Research Scientist - Antibody Discovery

elanco; Indianapolis (IN); On-site; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

relocation packages

2 weeklong shutdowns (mid-summer &year

8-week parental leave

9 Employee Resource Groups

Annual bonus offering

Flexible work arrangements

Up to 6% 401K matching

Job summary

Elanco in the United States is seeking a Research Scientist to join the Discovery Research team. The role focuses on capturing immune repertoires and identifying therapeutic antibody candidates for animal health using single-B-cell workflows and immune libraries.

You will lead B-cell discovery campaigns, perform immune library design, and work with phage/yeast display for selection. Strong molecular biology and NGS skills are required.

Qualifications

• PhD in Immunology, Molecular Biology, or Biotechnology with 0–3 years of industry experience.
• Hands-on single B-cell sequencing workflows and flow cytometry (FACS) experience.
• Experience with immune library construction and display technologies.
• Proficiency in high-throughput PCR and molecular cloning.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end single-B-cell antibody discovery workflows, including cell processing and sequencing.
• Design and construct diverse immune libraries from immunized animals.
• Execute panning and selection using display technologies to isolate high-affinity binders.
• Rescue heavy/light chain variable regions from single cells using RT-PCR and cloning.
• Integrate NGS data with bioinformatics to identify novel lineages.
• Collaborate with cross‑functional teams and present findings at forums.

Skills

Direct hands-on experience with Single

High-speed flow cytometry (FACS)

NGS library preparation

Molecular biology techniques

Immune Library construction

Molecular cloning

Education

PhD in Immunology, Molecular Biology, or Biotechnology

Tools

FACS

NGS platforms

High-throughput PCR

Job description

At Elanco (NYSE: ELAN) - it all starts with animals!

As a global leader in animal health, we are dedicated to innovation and delivering products and services to prevent and treat disease in farm animals and pets. At Elanco, we are driven by our vision of Food and Companionship Enriching Life and our purpose - all to Go Beyond for Animals, Customers, Society and Our People.

At Elanco, we pride ourselves on fostering a diverse and inclusive work environment. We believe that diversity is the driving force behind innovation, creativity, and overall business success. Here, you'll be part of a company that values and champions new ways of thinking, work with dynamic individuals, and acquire new skills and experiences that will propel your career to new heights.

Making animals' lives better makes life better - join our team today!

Elanco Animal Health is seeking a highly motivated and innovative Research Scientist to join our Discovery Research team. This role is specifically focused on leveraging advanced Single B-cell sequencing platforms and Immune Library construction to identify high-quality therapeutic antibody candidates for animal health. The successful candidate will be a technical expert in capturing and isolating the natural immune repertoire of diverse species through comprehensive NGS workflows to drive the earliest stages of our biologics pipeline.

Key Responsibilities

• Single B-cell Discovery Campaigns: Lead and execute end-to-end single-B-cell antibody discovery workflows, including immune-cell processing, FACS-based isolation of antigen-specific B cells, single-cell sequencing, and high-throughput molecular rescue of paired V-region sequences.
• Immune Library Strategy: Design and construct high-diversity immune libraries from immunized animals. Implement robust NGS workflows for library characterization, monitoring diversity, and tracking selection dynamics across display platforms.
• Panning & Selection: Manage complex panning and selection strategies using phage or yeast display to isolate rare, high-affinity binders from diverse immune repertoires.
• Molecular Rescue & Cloning: Utilize high-throughput RT-PCR, nested PCR and specialized cloning techniques to rescue heavy and light chain variable regions from single cells.
• NGS Data Integration: Work closely with bioinformatics pipelines to integrate large-scale NGS datasets, enabling the rapid identification of novel antibody lineages and analyzing repertoire convergence.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Represent the antibody discovery group in cross-functional project teams communicating discovery screening strategy
• Discovery Documentation: Maintain precise electronic laboratory notebooks (ELN) and present technical discovery data at internal research forums and stakeholder meetings.
• Evaluate and implement emerging antibody discovery technologies and workflows to improve throughput, repertoire diversity, functional screening, and discovery timelines.

Minimum Qualifications

• Education: PhD in Immunology, Molecular Biology, or Biotechnology with 0-3 years of relevant industrial experience in biologics discovery.
• Technical Expertise: Direct, hands‑on experience with Single B-cell sequencing workflows and high-speed flow cytometry (FACS).
• Expertise in NGS library preparation and associated molecular biology techniques.
• Experience in Immune Library construction and display technologies.
• Advanced proficiency in high-throughput PCR and molecular cloning.

Elanco Benefits and Perks:

We offer a comprehensive benefits package focusing on financial, physical, and mental well‑being while encouraging our employees to pursue our purpose! Some highlights include:

• Multiple relocation packages
• Two weeklong shutdowns (mid-summer and year-end) in the US (in addition to PTO)
• 8-week parental leave
• 9 Employee Resource Groups
• Annual bonus offering
• Flexible work arrangements
• Up to 6% 401K matching

Elanco is an EEO/Affirmative Action Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of age, race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, protected veteran status, disability or any other legally protected status

Elanco may use automated tools, including AI, to support parts of our recruitment process, such as reviewing applications against job ‑ related criteria and/or transferrable skills. These tools help ensure the consistent structured evaluation.. All decisions involve a human reviewer. For more information on how we handle personal data, please