Senior Scientific Director, Protein Engineering

Scorpion Therapeutics; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 250,000 - 350,000; Full time

Job summary

Neurocrine Biosciences in San Diego seeks a Senior Scientific Director, Protein Engineering to provide scientific and strategic leadership for its protein engineering and biologics discovery programs.

You will lead a team of protein engineers, drive platform innovation, and collaborate across disciplines to advance biologics from discovery to IND-enabling development.

Qualifications

• PhD (10+ years) or Master’s (20+ years) or Bachelor’s (22+ years) in a relevant discipline.
• Proven leadership advancing antibody/protein therapeutics from discovery through IND-enabling development.
• Extensive expertise in protein/antibody engineering and structure-function relationships.
• Experience leading scientific teams and building protein engineering capabilities.
• Deep knowledge of biologics discovery workflows (molecular design, developability, candidate selection).
• Strong construct design, recombinant expression, purification, and biophysical characterization.
• Knowledge of antibody discovery technologies (display platforms, affinity maturation).
• Experience managing CRO/external collaborations; strong publications/patent record.
• Excellent scientific communication; ability to translate strategy into executable plans.

Responsibilities

• Provide scientific leadership for Protein Engineering; set priorities for biologics portfolio.
• Lead programs from target assessment through lead generation and IND-enabling steps.
• Drive innovation in antibody and protein engineering technologies.
• Evaluate and implement emerging technologies and computational approaches.
• Lead, mentor, and develop protein engineering talent; recruit where needed.
• Collaborate across functions and with CROs/academia to advance programs.

Skills

Protein engineering

Antibody engineering

Biologics discovery

Cross-functional leadership

CRO management

Scientific communication

Education

PhD (10+ years) in relevant discipline

Master’s (20+ years) in relevant discipline

Bachelor’s (22+ years) in relevant discipline

Tools

Display platforms

Affinity maturation

LC-MS characterization

Recombinant expression

Mammalian expression

Job description

About The Role

Senior Scientific Director, Protein Engineering provides scientific and strategic leadership for Neurocrine’s protein engineering and biologics discovery capabilities. Leads a team of protein engineers and expands technical expertise/platforms to enable next-generation biotherapeutics.

Your Contributions

Scientific Leadership

• Lead and provide strategic direction for the Protein Engineering function; set scientific priorities for the biologics portfolio
• Guide programs from target assessment through lead generation, optimization, candidate selection, and transition into development
• Drive innovation in antibody and protein engineering technologies
• Evaluate and implement emerging technologies, platforms, and computational approaches

Organizational Leadership

• Lead, mentor, and develop protein engineering talent; recruit additional scientific talent
• Foster a collaborative, innovative, inclusive scientific culture
• Build capabilities via investment in new technologies, workflows, and expertise
• Establish/maintain collaborations with CROs, academics, and technology providers

Drug Discovery & Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Partner cross-functionally to advance biologics programs through discovery and IND-enabling studies
• Lead candidate selection, developability assessment, and optimization strategies
• Provide data-driven recommendations for governance and portfolio decisions
• Ensure protein engineering work aligns with timelines, quality standards, and objectives

Requirements

Required

• PhD (10+ years) OR Master’s (20+ years) OR Bachelor’s (22+ years) in relevant discipline
• Demonstrated scientific leadership advancing antibody/protein therapeutics from discovery through IND-enabling development
• Extensive expertise in protein/antibody engineering and structure-function relationships
• Expertise in protein conjugation, multispecifics, ADCs, or other next-gen biologics
• Experience leading high-performing scientific teams and building protein engineering capabilities
• Deep knowledge of biologics discovery workflows (molecular design, lead optimization, developability, candidate selection)
• Strong construct design, recombinant expression (mammalian/microbial), purification, biochemical/biophysical characterization
• Knowledge of antibody discovery technologies (e.g., display platforms, affinity maturation, engineered scaffolds)
• Experience managing CRO/external collaborations; strong publication/patent record
• Excellent scientific communication; ability to translate strategy into executable plans

Preferred

• Experience developing therapeutic antibodies/biologics in neuroscience, endocrinology, immunology, or inflammation
• Computational protein design, ML-enabled engineering, or AI-assisted design
• High-throughput screening, protein display, developability assessment
• Familiarity with LC-MS characterization
• Knowledge of regulatory expectations for IND submission