Senior Research Associate, Antibody Discovery & Characterization New Massachusetts, United States

Ginkgo Bioworks, Inc.; Mississippi; On-site; USD 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading company in biological engineering seeks a Senior Research Associate for their Antibody Discovery team. The role involves producing and characterizing antibodies, supporting innovative projects, and collaborating with cross-functional teams. Ideal candidates will have a background in biochemistry or related fields and experience in antibody development.

Qualifications

• 3-4 years of relevant laboratory experience or 0-2 years with a Master's degree.
• Hands-on experience in antibody engineering and characterization.

Responsibilities

• Execute workflows for antibody production and purification.
• Perform characterization assays and maintain analytical instruments.

Skills

Organizational Skills

Communication

Data Analysis

Education

Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry

Master's degree in Biochemistry

Tools

Spotfire

GraphPad Prism

Job description

Senior Research Associate, Antibody Discovery & Characterization

Massachusetts, United States

Our mission is to make biology easier to engineer. Ginkgo is constructing, editing, and redesigning the living world in order to answer the globe’s growing challenges in health, energy, food, materials, and more. Our bioengineers make use of an in-house automated foundry for designing and building new organisms.

The Ginkgo Bioworks Datapoints Business Unit is seeking a motivated and detail-oriented Associate Scientist to join our dynamic Antibody Developability team. This role involves supporting the production, engineering, and characterization of diverse antibody formats to advance our platform capabilities and partner programs. The successful candidate will contribute to key developability assessments using various biophysical techniques and support the evaluation of lead antibody candidates. This is an excellent opportunity for a scientist looking to grow their skills in antibody development within a fast-paced, innovative environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Execute established workflows for the production (transient transfection, expression) and purification of various antibody formats (e.g., IgGs, VHHs, Fabs, bi- and multi-specifics).
• Perform routine antibody characterization and developability assays, including binding analysis, stability assessments (thermal and colloidal), aggregation propensity, and purity checks.
• Operate and maintain key analytical instrumentation, potentially including BLI, SPR, or flow cytometry systems for antibody-antigen interaction analysis.
• Support the execution of experiments for antibody engineering and optimization efforts under supervision.
• Assist in the adaptation and troubleshooting of assays for higher throughput formats or automation platforms.
• Maintain accurate experimental records, analyze data, and prepare summaries for internal discussion.
• Contribute to the preparation of technical reports and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
• Collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams within Ginkgo Bioworks.
• Present experimental findings at team meetings.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Bioengineering, or a related life science field with 3-4 years of relevant laboratory experience (industry experience preferred) OR Master's degree in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Bioengineering, or a related life science field with 0-2 years of relevant laboratory experience (industry experience preferred).
• Hands-on experience in antibody engineering, production (transfection and purification), and developability characterization using biophysical and biological techniques.
• Familiarity with concepts of antibody structure and function.
• Strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and ability to manage multiple tasks concurrently.
• Experience processing and analyzing experimental data using common scientific software tools, including visualization tools (e.g., Spotfire, Excel) and graphing/statistical software (e.g., GraphPad Prism or similar).
• Good communication skills and the ability to work effectively as part of a team.
• Proficiency in data analysis and laboratory record keeping.

Preferred Qualifications

• Hands-on experience using BLI (e.g., Octet) or SPR (e.g., Biacore) instruments for kinetic and affinity analysis of protein interactions.
• Experience working with diverse or novel antibody formats (e.g., VHHs, bi-specifics, multi-specifics, antibody fragments).
• Experience with antibody developability assays (e.g., DSF/Tm, DLS, SEC-MALS, aggregation assays, polyreactivity assessments).
• Familiarity with high-throughput screening (HTS) techniques or laboratory automation.
• Experience working in a biotechnology or pharmaceutical industry setting.
• Basic understanding of antibody engineering principles.

We also feel that it’s important to point out the obvious here – there’s a serious lack of diversity in our industry, and that needs to change. Our goal is to help drive that change. Ginkgo is deeply committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion in all of its practices, especially when it comes to growing our team. Our culture promotes inclusion and embraces how rewarding it is to work with people from all walks of life.

We’re developing a powerful biological engineering platform, so we must remain mindful of the many ways our technology can – and will – impact people around the world. We care about how our platform is used, and having a diverse team to build it gives us the best chance that it’s something we’ll be proud of as it continues to grow. Therefore, it’s critical that we incorporate the diverse voices and visions of all those who play a role in the future of biology.

It is the policy of Ginkgo Bioworks to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees, employment applicants, and EOE disability/vet.

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