Director, Antibody Discovery

BigHat Biosciences; San Mateo (CA); On-site; USD 220,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401(k) plan with company match

DTO and company holidays

Parental leave

Job summary

BigHat Biosciences in San Mateo, CA, seeks a Director of Antibody Discovery to lead the antibody discovery and display function, shaping multi-year strategy and overseeing operational execution for identifying and maturing high-quality antibodies across diverse antigen types for company programs.

The role requires a PhD with 10+ years in antibody discovery, 5+ years of leadership, deep expertise in display systems, library design, and integration with computational approaches, with onsite work 5

Qualifications

• Ph.D. required with 10+ years in antibody discovery and engineering.
• 5+ years managing scientific teams.
• Proven expertise with protein display systems (yeast, phage, mammalian, or mRNA).
• Experience designing, constructing, screening, and selecting antibody libraries.
• Deep understanding of antibody structure–function and antigen recognition.
• Experience integrating discovery with developability assessment and downstream characterization.
• Familiarity with ML-enabled protein design approaches.
• Experience advancing biologics from early discovery to lead optimization.
• Knowledge of diverse antibody modalities including multispecifics and fragments.
• Strong leadership, communication, and cross-functional collaboration.

Responsibilities

• Lead antibody discovery and display functions, setting scientific and strategic direction.
• Oversee display-based campaigns to improve affinity, developability, and function across formats and antigens.
• Mentor teams responsible for library design, generation, screening, selection, and early optimization.
• Expand discovery technologies, including new display methods and design strategies integrated with computational platforms.
• Provide scientific leadership across discovery and early optimization with strong developability focus.
• Collaborate with Protein Sciences, Data Science/ML, Engineering, and Platform groups across discovery to characterization.
• Partner with biology and therapeutic leads to align outputs with program objectives.
• Foster a collaborative, high-performance culture within the discovery organization.

Skills

Antibody discovery leadership

Team leadership

Protein display systems

Library design & screening

Structure-function knowledge

Biologics developability

Computational ML for protein design

Lead optimization

Multispecific antibodies

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Ph.D. in molecular biology, biochemistry, protein engineering, or related discipline

Job description

Description

Department

Lab Science

Location

San Mateo, CA

Role

BigHat is seeking an exceptional and highly experienced individual for a position as Director of Antibody Discovery. This individual will lead the company’s antibody discovery and display function. They will be responsible for conceiving of and leading multi-year team and technology strategy as well as managing routine operational execution for identification and maturation of high-quality antibodies across antigen types for both BigHat and BigHat-partnered therapeutic research programs.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead BigHat’s antibody discovery and display functions, setting the scientific, technical, and strategic direction
• Oversee the routine execution of display-based selection campaigns to enhance and diversify affinity, developability, and function across diverse antibody formats and antigen types in support of BigHat and BigHat-partnered therapeutic programs
• Manage and mentor a team of scientists responsible for antibody library design, generation, screening, selection, and early optimization
• Shape and expand BigHat’s antibody discovery technologies and capabilities, including new display and selection methods, library design strategies, and technical approaches that leverage and enhance the company’s integrated experimental and computational platform
• Provide scientific leadership across discovery and early optimization efforts, ensuring antibodies emerging from selections possess strong functional and developability characteristics
• Work closely with leaders in Protein Sciences, Data Science/Machine Learning, Engineering, and Platform groups to ensure seamless progression from discovery through characterization and optimization
• Collaborate with biology and therapeutic research leads to ensure display outputs align with and advance program objectives
• Foster a collaborative and high-performance culture within the discovery organization

Skills Knowledge And Expertise

• Ph.D. in molecular biology, biochemistry, protein engineering, or related discipline with 10+ years of experience in antibody discovery and engineering within academia, biotechnology, or pharmaceutical industries
• 5+ years of managerial experience leading scientific teams
• Strong expertise with protein display systems such as yeast, phage, mammalian, or mRNA display
• Demonstrated experience with antibody library design, construction, screening, and selection analysis
• Deep understanding of antibody structure-function relationships and mechanisms of antigen recognition
• Experience integrating antibody discovery workflows with downstream characterization and developability assessment, including functional screening and biophysical evaluation of antibody candidates
• Familiarity with computational or ML-enabled approaches to protein design and optimization
• Experience advancing biologics from early discovery through lead optimization stages
• Knowledge of diverse antibody modalities including multispecific antibodies, antibody fragments, and other advanced formats
• Strong leadership skills with experience building and mentoring scientific teams
• Strategic thinker capable of aligning discovery activities with broader company goals
• Excellent communication and cross-functional collaboration skills
• Self-motivated and comfortable working in a fast-paced startup environment
• Must be willing to work onsite 5 days per week

Total Rewards

The salary estimated for this position is $220,000 - $250,000 + bonus + options + benefits. Compensation will vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Actual compensation will be confirmed in writing at the time of the offer.

What BigHat Offers

• Range of health insurance plan options through Anthem and Kaiser (monthly credit if benefit waived)
• Dental, and vision coverage through Guardian
• Additional well-being benefits through Nayya, OneMedical, Wagmo, Rula, and more
• 401(k) with company match
• DTO, two weeks of company-wide shutdown, and 12 company holidays
• Paid parental leave