Summer 2025 - Small Molecule Drug Discovery Internship - Bristol Myers Squibb

Working with Us
Challenging. Meaningful. Life-changing. Those aren’t words that are usually associated with a job. But working at Bristol Myers Squibb is anything but usual. Here, uniquely interesting work happens every day, in every department. From optimizing a production line to the latest breakthroughs in cell therapy, this is work that transforms the lives of patients, and the careers of those who do it. You’ll get the chance to grow and thrive through opportunities uncommon in scale and scope, alongside high-achieving teams rich in diversity. Take your career farther than you thought possible.

Bristol Myers Squibb recognizes the importance of balance and flexibility in our work environment. We offer a wide variety of competitive benefits, services and programs that provide our employees with the resources to pursue their goals, both at work and in their personal lives. Read more: careers.bms.com/working-with-us.

Position Summary

The Lead Discovery Optimization department in San Diego is seeking a highly motivated undergraduate student to join our 10-week internship program. Our team is dedicated to developing state-of-the-art platform technologies and innovative cell-based assays that drive the discovery of novel small molecule therapeutics for areas of unmet medical need. We primarily focus on delivering modalities of targeted protein degradation (TPD), which repurpose endogenous ubiquitin ligases to mediate the proteasomal degradation of disease-causing proteins.

A successful candidate will have a basic understanding of cellular protein homeostasis pathways and a keen interest in learning more about TPD and drug discovery processes. This position will involve designing and executing lab-based experiments to develop robust and scalable cell-based assays for evaluating the on-target engagement of our hit-to-lead compounds.

Key Responsibilities

• Shadow and gain hands-on experience with cell line engineering techniques, such as transfection, lentiviral particle preparation, and transduction.
• Characterize cell lines using Western Blot and bioluminescence reporter assays.
• Regularly maintain mammalian cell lines.
• Shadow, perform, and optimize cell-based assays, including but not limited to protein-protein interaction assays, fluorescence or bioluminescence reporter assays, and cell proliferation assays.
• Maintain diligent lab notebook records; communicate research progress and troubleshoot issues with your mentor and team members.
• Present your project findings to peers and colleagues at the end of the internship.

Qualifications & Experience

• Strong interest in drug discovery and targeted protein degradation (TPD).
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office programs, including Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.
• Familiarity with mammalian cell culture is preferred.
• Experience with cell-based assays is desirable but not required.

The starting compensation for this job is a range from $21.00/hour - $29.00/hour. The starting pay rate takes into account characteristics of the job, such as required skills and the geographic location where work is performed. Final individual compensation is decided commensurate with demonstrated experience and education level.

If you come across a role that intrigues you but doesn’t perfectly line up with your resume, we encourage you to apply anyway. You could be one step away from work that will transform your life and career.

Uniquely Interesting Work, Life-changing Careers
With a single vision as inspiring as “Transforming patients’ lives through science™ ”, every BMS employee plays an integral role in work that goes far beyond ordinary. Each of us is empowered to apply our individual talents and unique perspectives in an inclusive culture, promoting diversity in clinical trials, while our shared values of passion, innovation, urgency, accountability, inclusion and integrity bring out the highest potential of each of our colleagues.

On-site Protocol

BMS has a diverse occupancy structure that determines where an employee is required to conduct their work. This structure includes site-essential, site-by-design, field-based and remote-by-design jobs. The occupancy type that you are assigned is determined by the nature and responsibilities of your role:

Site-essential roles require 100% of shifts onsite at your assigned facility. Site-by-design roles may be eligible for a hybrid work model with at least 50% onsite at your assigned facility. For these roles, onsite presence is considered an essential job function and is critical to collaboration, innovation, productivity, and a positive Company culture. For field-based and remote-by-design roles the ability to physically travel to visit customers, patients or business partners and to attend meetings on behalf of BMS as directed is an essential job function.

BMS is dedicated to ensuring that people with disabilities can excel through a transparent recruitment process, reasonable workplace accommodations/adjustments and ongoing support in their roles. Applicants can request a reasonable workplace accommodation/adjustment prior to accepting a job offer. If you require reasonable accommodations/adjustments in completing this application, or in any part of the recruitment process, direct your inquiries toadastaffingsupport@bms.com. Visitcareers.bms.com/eeo-accessibilityto access our complete Equal Employment Opportunity statement.

BMS cares about your well-being and the well-being of our staff, customers, patients, and communities. As a result, the Company strongly recommends that all employees be fully vaccinated for Covid-19 and keep up to date with Covid-19 boosters.

BMS will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records, pursuant to applicable laws in your area.

If you live in or expect to work from Los Angeles County if hired for this position, please visit this page for important additional information: https://careers.bms.com/california-residents/

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