Principal Scientist, Protein Engineering

Astellas Pharma, Inc.; South San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 156,000 - 208,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading pharmaceutical company is seeking a Principal Scientist in South San Francisco to drive the discovery and engineering of novel antibodies for cancer therapies. The role involves managing discovery campaigns, collaborating globally, and leading projects from discovery to IND. Candidates should have a PhD and extensive experience in antibody engineering and related fields. This position offers a competitive salary and excellent benefits.

Benefits

Medical, Dental and Vision Insurance

Generous Paid Time Off

401(k) match

Annual Corporate Bonus

Long Term Incentive Plan

Qualifications

• PhD with 8+ years industry experience in antibody/protein engineering.
• Extensive hands-on experience in phage display methodologies.
• Strong understanding of antibody structure and developability.

Responsibilities

• Execute/manage antibody discovery campaigns including antigen selection.
• Design maturation libraries to improve lead candidates.
• Analyze and interpret experimental data, prepare presentations.

Skills

Antibody Engineering

Biochemistry

Molecular Biology

Communication

Collaboration

Education

PhD

Tools

Phage Display

ELISA

FACS

SPR

Job description

Do you want to be part of an inclusive team that works to develop innovative therapies for patients? Every day, we are driven to develop and deliver innovative and effective new medicines to patients and physicians. If you want to be part of this exciting work, you belong at Astellas!

Astellas Pharma Inc. is a pharmaceutical company conducting business in more than 70 countries around the world. We are committed to turning innovative science into medical solutions that bring value and hope to patients and their families. Keeping our focus on addressing unmet medical needs and conducting our business with ethics and integrity enables us to improve the health of people throughout the world. For more information on Astellas, please visit our website at www.astellas.com.

Purpose and Scope :

We are seeking a talented scientist to join our efforts in discovery and engineering of novel antibodies / MicAbodies for the Xyphos' convertibleCAR cancer cell therapy platform. This position will also support global cross-functional collaboration in antibody-based therapeutics, with the opportunity to grow as a functional leader.

• Execute / manage antibody discovery campaigns including antigen selection, assay development, antibody sequencing, screening, and characterization.
• Design maturation libraries for display platforms (affinity / potency / specificity / developability) to improve lead candidates.
• Design and clone / order constructs for different antibody formats including bispecific, multi-specific antibodies and antibody-fusions.
• Analyze and interpret experimental data, prepare clear and concise presentations to communicate results / make recommendation to project teams.
• Maintain detailed laboratory records, ensuring compliance with established SOPs, quality assurance measures, and regulatory guidelines.
• Lead or apply expertise to Astellas dug discovery programs from discovery to IND, understand the biology behind targets, integrating early research, and ensuring progression through candidate selection and nomination.
• Keep up with literature and scientific advancement in the biologics discovery and engineering field.
• Evaluate new technologies, instrumentation, and assays to implement and improve Xyphos' protein engineering workflow.

Requirements

Qualifications Required :

• PhD with 8+ years related industry experience in antibody / protein engineering / biochemistry and molecular biology.
• Extensive, hands-on experience in phage display methodologies.
• Experience in high-throughput screening for function and binding, binning or epitope mapping using various assay formats (ELISA, Octet, SPR, FACS, etc.).
• Strong understanding of antibody structure / sequence and developability / function relationship.
• Proficient with molecular biology techniques essential for antibody engineering, reformatting, bispecific / multi-specific / single domain antibody construct design and generation.
• Familiarity with biologics candidate nomination to IND processes.
• Experience with CRO project management.
• Excellent communication skills with a solid ability to articulate experimental plans, present research findings in meetings.
• Exceptional collaborative mindset to work with global project teams.
• Willingness to take on tasks and responsibilities as needed in a dynamic environment.
• Strong work ethic with a dedicated mindset of proactively identifying and filling gaps.

Preferred :

• Knowledge of NGS and AL / ML guided antibody selection strategies.
• Experience with de novo antibody discovery through immunization campaigns.
• Experience with cell binding and in vitro cell / signaling assays.
• Experience supervising direct reports and with managing projects and teams.
• Familiarity with cancer / immuno-oncology targets.
• This position is based in Xyphos at the Astellas West Coast Innovation and Research Center and will require on-site work in a laboratory setting with R D teams.

Salary Range : $156,000 - 208,000 (NOTE : Final salary could be more or less, based on experience)

Benefits :

• Medical, Dental and Vision Insurance
• Generous Paid Time Off options, including Vacation, Sick time, plus national holidays including Heritage Days, and Summer and Winter Breaks
• 401(k) match and annual company contribution
• Annual Corporate Bonus and Quarterly Sales Incentive for eligible positions
• Long Term Incentive Plan for eligible positions

LI-TR1

Create a job alert for this search

Principal Scientist • South San Francisco, CA, US