Senior Scientist – Antibody Drug Discovery

Location: Gaithersburg, MD (onsite; relocation assistance available)

The Company

Our client is a rapidly growing, biotech focused company that is committed to discovering and developing innovative new treatments to address serious CNS diseases across various drug modalities including biologics, RNA therapeutics, and small molecules. The company raised a significant Series A financing which positions the company for rapid growth and pipeline advancement. 

The Position

We are seeking a Senior Scientist to work on antibody drug discovery programs related to neurological disorders. This position supports early discovery efforts using molecular biology, protein biochemistry and antibody discovery methods. Successful candidate is expected to use a variety of cellular, molecular biology and biochemical methods in support of drug discovery programs.

Key responsibilities:

• Perform cutting-edge research in neurological disorders to support drug discovery programs.
• Discover antibody hit molecules using phage/yeast display and/or hybridoma technologies.
• Engineer and optimize antibody lead molecules through sub-library, humanization, and affinity tuning.
• Generate expression constructs and express/purify biologics using mammalian expression system.
• Characterize antibody properties in various in vitro biochemical and cellular assays.
• Review, analyze and interpret experimental results and present key findings.
• Analyze data, interpret results, identify problems, and develop trouble shooting plans.
• Present research findings internally and at scientific meetings/conferences.
• Collaborate with both internal and external scientists in a variety of teams including CROs, translational medicine, medical sciences, and CMC.
• May supervise research associates and scientists.

Core Qualifications and Experience

• Ph.D. in biochemistry, cell and molecular biology, pharmacology, immunology, neurobiology or related field with 3-8 years of relevant experience (including postdoctoral, fellowship training experience).
• Hands on experience with gene cloning, phage/yeast display, or hybridoma fusion and screening.
• Experience with biochemical assays and quantitative analysis of protein-protein binding interactions such as FACS, ELISA, Octet.
• Hands on experience with mammalian cell culture, antibody expression and purification, and cell-based assays including cell surface binding (FACS) and functional assays (e.g. signaling/reporter assays, killing assays).
• Hands on experience with SPR binding assays (Octet) to measure KD, binding kinetics and epitope binning eta.
• Familiar with various biologics modality including mAb, bispecific and nanobodies.
• A team player who also have resilience and will be comfortable with complexity and ambiguity.
• Good communication skills (oral and written).