Research Scientist - Antibody Discovery and Transfer

Indiana Ag Connection; Indianapolis (IN); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Relocation packages

Annual bonus offering

Flexible work arrangements

8‑week parental leave

Job summary

Elanco Animal Health is seeking a highly motivated Research Scientist to join our Discovery Research team in Indianapolis. This role focuses on leveraging single‑B cell sequencing and immune library construction to identify therapeutic antibody candidates for animal health.

You will lead end‑to‑end discovery workflows, design diverse immune libraries, and collaborate across teams to accelerate early biologics development, while maintaining rigorous ELN documentation and presenting data at

Qualifications

• PhD in Immunology, Molecular Biology, or Biotechnology with 0-3 years of relevant industrial experience.
• 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.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end single‑B‑cell antibody discovery workflows, including immune‑cell processing and single‑cell sequencing.
• Design and construct high‑diversity immune libraries from immunized animals.
• Manage panning and selection strategies using phage or yeast display.
• Rescue heavy and light chain variable regions from single cells via RT‑PCR and cloning.
• Integrate large‑scale NGS datasets with bioinformatics pipelines for lineage analysis and repertoire convergence.
• Collaborate with cross‑functional teams to communicate discovery screening strategy.

Skills

Single B-cell sequencing

FACS (flow cytometry)

NGS library preparation

Molecular cloning

Education

PhD in Immunology, Molecular Biology, or Biotechnology

Tools

FACS

NGS

Phage display

Yeast display

RT‑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

• 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 a consistent, structured evaluation, but they do not make hiring decisions. All decisions involve a human reviewer. For more information on how we handle personal data, please see our Elanco Workforce Privacy Notice.