Senior Scientist - Protein Expression and Purification

LabGenius Therapeutics; Greater London; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Discretionary bonus

Stock options

Pension plan

Life assurance

Private medical insurance

Gym discounts

25 days annual leave

Job summary

LabGenius Therapeutics in London is seeking a protein expression lead to drive the gene-to-protein workflow from cloning to large-scale purification, ensuring ultra-pure reagents feed ML models. You will spearhead stable CHO cell line development and troubleshoot complex constructs with a cross-disciplinary team.

You will collaborate with Data Science and wet-lab colleagues to scale production while maintaining rigorous data records and project timelines.

Qualifications

• PhD in Biochemistry/Bioengineering/Molecular Biology or MSc with 3–5 years of industrial wet-lab experience.
• Deep hands-on mammalian cell culture expertise, CHO/HEK for transient and stable pool generation.
• Proven experience in molecular cloning, vector optimisation, and large-scale DNA production for transfections.
• Extensive experience with FPLC systems (AKTA) and a strong grasp of protein biochemistry and folding.
• Ability to design/setup new lab infrastructure and optimize gene-to-protein workflows.

Responsibilities

• Lead transient expression of complex recombinant proteins and fusions in mammalian hosts at multi-milligram to gram scales.
• Oversee cloning, construct design, and large-scale plasmid DNA production for transfections and stable pools.
• Establish and validate internal stable cell line capabilities (CHO) for lead candidates.
• Design and implement multi-step purification strategies using AKTA-based systems (Affinity, IEX, HIC, SEC).
• Maintain robust inventory management and barcoding for samples, cell banks, and reagents.
• Collaborate with Data Science to translate yields, purity, and biophysical data into ML-ready datasets.
• Troubleshoot low-yield constructs and optimize signal peptides, vectors, or host lines.
• Keep meticulous records and manage timelines across cross-functional teams.

Skills

Mammalian cell culture

Molecular cloning

Protein expression

Data interpretation

Time management

Education

PhD in Biochemistry/Bioengineering/Molecular Biology

MSc with 3–5 years industrial wet-lab experience

Tools

AKTA FPLC

Barcode inventory systems

DNA production workflows

Job description

At LabGenius Therapeutics ("LabGenius"), our mission is to discover the next generation of therapeutic antibodies by combining human and machine intelligence. To do this, we’ve pioneered the development of EVA™, state-of-the-art automated platform, enabling the closed-loop discovery of high-performing, non-intuitive antibody designs using proprietary, ML-grade datasets.

For our wholly-owned therapeutic 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 >£55M 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 cutting-edge antibody engineering facility. The company is staffed by a multidisciplinary team of more than 50 scientists and engineers.

You’ll be a pivotal member of the Antibody Engineering and Developability team, serving as our technical lead for protein expression and purification. This is a high-impact opportunity for a protein sciences expert to not only execute complex workflows, but to build, scale, and optimise our protein expression platform, including spearheading the establishment of our stable cell line capabilities.

Your primary mission is to ensure that our ML models and downstream screening platforms are fed with high-quality, ultra-pure protein and antibody reagents. You won't just be running samples; you will be spearheading our initiative to establish stable cell pools in CHO while managing the entire gene-to-protein workflow from cloning and large-scale DNA production through to final purification.

You’ll be a member of our core wet-lab team, where you’ll ensure that complex therapeutic candidates can be produced reliably and at scale. You won't just be expressing proteins; you’ll be troubleshooting complex constructs, identifying expression bottlenecks early in the pipeline, and ensuring our therapeutics possess the developability profiles required to become successful products.

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 a hunger for knowledge, learning, and growth; all the qualities LabGenius Therapeutics celebrates!

Your role at LabGenius Therapeutics 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.

This position is a full time laboratory-based role.

What you’ll do in this role

• Lead the transient expression of complex recombinant proteins, bispecifics, and fusion proteins in mammalian hosts at multi-milligram to gram scales.
• Oversee molecular cloning, construct design, and large-scale plasmid DNA production workflows to support both transient transfections and stable cell line generation.
• Establish internal stable cell line capabilities, specifically establishing and validating stable cell pools in CHO hosts for the production of lead antibody candidates.
• Design and execute multi-step purification strategies utilising automated FPLC systems (e.g., AKTA Pure) focusing on Affinity, IEX, HIC, and SEC.
• Implement and manage robust inventory management and barcoding systems to ensure end-to-end traceability of plasmids, cell lines, purified proteins, and critical reagents.
• Work closely with our Data Science team to translate raw expression yields, purity metrics, and biophysical data into clean datasets for ML/AI predictive models, ensuring our in silico scoring is grounded in precise physical measurements.
• Conduct research in a self-directed manner, troubleshooting low-yielding or challenging protein constructs by optimising signal peptides, expression vectors, or host cell lines to provide actionable insights to the engineering team.
• Keep excellent experimental/data records for cross-functional teamwork and project learnings.
• 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 have a PhD in Biochemistry, Bioengineering, Molecular Biology, or an MSc with 3-5 years of industrial experience with significant wet-lab expertise in protein expression and purification techniques. Any relevant biotech or pharma experience is a distinct advantage.
• Deep, hands-on mastery of mammalian cell culture techniques, with mandatory expertise in CHO and HEK cell lines for both transient expression and stable pool generation.
• A proven track record in molecular cloning, vector optimisation, and high-quality, large-scale DNA production for transfections.
• Extensive hands-on experience with FPLC systems (AKTA) and a sophisticated understanding of protein biochemistry, folding, and degradation pathways.
• The ability to generate and implement new ideas, specifically in the context of setting up new lab infrastructure and optimising gene-to-protein workflows.
• You’re comfortable with challenging yourself and acquiring unfamiliar scientific skills and knowledge.
• Ability to articulate complex protein production data to non-experts, including computational biologists and stakeholders.
• You have excellent organisational and time management skills, with demonstrated ability to prioritise, define timelines and deliver to these commitments.
• Hands-on experience with digital laboratory inventory management systems and barcoding workflows to maintain meticulous tracking of samples, cell banks, and reagents.
• You’re self-motivated with a strong desire to make an impact, and bring a positive attitude to everything you do.
• 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

• Bonus: Discretionary, performance-linked bonus scheme.
• Equity: Generous stock option plan.
• Pension: 5% company contribution, plus an extra top-up on our tax savings.
• Financial Security: 3x salary Life Assurance and Income Protection.

Health & Wellness

• Private Medical Insurance: Fully comprehensive healthcare through AXA, including optical and dental coverage.
• Health Cashback: Health Shield plan to claim back everyday health expenses.
• Everyday Care: 24/7 digital access to GP services.
• Fitness: Discounted gym memberships via AXA or Health Shield.
• Commute: Cycle to Work scheme for a cheaper, greener, and healthier commute.

Time-Off

• Annual Leave: 25 days paid holiday plus bank holidays.
• Life Events: 1 paid day off for moving home, plus dedicated compassionate and emergency leave.
• Sick Pay: Comprehensive paid sick leave.

Wellbeing & Culture

• Mental Health Support: Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) with direct access to coaching and CBT sessions.
• Weekly Team Lunches: Free lunches delivered weekly via Feedr.
• Socials: A regular schedule of company-wide and team-specific social events.

If you don't feel like you meet every single requirement of this role, we still want to hear from you!

We believe that diverse perspectives build innovative, exceptional teams. As an equal opportunity employer, we do not discriminate on the basis of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race (including colour, nationality, and ethnic or national origin), religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, or any other protected characteristic.