Scientist, Biophysical Characterization (SPR/BLI)

medraai; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Significant equity ownership

401k

Medical insurance

Dental insurance

Unlimited PTO

Weekday lunches and dinners

Relocation benefits

Job summary

Medra seeks a Scientist to own biophysical characterization on the Medra Physical AI platform. You will develop, validate, and scale label-free binding assays — primarily SPR and BLI — and turn them into robust, high-throughput workflows that run autonomously for our customers.

Antibody affinity and kinetics, epitopes, and developability are your daily focus. You will work with roboticists and software engineers to translate manual workflows into autonomous protocols and collaborate directly

Qualifications

• PhD in biochemistry, biophysics, structural biology or related field with 2+ years industry experience, or a BS/MS with 6+ years hands-on experience.
• Deep hands-on expertise with SPR and/or BLI and data analysis for kinetics.
• Strong understanding of binding kinetics theory and practical pitfalls.
• Experience developing and qualifying biophysical assays from scratch.
• Knowledge of antibody structure and developability in the discovery process.
• Excellent documentation and ability to manage multiple workstreams.

Responsibilities

• Develop, validate, and run SPR/BLI assays across formats (affinity, kinetics, epitope binning, self-interaction).
• Design assay strategies, sensor chemistry, capture, regeneration, and analysis models.
• Build biophysical capabilities end-to-end: scope, evaluate, qualify instruments, SOPs, workflows.
• Partner with roboticists and software engineers to translate workflows into high-throughput autonomous protocols.
• Develop data analysis, QC frameworks for kinetics fitting and developability flags.
• Integrate biophysical data with orthogonal characterization to form an integrated developability picture.
• Work with customers to scope campaigns, communicate results, and translate questions into plans.
• Maintain rigorous ELN records and drive reproducibility across assays.

Skills

SPR expertise

BLI expertise

binding kinetics theory

data analysis

developability assessment

experimental record-keeping

cross-functional collaboration

Education

PhD in biochemistry/biophysics/structural biology

or BS/MS with 6+ years industry experience

Tools

Carterra LSA

Gator BLI

ELN

Job description

What We’re Building

At Medra, our mission is to use AI, robotics, and biology to accelerate life science research, with the ultimate goal of eradicating disease. We have been quietly building the foundational layers of our Physical AI Scientist platform:

Physical AI that can operate scientific instruments with human-level dexterity.

Scientific AI that can analyze results, reason about next steps, and close the loop autonomously.

This is an incredibly ambitious mission, but we believe that a team of ambitious people with high ownership can accomplish incredible things.

The Team

• We're a team of passionate, mission-driven engineers and scientists from companies like Tesla, Amazon, SpaceX, and Neuralink. We're collaborative and love moving fast, both with our product and on team trips skiing or go-karting!

• As a team, we love nerding out about engineering and robotics — plus other topics like race cars or cooking. We like learning new things and then sharing our new knowledge with each other.

• Our team is opinionated and straightforward. We don't mind intense discussions about design tradeoffs. If we have arguments or miscommunication, we resolve conflicts quickly and empathetically.

The Role

We are looking for a Scientist to own biophysical characterization on the Medra Physical AI platform. You will develop, validate, and scale label-free binding assays — primarily SPR and BLI — and turn them into robust, high-throughput workflows that run autonomously for our customers. Antibody affinity and kinetics, epitope binning, self-interaction, and quantitation are the daily bread of this role, and you’ll be responsible for making these assays reproducible, automation-ready, and reliable at a throughput and consistency that manual benchwork can’t match.

This is a role for someone who blends deep biophysical judgment with hands‑on craft — someone who has designed and run SPR/BLI campaigns in high-stakes settings and is energized by the idea of translating that expertise into an autonomous lab. You will work closely with roboticists and software engineers to bring these assays into routine execution on our platform, and directly with customers to scope and deliver characterization campaigns.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop, validate, and run SPR and BLI assays across the full range of formats — affinity and kinetics, epitope binning, self-interaction (AC-SINS and BLI-based), and concentration/quantitation — on platforms including the Carterra LSA and Gator BLI

• Design assay strategies for antibody and alternative binder characterization, selecting the right sensor chemistry, capture approach, regeneration conditions, and analysis models for each target and format

• Build out new biophysical capabilities end-to-end: scope the need, evaluate technologies, qualify instruments, write SOPs, and prepare validated workflows for autonomous execution

• Partner with roboticists and software engineers to translate manual SPR/BLI workflows into reliable, high-throughput autonomous protocols — including sample handling, plate setup, sensor/chip management, and data pipeline integration

• Develop rigorous data analysis and QC frameworks for kinetics fitting, binning heatmaps, and developability flags, and interpret results to inform customer go/no-go decisions

• Integrate biophysical data with orthogonal characterization — thermal stability (nanoDSF/DSC), aggregation and monomericity (HPLC-SEC/DLS), and polyspecificity — to give customers an integrated developability picture

• Work directly with customers to scope characterization campaigns, communicate results clearly, and translate their scientific questions into executable assay plans

• Maintain rigorous experimental records in electronic lab notebooks (ELN) and drive reproducibility across every assay you deploy

What You Bring to the Team

• Ph.D. in biochemistry, biophysics, structural biology, or a related discipline with 2+ years of industry experience, or a B.S./M.S. with 6+ years of deep, hands‑on industry experience.

• Deep hands‑on expertise with SPR and/or BLI — instrument operation, assay development, and data analysis — with a track record of generating high‑quality kinetics data

• Strong command of binding kinetics theory and its practical pitfalls: avidity, mass transport, regeneration, surface capacity, and fitting model selection

• Demonstrated experience developing and qualifying biophysical assays from scratch, including method validation and troubleshooting

• Working understanding of antibody structure, function, and the therapeutic antibody discovery and developability process

• Strong documentation habits, attention to detail, and the ability to drive multiple workstreams in parallel

• A scrappy, can‑do attitude — you figure things out and get things done
  

Bonus Points For

• Hands‑on experience with high‑throughput SPR platforms (e.g., Carterra LSA) and array‑based epitope binning

• Experience with alternative binder formats — VHHs, bispecifics, Fc‑fusions, or non‑Ig scaffolds

• Hands‑on experience with lab automation and liquid handling platforms (e.g., Lynx, Tempest, KingFisher)

• Experience developing developability assay panels (nanoDSF/DLS, HPLC‑SEC/HIC, AC‑SINS) and integrating multi‑instrument datasets

• Experience building analysis pipelines or scripting for high‑throughput kinetics data (Python/R)

• Track record of developing and qualifying new assays or platforms from scratch

What We Offer

• An opportunity to change the way that scientific research happens

• Fast‑paced, creative, and collaborative work environment

• Significant equity ownership

• 401k

• Medical insurance and dental insurance

• Unlimited PTO

• Weekday lunches and dinners

This position is 100% in‑person. You must be able to come on‑site to our San Francisco office. We offer relocation benefits for applicants who need to relocate.

Medra is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, ancestry, national origin, religion or religious creed, mental or physical disability, medical condition, genetic information, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, military or veteran status, citizenship, or other characteristics protected by state, federal or local law or our other policies. We value diversity at Medra and welcome applications from those who are traditionally underrepresented in tech.