Principal Phage Display Scientist, Antibody Discovery

Xaira Therapeutics; South San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 124,000 - 155,000; Full time

Job summary

Xaira Therapeutics in South San Francisco seeks an accomplished protein biochemist to own phage display campaigns end-to-end within our Display Technologies group, designing selection strategies, tackling difficult targets, and turning campaigns into high-quality data for antibody design models.

This high-ownership role runs campaigns, sets technical direction, mentors scientists, and collaborates with computational and engineering colleagues to scale data generation.

Qualifications

• PhD in a related field with 2–4 years of industry experience.
• Hands-on phage display library design, panning/selection and hit validation.
• Flow cytometry (FACS) experience with data interpretation and gating.
• Strong analytical skills with meticulous documentation.
• Excellent written and verbal communication; able to present complex science.

Responsibilities

• Independently design, execute, and own phage display campaigns from library through panning and hit validation.
• Develop and optimize selection strategies for challenging targets, including QC and antigen use.
• Apply library-scale approaches to measuring binder properties and scale assays for higher throughput.
• Partner with computational/ML colleagues to structure and QC data for model training.
• Mentor associate scientists and contribute to technical standards.

Skills

PhD in related field

Phage display

Flow cytometry (FACS)

Data interpretation

Scientific communication

Mammalian cell culture

SPR / BLI affinity assays

Lab automation

Python

R

Education

PhD in Molecular Biology / Biochemistry / Immunology / Protein Engineering

Tools

Flow cytometry instruments

SPR

BLI

Lab automation platforms

Python

R

Job description

Xaira Therapeutics in South San Francisco seeks an accomplished protein biochemist to own phage display campaigns end-to-end within our Display Technologies group, designing selection strategies, tackling difficult targets, and turning campaigns into high-quality data for antibody design models.

This high-ownership role runs campaigns, sets technical direction, mentors scientists, and collaborates with computational and engineering colleagues to scale data generation.