Senior Molecular Biologist — High-Throughput Vector Design

Zealand Pharma U.S., Inc.; Cambridge (MA); On-site; USD 125,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

Zealand Pharma U.S., Inc. in Cambridge, MA is seeking a Scientist or Senior Scientist in Molecular Biology to drive high-throughput vector design and molecular cloning, enable expression and engineered cell lines, and support discovery across multiple platforms.

The role focuses on building foundational molecular biology capabilities for display technologies, molecular interactions, and structural biology at the new Cambridge research center, with growth in scope and responsibility.

Qualifications

• PhD preferred; postdoctoral training considered
• 2+ years post-degree in vector design, molecular cloning, and cell line engineering (Scientist)
• 4+ years in these areas (Senior Scientist)
• Expertise in high-throughput vector design and cloning workflows (e.g., Golden Gate, Gibson)
• Experience with challenging target classes such as GPCRs and multi-pass transmembrane proteins
• Experience with genome editing (lentiviral transduction, CRISPR-Cas9)
• Hands-on cell culture and expression scaling (transient to stable) is a plus

Responsibilities

• Design and construct high-throughput expression vectors to support recombinant protein expression and engineered cell line generation
• Generate constructs and reagents for GPCRs, receptor-Fc fusions, and biotinylated bait antigens
• Engineer mammalian or other host cell lines using genome engineering approaches (e.g., CRISPR-Cas9)
• Support generation of target bait proteins and target-expressing cell lines for display campaigns and molecular interaction studies
• Support constructs and cell lines for structural biology workflows (crystallography, cryo-EM)
• Apply cell line engineering to in vitro pharmacology assays and binding studies

Skills

Vector design

Molecular cloning

Cell line engineering

Genome editing

Protein expression

CRISPR-Cas9

Lentiviral transduction

GPCRs handling

High-throughput workflows

Education

PhD in Molecular Biology/Cell Biology/Biochemistry or related field

Tools

Golden Gate

Gibson Assembly

CRISPR-Cas9 technologies

Job description

Zealand Pharma U.S., Inc. in Cambridge, MA is seeking a Scientist or Senior Scientist in Molecular Biology to drive high-throughput vector design and molecular cloning, enable expression and engineered cell lines, and support discovery across multiple platforms.

The role focuses on building foundational molecular biology capabilities for display technologies, molecular interactions, and structural biology at the new Cambridge research center, with growth in scope and responsibility.