Principal Scientist - Antibody Engineering

LabGenius; London; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A biotechnology firm in London is seeking a Principal Scientist to lead its Antibody Engineering team. The role involves managing a small team, driving innovation in antibody development, and ensuring the delivery of high-quality data. Candidates should have significant experience in high-throughput molecular biology and protein engineering. This position offers a discretionary performance-linked bonus, stock options, and comprehensive health benefits.

Benefits

Discretionary performance-linked annual bonus

Generous stock option plan

Private Medical Insurance

25 days annual leave

Employee Assistance Programme

Qualifications

• Experience in managing a small team of protein scientists.
• Strong background in high-throughput techniques and antibody/protein engineering.
• Experience with IND/regulatory agency submission required.

Responsibilities

• Lead a small team of protein scientists to maintain high standards.
• Conduct regular 1:1s, set goals, and provide technical mentorship.
• Implement new technologies and maintain excellent experimental records.

Skills

High-throughput molecular biology

Protein engineering

Line management

Molecular biology techniques

Troubleshooting skills

Education

Relevant industry experience (~10yrs without PhD, or ~7+ following PhD)

Tools

PCR

Cloning techniques

Mammalian expression systems

Job description

At LabGenius Therapeutics, our mission is to accelerate the discovery of next-generation therapeutic antibodies. To do this, we’ve pioneered the development of EVA - a smart robotic platform that’s capable of designing, conducting and, critically, learning from its own experiments.

For our wholly-owned pipeline, we’re using our closed-loop discovery engine to establish a pipeline of highly selective T-cell engagers and ADCs for the treatment of solid tumours.

LabGenius has raised >£58M and is backed by top-tier investors, including M Ventures, Octopus Ventures, LG Corp, Atomico, Kindred Capital, Lux Capital and Obvious Ventures amongst others.

The company is headquartered in London (UK) where we’ve established a state-of-the-art antibody engineering facility. The company is staffed by a multidisciplinary team of more than 50 scientists and engineers.

Your role

As aPrincipal Scientist you’ll be a pivotal member of the Antibody Engineering team. This position is a lead-from-the-laboratory role with an emphasis on leading a small team of protein scientists to a high and accountable standard. You will provide technical mentorship to ensure delivery of the highest quality data from the team across projects spanning early stage discovery to preclinical. You will have in-depth experience of antibody engineering and production to deliver high-quality molecules relevant to immuno-oncology drug discovery.

Whatever your previous experience includes, you’ll inject passion and energy into everything you do. You’ll enjoy multi-disciplinary work, and you’ll have an endless hunger for knowledge, learning, and growth; all the qualities LabGenius celebrates!

Your role at LabGenius will be varied, with clear communication being critical to your day-to-day interactions with the team. Being able to integrate your workflow with other teams, along with the ability to share findings in an articulate manner, will help you to achieve success within this position.

What you’ll do in this role

• You will manage a small team of protein scientists (3-4), reporting directly to the Head of Antibody Engineering.
• You will conduct regular 1:1s with the team, set goals, provide feedback, technical mentorship and troubleshooting, QC data and presentations and ELN audits.
• You will identify/propose and implement new technologies within the team.
• You will provide hands-on teaching from the bench and have a ‘lead-from-the-lab’ mindset to help out ad hoc in the lab when required.
• You will be accountable for the quality and timely delivery of your direct reports’ work packages.
• You will embed in all of LabGenius’ projects and understand company priorities.
• You will work closely with the Head of Antibody Engineering to ensure adequate resourcing across projects, identifying bottlenecks and proposing/implementing solutions to overcome these.
• You will have a proactive approach to ensuring data is delivered on time, with the ability to troubleshoot when needed to prevent project delays.
• You'll share your knowledge throughout the company and help to train others.
• You'll keep excellent experimental/data records for cross-functional teamwork and project learnings.
• You will organise and manage your time effectively, balancing competing priorities based on business goals and the focus of your wider team, to deliver to timelines where others are relying on you.

What we’re looking for

• You will have relevant industry experience (~10yrs without PhD, or ~7+ following PhD) with a strong scientific background in one or more of high-throughput molecular biology and high-throughput protein expression, antibody/protein engineering.
• You will have experience in line managing a small team (3-4 FTE).
• You have solid knowledge of a wide range of molecular biology techniques and shown examples of applying these techniques; including: PCR, cloning, including standard restriction enzyme, golden-gate, gibson cloning.
• You have solid knowledge of different antibody formats, e.g., bispecific, multispecific, asymmetric and experience in mammalian expression.
• You will have experience in delivering antibody engineering workpackages for IND/regulatory agency submission, including report writing.
• You have the ability to generate and implement new ideas with excellent troubleshooting skills.
• You will have experience in a business context, working as part of a multidisciplinary team.

What you’ll receive from us

Aside from being part of our brilliant, purpose-driven team, you’ll also enjoy:

Financial

• Discretionary performance-linked annual bonus
• A generous stock option plan
• 3x Salary Life Insurance with YuLife
• Health Shield Cash Back Plan on day-to-day health expenses
• 5% pension, with an additional top up on tax savings from us
• Free Will-writing Service

Health

• Private Medical Insurance, including dental and optical (currently with AXA)
• Discounted gym membership through either AXA or HealthShield
• 24/7 access to GP Services
• Access to the Cycle to Work scheme: to make your commute cheaper, healthier and a whole lot greener
• Easy access to the on-site gym and climbing wall to break a sweat or indulge your inner monkey available at competitive rates

Time-Off ️

• 25 days annual leave (plus the bank holidays)
• Up to 20 days paid sick leave (including mental health days - no questions asked)
• 3 days paid emergency leave so it doesn’t eat into your relaxation time
• 1 week paid bereavement leave plus 1 day to attend a funeral
• 1 day paid for moving home

Wellbeing

• Employee Assistance Programme including access to coaching and CBT sessions
• Bereavement & Probate Support through YuLife

Team-building

• Regular team lunches from Feedr
• A programme of social events both company-wide and within your own teams

Diversity & Inclusion

We believe that diversity makes for innovative, exceptional teams.

We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate based on gender, race, colour, religion or belief, national origin, age, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, or any other protected class.

If you feel that you don’t meet every single requirement of this role, we still want to hear from you! We encourage you to apply, have a discussion with us about the role or others that we may have at LabGenius either now or in the future, together we can build more inclusive workplaces.