Scientist Antibody Discovery

Thecentermemphis; Memphis (TN); On-site; USD 86,320 - 154,960; Full time

Job summary

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is seeking a highly motivated candidate with extensive experience in antibody discovery and protein engineering.

The role focuses on display methods (phage, yeast, mammalian) and building diverse libraries, with preference for ML-enhanced approaches. You will design discovery workflows, mine antibody pools with NGS, and support mammalian expression with scalable workflows.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in relevant scientific area is required.
• Eight (8) years of relevant work experience is required
• Six (6) years of relevant work experience is required with a Master’s degree
• Three (3) years of relevant work experience is required with a PhD
• Experience in antibody discovery and protein engineering preferred
• Experience with in vitro display methods and NGS for antibody discovery preferred

Responsibilities

• Conduct antibody discovery leveraging display methods (phage, yeast, mammalian).
• Develop and optimize protein production platforms for recombinant antibodies and other biologics.
• Perform DNA prep and construct generation for antibody expression; manage ELN data.
• Apply high-throughput workflows and purification using AKTA systems; analyze samples by HPLC-SEC, DSF and related assays.

Skills

Antibody discovery

Protein engineering

Expression & validation

ML-assisted discovery

High-throughput screening

ELN data management

Education

Bachelor’s degree in life sciences

Tools

AKTA chromatography

HPLC-SEC

DSF

NGS

FACS

BLI

epitope binning

Kingfisher

Job description

Join an excellent team of researchers dedicated to coming closer to the mission of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, that no child will die at the dawn of life. Antibody Discovery Collaborative Centre (ADCC) within the Department of Host Microbe Interactions at St. Jude seeks a skilled and highly motivated candidate experienced in antibody discovery.
Candidates with experience in antibody discovery, protein engineering OR expression and validation of biologics are encouraged to apply.

What you will do:

• Antibody discovery: Focus on display methods (phage, yeast, mammalian) and experience in building high-diversity libraries from synthetic and animal repertoires. Previous experience in integrating ML-based approaches with display methods would be preferred.
  • Experienced in designing discovery workflows and delivering panel of lead candidates for programs.
  • Apply in‑vitro display methods for sequence discovery and ability to handle multiple screening arms for antigens.
  • Apply NGS methods to mine antibody pools for sequence discovery
  • Previous experience in library generation would be vital.
• Protein Sciences: Develop and optimize high‑throughput mammalian cell‑based production platforms for recombinant antibodies, antigens, and other biologics
  • Work closely with mAb discovery platforms to support molecular biology workflows; design and execute construct generation for antibody expression.
  • Perform DNA preparations to generate high‑quality plasmid material for mammalian cell transfection.
  • Establish scalable transient and stable expression workflows in CHO, HEK293, and other mammalian expression systems.
  • Purification using AKTA chromatography systems.
  • High‑Performance Liquid Chromatography Size Exclusion Chromatography (HPLC‑SEC) analysis of purified proteins.
  • Molecular assessment of early‑stage development candidates (polyreactivity ELISA, CE‑SDS, SEC‑MALS, DSF)
• Maintain accurate and timely ELN data

Preferred skills

• Experience with merging cryo‑EM techniques with epitope analysis of antibody repertoires
• Experience with high‑throughput automated protein purification systems (e.g. Kingfisher)
• Experience with antibody‑related bioinformatic/software packages.
• Expertise in high‑throughput molecular biology approaches for construct and library generation.
• Experience with mAb characterization techniques (FACS, BLI, epitope binning).

Minimum Education and/or Training

• Bachelor’s degree in relevant scientific area is required.

Minimum Experience

• Eight (8) years of relevant work experience is required
• Six (6) years of relevant work experience is required with a Master’s degree
• Three (3) years of relevant work experience is required with a PhD

Compensation

In recognition of certain U.S. state and municipal pay transparency laws, St. Jude is including a reasonable estimate of the compensation range for this role. This is an estimate offered in good faith and a specific salary offer takes into account factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill sets, experience and training, licensure and certifications, and other business and organizational needs. It is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the salary range and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. A reasonable estimate of the current salary range is $86,320 - $154,960 per year for the role of Scientist Antibody Discovery.

St. Jude is an Equal Opportunity Employer