Associate Principal Scientist

About the role

We are seeking a Bioconjugation Development Associate Principal Scientist to help drive bioconjugation efforts in discovery and process development, supporting Abzena Bristol’s scientific and manufacturing operations. This role involves conjugation screening, reaction optimization, downstream purification development, and scale-up activities. You will provide mentorship, training, and potential management of direct reports, lead projects, and engage in client-facing meetings and updates. Additionally, you will support sales and proposals by offering technical and subject-matter expertise, including project design and costing.

Responsibilities

• Drive and support technical execution of R&D bioconjugation activities, delivering client and internal projects from start to completion.
• Perform hands-on chromatographic purifications (affinity, hydrophobic interaction (HIC), ion exchange chromatography (IEX)), membrane filtrations (normal and tangential flow filtrations (TFF)), buffer and solution preparation, and conjugation reaction work-up.
• Develop, perform, and optimize bioanalytical characterization (HPLC, UPLC, LC-MS, SEC-MALS, colorimetric assays, etc.) of conjugate products.
• Design and manage project plans and conjugation strategies, focusing on improving project completion times.
• Serve as the bioconjugation technical lead and subject-matter expert (SME) for internal and external project communications.
• Provide training, mentorship, and management of assigned reports, monitoring performance through department-based KPIs.
• Offer SME and technical support for sales and proposals teams, including client-facing scoping calls, bid defenses, and proposal generation.
• Lead technical transfer of bioconjugation processes to manufacturing, including training, risk assessment, gap assessments, and batch record writing/review per ICH and FDA guidelines.
• Author and review documentation such as laboratory notebooks, process development reports, protocols, batch records, SOPs, and technical presentations.
• Provide on-the-floor SME and technical support during complex manufacturing operations as needed.
• Coordinate with QA/QC and management for the development of tox and GLP batches.
• Maintain technical understanding of advancements in bioconjugation/bioprocessing through literature review.
• Participate in hiring by screening and interviewing candidates.
• Operate to high ethical and moral standards, complying with Abzena’s policies and procedures.
• Communicate effectively with clients, supervisors, colleagues, and staff.
• Adhere to quality standards set by regulations and Abzena’s policies, procedures, and mission.
• Contribute to laboratory operations, including instrument/equipment operations, material shipment preparation, and consumables procurement.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

• PhD in chemistry, bioorganic chemistry, chemical biology, or a related field with >7 years of industry experience in biotherapeutic conjugate development or bioconjugation.
• Demonstrated experience applying and optimizing state-of-the-art bioconjugation or bioorthogonal chemistry techniques to produce conjugates (ADCs, AOCs/ARCs, PDCs, DACs, etc.) at mg-gram scales.
• Hands-on experience with small-scale and preparative chromatography systems (AKTA Pilot, AKTA Ready, AKTA Explorer, etc.) for purification of biomacromolecules (antibodies, fusion proteins, carrier proteins, viruses, viral vectors, or other biologics).
• Expertise in normal flow filtrations and tangential flow filtrations (TFF or UF/DF).
• Knowledge of bioprocess optimization strategies and experimental design (DoE).
• Expertise in quantitative determination of scalable process parameters for normal flow filtrations, tangential flow filtrations, and preparative chromatographic separations.
• Knowledge of cGMP manufacturing operations and GxP principles.
• Experience with protein bioanalytical techniques (HPLC, LC-MS, CE-SDS, UV-spectrophotometry, etc.).
• Experience with large-scale bioprocess equipment (pallet tanks, pumps, biowelders, biosealers, bio-rockers, single-use assemblies).
• Prior leadership experience required.
• Willingness to travel between Abzena sites (Bristol, PA; San Diego, CA; Cambridge, UK) as needed.

Physical Requirements

• Ability to stand for 1–2 hours at a time and sit for 2–3 hours at a time.
• Frequently lift and/or move objects up to 30 pounds.
• Stand/walk for the entire length of a shift.
• Use arms, hands, and fingers to handle, feel, or reach.
• Ability to climb, balance, stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl.
• Visual abilities including near and far sight, color perception, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to focus.