Senior Scientist: Antibody Engineering & Discovery Lead

BigHat; San Mateo (CA); On-site; USD 160,000 - 185,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual bonus

Stock options

Benefits package

Job summary

BigHat Biosciences in San Mateo, CA, is seeking a Senior Scientist I to lead antibody engineering programs, coordinating cross-functional teams to drive discovery, design, optimization, and characterization of therapeutic antibodies.

The role requires a PhD with 5+ years of industry experience, hands-on protein engineering, and strong data analysis and communication skills; collaboration with leadership and external partners is key.

Qualifications

• PhD in biochemistry, structural biology, protein engineering, or related field.
• 5+ years of advanced research experience in an industry setting.
• Hands-on protein engineering with structure-guided design and affinity tuning.
• Experience with diverse antibody formats (multispecifics, T-cell engagers, ADCs).
• Expertise in mammalian cell culture, immunoassay, molecular techniques and protein characterization.
• Strong written, verbal, and visual communication; publication track record.
• Experience presenting strategy and results to internal and external partners.
• Strong data analysis and interpretation; agentic software familiarity is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Lead cross-functional project teams (Data Science, AI/ML, Eng, Protein Sciences) on rapid multi-objective optimization.
• Deeply understand target biology to design antibodies meeting candidate profiles.
• Contribute antibody engineering approaches to generate and optimize antibodies.
• Collaborate with leadership to link strategy, research, and development.
• Lead in-depth data analysis of design cycles leveraging experimental and computational data.
• Communicate results to decision makers and external partners.

Skills

Protein engineering

Data analysis

Communication skills

Publication record

Computational design

Team leadership

Education

Ph.D. in biochemistry/structural biology/protein engineering

Tools

Mammalian cell culture

Immunoassays

Molecular techniques

Protein expression/characterization

Job description

BigHat Biosciences in San Mateo, CA, is seeking a Senior Scientist I to lead antibody engineering programs, coordinating cross-functional teams to drive discovery, design, optimization, and characterization of therapeutic antibodies.

The role requires a PhD with 5+ years of industry experience, hands-on protein engineering, and strong data analysis and communication skills; collaboration with leadership and external partners is key.