Director of Antibody Engineering & Discovery

iBio; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 184,000 - 244,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

Flexible time off

401(k) with company match

Life and disability insurance

Job summary

iBio, an AI‑driven biopharma team based in San Diego, seeks a senior leader to direct the Antibody Engineering and Discovery group. You will oversee protein expression, purification, engineering, and functional screening from hits to lead optimization for in vivo proof‑of‑concept studies.

The ideal candidate has deep antibody engineering expertise, multispecific antibody experience, and strong leadership across cross‑functional teams.

Qualifications

• PhD in protein engineering, biochemistry, molecular biology, biotechnology, or related field
• 15+ years in biotech/pharma with antibody discovery to in vivo proof of concept
• Experience leading multispecific antibody programs
• Proven leadership of protein expression, purification, and screening
• Experience managing external partners and cross-functional decisions

Responsibilities

• Lead Antibody Engineering and Discovery team with clear priorities and accountability
• Oversee antibody platforms from initial characterization to in vivo readiness
• Design optimization of antibody‑peptide fusions and multispecific formats
• Direct mammalian expression, purification, and production at research scale
• Develop robust cell‑based assays for screening and lead optimization
• Integrate kinetic, potency, and developability data to select molecules
• Collaborate with platform, computational, and translational teams
• Define cross‑species reactivity and in vivo material requirements
• Manage budgets, timelines, and external labs/CROs
• Present progress to senior leadership and contribute to IP

Skills

Scientific leadership

Team leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Data interpretation

Education

PhD in protein engineering/biochemistry/molecular biology/biotechnology

Tools

Mammalian expression

Chromatography‑based purification

Analytical characterization (SEC, CE-SDS, MS)

Cell-based screening assays

SPR/BLI binding assays

Job description

iBio, an AI‑driven biopharma team based in San Diego, seeks a senior leader to direct the Antibody Engineering and Discovery group. You will oversee protein expression, purification, engineering, and functional screening from hits to lead optimization for in vivo proof‑of‑concept studies.

The ideal candidate has deep antibody engineering expertise, multispecific antibody experience, and strong leadership across cross‑functional teams.