Principal Scientist – Antibody Characterisation

RQ Biotechnology Ltd.; Greater London; On-site; GBP 85,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

RQ Biotechnology Ltd. in London is seeking a Principal Scientist to own antibody characterisation and screening strategy across our next-generation discovery programmes.

You will decide how antibodies are tested, interpret data, set progression criteria, and drive candidate selection with discovery, engineering, computational and virology colleagues. You will stay hands-on to troubleshoot assays and mentor scientists.

Qualifications

• PhD in biochemistry, biophysics, protein science or related field.
• Significant therapeutic antibody or biologics discovery experience in biotech or pharma.
• Deep SPR expertise; central to the role.
• Experience with BLI, ELISA and complementary protein/antibody characterisation methods.
• Track record of using characterisation data to drive lead optimisation and candidate selection.
• Strong knowledge of antibody structure-function and developability.
• Experience leading scientific projects or workstreams and CRO/external partner management.
• Team leadership or line-management experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead biochemical and biophysical characterisation and optimisation of therapeutic antibodies.
• Define screening strategies, experimental approaches and progression criteria across the cascade.
• Design and oversee SPR/BLI, ELISA, binding, kinetics, specificity, stability and developability assays.
• Integrate characterisation and functional data to identify liabilities and progress antibodies.
• Lead multiple concurrent discovery and optimisation workstreams.
• Collaborate with antibody discovery, engineering, computational and virology teams.
• Manage CROs and external scientific partners.
• Remain hands-on to troubleshoot laboratory work.
• Mentor scientists, with potential line-management responsibility.
• Contribute to preclinical characterisation and next-generation formats including multispecifics and antibody conjugates.

Skills

Scientific leadership

Project management

Data-driven decision making

Mentoring/line-management

Strategic thinking

Education

PhD in biochemistry/biophysics/protein science or related field

Tools

SPR

BLI

ELISA

Developability assays

Job description

RQ Biotechnology (RQ Bio) is a UK virology biotech developing long-acting monoclonal antibodies against seasonal influenza. Our discovery engine combines computational design with experimental antibody discovery, and we are now building our next generation of programmes.

The role

We are looking for a Principal Scientist to own antibody characterisation and screening strategy across our next-generation discovery programmes.

Antibodies flow into our screening cascade from multiple computational and discovery workstreams. You will decide how they are tested, interpret what the data is telling us, and recommend which molecules move forward. This is a scientific decision-making role: you will set progression criteria, identify liabilities early and drive candidate selection alongside our discovery, engineering, computational and virology teams.

You will also stay close enough to the bench to troubleshoot an SPR run, challenge an assay result or help a scientist work through an unexpected dataset.

What you will do

• Lead biochemical and biophysical characterisation and optimisation of therapeutic antibodies.
• Define screening strategies, experimental approaches and progression criteria across the cascade.
• Design and oversee SPR/BLI, ELISA, binding, kinetics, specificity, stability and developability assays.
• Integrate characterisation and functional data to identify liabilities and recommend which antibodies progress.
• Lead multiple concurrent discovery and optimisation workstreams.
• Work closely with antibody discovery, engineering, computational and virology colleagues.
• Manage CROs and external scientific partners.
• Remain hands-on enough to support and troubleshoot laboratory work.
• Mentor and develop scientists, with potential line-management responsibility.
• Contribute to preclinical characterisation and next-generation formats, including multispecifics and antibody conjugates.

What you will bring

• PhD in biochemistry, biophysics, protein science or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• Significant therapeutic antibody or biologics discovery experience within biotech or pharma.
• Deep practical and theoretical SPR expertise. This is central to the role.
• Experience with BLI, ELISA and complementary protein and antibody characterisation methods.
• A track record of using characterisation data to drive lead optimisation and candidate selection.
• Strong knowledge of antibody structure-function and developability.
• Experience leading scientific projects or workstreams, not only providing analytical support.
• CRO or external partner management.
• Team leadership, mentoring or line-management experience.
• Confidence making evidence-based decisions on incomplete data and recommending a clear direction.

Nice to have

• High-throughput antibody screening
• Multispecific antibodies, ADCs or antibody conjugates
• Patent, regulatory or publication record
• Statistical or data-analysis capability

Is this you?

This role is for a scientist who has worked inside a drug-discovery or product-development environment, understands why each experiment is being run, and is used to turning the results into programme decisions. If your background is mainly in academic core-facility or analytical service work, this role is unlikely to be the right fit.

Working pattern

Lab-based at our White City, London site. You will need to be on-site at least 3 days per week.

If you want to shape how a growing biotech decides which antibodies go towards the clinic, we would like to hear from you.