Director, Protein Sciences

Responsibilities

• Champion and drive cross-functional integration across diverse research teams—spanning biology, AI design, and engineering—to successfully achieve scientific goals and address complex project demands.
• Push the boundaries of protein science capabilities by evaluating and integrating emerging technologies to increase throughput, data quality, and platform efficiency.
• Direct and optimize protein production from a range of host organisms (E. coli, cell-free, and mammalian), and a range of throughputs 10 to 1000s at varying volumes.
• Qualify all recombinant proteins by spectroscopic (UV, fluorescence), electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), aggregation (analytical SEC), validated interactions (BLI/SPR), and identity (MS) methods.
• Characterize antibodies for therapeutic properties such as binding kinetics, epitope, stability (thermal and pH), polyspecificity, aggregation propensity, etc.
• Direct the purification of soluble and membrane proteins using AKTA (and other) purification systems.
• Utilize automation systems to ensure efficient and precise execution of experiments.
• Collaborate with Process Development to strategize and perform critical experiments required for clinical development. Able to translate research assays to validated assays for the CMC process.
• Train and mentor junior team members, providing guidance on experimental design, data analysis, and troubleshooting.
• Maintain accurate and detailed records of experiments, protocols, and results in accordance with company standards and regulatory requirements.
• Interpret and present scientific findings at research meetings. Provide scientific input and propose follow-up experiments.
• Contribute to scientific publications, patents, and presentations to disseminate research findings both internally and externally.

Qualifications

• B.S. or Ph.D in Structural Biology, Protein Biochemistry, or related fields with 10+ years of industrial experience.
• Deep experience in designing and optimizing antibody production processes, including fermentation, cell culture, and purification.
• Hands-on experience in utilizing a variety of analytical techniques like HPLC, Mass Spectrometry, BLI, SPR, ELISA, and CE-SDS for antibody characterization.
• Analyzing experimental data, drawing conclusions, and providing insights to inform process optimization.
• Working with cross-functional teams, including research, CMC, and clinical, to ensure alignment and successful product development.
• Maintaining detailed documentation of experimental designs, methods, and results in electronic lab notebooks.