technical Expertise
Deep expertise in:
Ontology development and governance
Knowledge representation
RDF
OWL
SHACL
SPARQL
Semantic Web technologies
Strong experience with:
Enterprise ontology management platforms
RDF graph architectures
Semantic APIs
FAIR data principles
Domain Knowledge
Strong familiarity with one or more of:
Translational science
Toxicology
Safety pharmacology
Clinical development
Pharmacovigilance
Regulatory data standards
Experience working with:
SEND
SDTM
ADaM
MedDRA
HPO
MONDO
FHIR
OMOP
Preferred Qualifications
Experience building semantic foundations for AI, GraphRAG, agentic AI, or scientific reasoning systems.
Familiarity with LLM-based retrieval and reasoning architectures.
Experience supporting translational safety, efficacy, biomarker, or mechanistic reasoning use cases.
Contributions to ontology standards, open-source biomedical ontologies, or scientific knowledge graph initiatives.
Leadership Competencies
Strategic thinker capable of translating scientific challenges into scalable knowledge architectures.
Strong communicator who can engage effectively with scientists, clinicians, data scientists, engineers, and senior leadership.
Ability to operate in ambiguous, highly cross-functional environments.
Passion for advancing AI-enabled drug discovery and development through semantic and knowledge-driven approaches.
Johnson & Johnson is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, national origin, disability, protected veteran status or other characteristics protected by federal, state or local law. We actively seek qualified candidates who are protected veterans and individuals with disabilities as defined under VEVRAA and Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act.
Johnson & Johnson is committed to providing an interview process that is inclusive of our applicants’ needs. If you are an individual with a disability and would like to request an accommodation, external applicants please contact us via https://www.jnj.com/contact-us/careers , internal employees contact AskGS to be directed to your accommodation resource.
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Required Skills:
Preferred Skills:
Advanced Analytics, Coaching, Critical Thinking, Data Analysis, Data Privacy Standards, Data Quality, Data Reporting, Data Savvy, Data Science, Data Visualization, Digital Fluency, Econometric Models, Organizing, Process Improvements, Strategic Thinking, Technical Credibility, Workflow Analysis
The anticipated base pay range for this position is :
$117,000.00 - $201,250.00
Additional Description for Pay Transparency:
Subject to the terms of their respective plans, employees are eligible to participate in the Company’s consolidated retirement plan (pension) and savings plan (401(k)).
This position is eligible to participate in the Company’s long-term incentive program.
Subject to the terms of their respective policies and date of hire, employees are eligible for the following time off benefits:
Vacation –120 hours per calendar year
Sick time - 40 hours per calendar year; for employees who reside in the State of Colorado –48 hours per calendar year; for employees who reside in the State of Washington –56 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 period10 days
Volunteer Leave – 32 hours per calendar year
Military Spouse Time-Off – 80 hours per calendar year
For additional general information on Company benefits, please go to: - https://www.careers.jnj.com/employee-benefits