Lead Scientist, In Vitro Selection & Mammalian Display

BioSpace; Cambridge (MA); On-site; USD 143,000 - 257,000; Full time

Job summary

Moderna seeks a leader to direct in vitro selection and cell-surface screening of glycoprotein antigens, guiding high-throughput mammalian display and integration with AI-based design across programs. The role partners with computational design teams and reports to senior leadership to mature candidate antigens toward the clinic.

The successful candidate will mentor scientists, expand core discovery capabilities, and collaborate across the discovery platform to drive rapid maturation of vaccine

Qualifications

• PhD in Immunology, Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Protein Engineering, or related field.
• 5+ years post-PhD industry experience leading in vitro selection, mammalian display, or directed-evolution efforts.
• Ability to drive complex screening campaigns end-to-end.
• Deep expertise in mammalian display systems and high-throughput selection.
• Strong knowledge of computational, structure-based, or AI-driven protein design workflows.

Responsibilities

• Lead execution of in vitro selection and cell‑surface screening campaigns, providing technical leadership through experimental design and execution.
• Design and run high-throughput mammalian display campaigns for complex glycoproteins.
• Build scalable screening systems that replace resource-intensive plate-based assays.
• Develop and operationalize advanced in vitro selection and directed-evolution capabilities.
• Serve as a key experimental partner to computational design teams, generating high-quality datasets and actionable design feedback.

Education

PhD in Immunology or related field

Job description

Moderna seeks a leader to direct in vitro selection and cell-surface screening of glycoprotein antigens, guiding high-throughput mammalian display and integration with AI-based design across programs. The role partners with computational design teams and reports to senior leadership to mature candidate antigens toward the clinic.

The successful candidate will mentor scientists, expand core discovery capabilities, and collaborate across the discovery platform to drive rapid maturation of vaccine