Scientific Associate

For 75 years, Charles River employees have worked together to assist in the discovery, development and safe manufacture of new drug therapies. When you join our family, you will have a significant impact on the health and well-being of people across the globe. Whether your background is in life sciences, finance, IT, sales or another area, your skills will play an important role in the work we perform. In return, we’ll help you build a career that you can feel passionate about.

Job Overview

The Discovery Sciences provides support to the pharmaceutical industries by evaluating the pharmacokinetics of new drugs in vivo in a variety of test systems in early stages of drug development.

We are looking to recruit a Scientific Associate to join this exciting team of scientists in the Discovery Sciences department. The role of this team is to run PK studies (candidate selection or late stage bespoke) to understand the pharmacokinetic properties of novel pharmaceuticals in a variety of species. Working in close contact with our clients, the study directors, the management team and the internal Charles River network you will be expected to contribute to the conduct of projects to support the smooth and swift progression of novel drug candidates through preclinical evaluation and beyond. Your responsibilities as a Scientific Associate will include the following:

• Accurate and detailed documentation of activities
• Generation of critical electronic data
• Assisting with the preparation of data and reports for issue to clients
• Engagement in staff training and development programs
• Supervision of staff (where required)

Applicants should be educated to degree level ideally in a chemistry or life sciences (with a chemistry/biology component) related discipline. Relevant laboratory experience in the conduct of regulatory studies would be advantageous, however, full training will be provided.

Specific criteria that you are required to meet include:

1. Relevant qualifications, specifically a minimum of a scientific degree in a relevant discipline
2. A strong eye for detail and excellent documentation skills.
3. Excellent communication, organisation and time management skills as well as an ability to work flexibly and to tight deadlines
4. A working knowledge of Microsoft Office or scheduling software would be beneficial.

Closing date: 18 August 2026

Salary for this position is: £28,789.65 per annum.

Job Description

Performs technical laboratory activities in support of client studies or procedures. Performs analysis of data for quality and completeness and determines if results are as expected. Records data in compliance with company and regulatory policies and standards to meet quality and accuracy requirements. Executes scientific testing strategies and studies. May participate in development as part of team. May lead assay research, assay validation or study conduct, or is involved in preparation of material (e.g. protein, nucleic acid, cells, etc.). Reviews and interprets study data, communicates results to clients and writes final reports. Ensures compliance with protocols and all applicable SOPs. Troubleshoots and resolves assay or technical issues in the laboratory when scientific expertise is needed. Contributes to specific dataset interpretation, or when appropriate answering questions from regulatory authorities. For singular focus of Chemistry or Biology disciplines, refer to specified role on job architecture.

Education

No degree required

Physical Requirements

About Safety Assessment
Charles River is committed to helping our partners expedite their preclinical drug development with exceptional safety assessment services, state-of-the-art facilities and expert regulatory guidance. From individual specialty toxicology and IND enabling studies to tailored packages and total laboratory support, our deeply experienced team can design and execute programs that anticipate challenges and avoid roadblocks for a smooth, efficient journey to market. Each year approximately 300 investigational new drug (IND) programs are conducted in our Safety Assessment facilities.

About Charles River
Charles River is an early-stage contract research organization (CRO). We have built upon our foundation of laboratory animal medicine and science to develop a diverse portfolio of discovery and safety assessment services, both Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) and non-GLP, to support clients from target identification through preclinical development. Charles River also provides a suite of products and services to support our clients’ clinical laboratory testing needs and manufacturing activities. Utilizing this broad portfolio of products and services enables our clients to create a more flexible drug development model, which reduces their costs, enhances their productivity and effectiveness to increase speed to market.

With over 20,000 employees within 110 facilities in over 20 countries around the globe, we are strategically positioned to coordinate worldwide resources and apply multidisciplinary perspectives in resolving our client’s unique challenges. Our client base includes global pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology companies, government agencies and hospitals and academic institutions around the world.

At Charles River, we are passionate about our role in improving the quality of people’s lives. Our mission, our excellent science and our strong sense of purpose guide us in all that we do, and we approach each day with the knowledge that our work helps to improve the health and well-being of many across the globe. We have proudly worked on 80% of the drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the past five years.

At Charles River Laboratories, we recognize and recruit all talent. We are a company committed to fostering a sense of belonging and work daily in this direction.