Lead Scientist, Antibody Discovery & Engineering

Initial Therapeutics, Inc.; Cambridge (MA); On-site; USD 142,500 - 256,500; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive healthcare

Well-being resources

Generous paid time off

Job summary

Moderna is seeking a Principal Scientist to lead integrated antibody discovery and engineering campaigns across oncology and autoimmune programs. You will drive concept development, lead identification, and optimization with cross-functional teams in a fast-paced, collaborative environment.

You will design immunization strategies, perform B cell discovery, conduct antibody screening and engineering, and mentor scientists while partnering with CROs to advance therapeutic candidates.

Qualifications

• PhD in immunology, molecular biology, biochemistry, protein engineering, cancer biology, or a related discipline.
• 5+ years of post-PhD industry experience in antibody discovery, engineering, or biologics discovery.
• Independent track record leading therapeutic antibody discovery campaigns.
• Deep technical expertise in antibody biology and discovery platforms.
• Hands-on immunization-based antibody discovery and sequence recovery.
• Expertise in antibody characterization assays and platforms.
• Experience managing outsourced antibody discovery and CRO partnerships.
• Strong project leadership and cross-functional collaboration.
• Excellent written, oral, and interpersonal communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead integrated antibody discovery and engineering campaigns from concept to nomination.
• Develop discovery strategies including immunization design and B cell screening.
• Oversee antibody generation workflows: immunizations, display campaigns, and maturation.
• Engineer antibodies across IgG, Fab, scFv, bispecific formats, and related modalities.
• Characterize candidates using biochemical, biophysical, and functional assays.
• Collaborate with antigen design, structure, and computational biology teams.
• Analyze data and mitigate scientific/technical risks for programs.
• Mentor scientists and manage external partners as needed.
• Prepare technical reports and present to leadership.

Skills

Antibody discovery

Antibody engineering

Immune repertoire mining

Display technologies

Molecular-format optimization

Data-driven decision making

Project leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Outsourced CRO management

NGS repertoire analysis

Education

PhD in immunology, molecular biology, biochemistry, protein engineering, cancer biology, or related field

5+ years post-PhD industry experience in antibody discovery/engineering

Tools

Biacore

Carterra

Octet

ELISA

MSD

NGS-informed repertoire analysis

Job description

Moderna is seeking a Principal Scientist to lead integrated antibody discovery and engineering campaigns across oncology and autoimmune programs. You will drive concept development, lead identification, and optimization with cross-functional teams in a fast-paced, collaborative environment.

You will design immunization strategies, perform B cell discovery, conduct antibody screening and engineering, and mentor scientists while partnering with CROs to advance therapeutic candidates.