Senior Protein Engineer: AI-Driven Therapeutics

Xaira Therapeutics, Inc.; South San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 164,000 - 205,000; Full time

Job summary

Xaira Therapeutics, Inc. seeks a Principal Scientist to lead protein engineering within AI‑driven discovery of therapeutics. You will guide design campaigns, engineer proteins and antibodies, and mentor junior staff onsite in the San Francisco Bay Area.

You will collaborate with computational designers, define program strategies, supervise CROs, and contribute to regulatory and technical documentation while advancing developability and biophysical characterization.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in a relevant scientific discipline with molecular biology/biochemistry/structural biology focus.
• At least 6 years of industry R&D in biotech/biopharma supporting large‑molecule programs.
• Hands‑on protein engineering with antibody characterization and developability assessments.
• Strong expertise in antibody formats, production, purification, and characterization.
• Experience with structure prediction and ML tools for protein design is preferred.
• Excellent organization, communication, and mentoring abilities.

Responsibilities

• Define scientific strategy for therapeutic programs in collaboration with cross‑functional teams.
• Lead binder discovery and optimize design campaigns with computational designers.
• Engineer, produce, purify, and characterize therapeutic proteins and antibodies.
• Maintain ELN accuracy and contribute to reports, regulatory docs, and presentations.
• Oversee CROs and ensure timely data delivery and quality.
• Mentor junior staff and promote collaboration across teams.

Skills

Protein engineering

Antibody formats

Developability

Structure prediction

PyMOL

AlphaFold

Mentoring

Leadership

Education

Ph.D. in molecular biology/biochemistry/structural biology

Tools

PyMOL

AlphaFold

Job description

Xaira Therapeutics, Inc. seeks a Principal Scientist to lead protein engineering within AI‑driven discovery of therapeutics. You will guide design campaigns, engineer proteins and antibodies, and mentor junior staff onsite in the San Francisco Bay Area.

You will collaborate with computational designers, define program strategies, supervise CROs, and contribute to regulatory and technical documentation while advancing developability and biophysical characterization.