Senior Scientist - Gene-to-Structure

Helix BioStructures LLC; Indiana (PA); On-site; USD 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a skilled Lab Operations Manager to join their innovative team in Indianapolis. This role is pivotal in advancing drug discovery efforts through expert management of protein production and structural biology projects. You will lead a talented team, enhance current methodologies, and engage directly with clients to deliver exceptional results. If you are a passionate scientist with a strong background in biochemistry and a desire to impact the biopharmaceutical landscape, this opportunity is perfect for you. Join a collaborative environment where your expertise will drive groundbreaking discoveries and contribute to the future of medicine.

Benefits

Relocation Package

Competitive Salary

Bonus

Retirement (matching 401K)

Company Apple computer

Qualifications

• Ph.D. in biochemistry or related field with 3-7 years of industry experience.
• Proven track record in protein production and structural biology techniques.

Responsibilities

• Manage protein production and structural biology projects, ensuring high-quality results.
• Interface with clients and document progress and results.

Skills

Protein expression and purification

Biophysical characterization

Project management

Technical report writing

Structural biology techniques

Leadership skills

Education

Ph.D. in Biochemistry

Postdoctoral training

Tools

Phenix

Autoproc

CCP4

Chimera

Rosetta

ShelX

Coot

Pymol

Crystallization robots

RELION

Job description

Helix BioStructures, LLC (HBS) is a contract research organization based in Indianapolis, Indiana, providing early drug discovery services to the biopharmaceutical industry. HBS maintains a full suite of services that encompass chemical & structural analysis, protein production, computational modeling, and design. HBS’s core and most popular services are structural biology imaging techniques, X-ray Crystallography, and Cryo-EM. HBS was founded in 2018 and has grown considerably. We are looking to add an experienced Lab Operations Manager to our Indianapolis-based team.

Main Responsibilities

This senior-level scientist will support our protein production and structural biology pipelines by producing proteins and setting up crystallization and/or cryo-EM experiments, interfacing with our clients, and writing technical project reports. The scientist will be expected to improve upon current state-of-the-art methods to accelerate research processes. This scientist will also be responsible for managing and supporting the team, planning & tracking all projects to produce and deliver high-quality work to our clients. A proven track record in managing people and projects with a deep understanding of protein construct design, expression, and purification of challenging proteins, biophysical characterization, and structural biology techniques is essential.

Highly desirable hands-on experiences include:

• Broad experience in protein production, both expression and purification (mammalian and prokaryotic)
• Biochemical, biophysical, and structural characterization of over-expressed and purified proteins.
• Crystallizing proteins and nucleic acids.
• Cryo-EM grid preparation, data collection, and processing.
• Structure building and refinement program usage to phase difficult data sets.

In addition to expertise in crystallography and/or cryo-EM, this scientist will employ a range of experimental strategies (biochemical, biophysical, and/or computational) to support our client’s structure-based drug discovery, antibody discovery, and/or protein engineering. Accordingly, proficiency and a passion for exploring the structural basis of protein-protein and protein-ligand interactions are essential. The successful candidate will be a technical expert who can lead from the bench and collaborate with colleagues on multiple projects in parallel. Overall, you will be an outstanding protein scientist and structural biologist, collaborator, project and people leader who will significantly impact our portfolio with the unique opportunity to help drive discovery projects from inception to early development.

Additional Responsibilities

• Document experimental data and communicate research priorities, progress, and results with clients/project teams.
• Provide the team with project details, priorities, technical and scientific guidance, deliverables, and timelines.
• The candidate will be responsible for managing the team and all projects and providing support for project success.
• This candidate will manage his/her direct reports and provide all the support they need. The candidate will be responsible for timely updates on project statuses, reporting to their supervisor informally and to Helix’s customers by formal report writing and oral presentations.

Required Qualifications

• Ph.D. in biochemistry, biophysics, protein engineering, and/or structural biology with experience on multiple challenging protein targets. Productive postdoctoral training and/or industry experience is expected.
• Industry experience: 3-7 years post-Ph.D. (not including time as an academic postdoc). Demonstrated competency in protein expression and purification strategies using bacterial, insect, and/or mammalian cell lines.
• Demonstrated knowledge of construct design for structural/biophysical studies and biophysical characterization of proteins.
• Extensive experience in protein X-ray crystallography from protein sample assessment, crystallization, optimization, and data collection to structure determination and refinement. Experience with model building and refinement software, such as Phenix, Autoproc, CCP4, Chimera, Rosetta, ShelX, Coot, and Pymol.
• Experience with crystallization robots and standard analytical techniques associated with assessing protein quality during purification.
• Extensive experience reproducing and advanced optimization of crystal hits to produce diffraction-quality crystals.
• Extensive experience with co-crystallization and soaking techniques to help produce ligand-bound protein structures.
• Demonstrated experience and knowledge in people and project management. Strong leadership, written and oral communication skills, and attention to detail.
• Hands-on experience engineering protein constructs and optimizing the production of protein targets for structural and functional studies.
• Experience in biophysical characterization tools and strategies.
• Ability to generate and characterize milligram quantities of high-quality protein reagents. Experience with protein engineering and/or design approaches.
• Analysis, design, and/or computational approaches to investigate ligand-protein complexes.
• Experience with Cryo-EM is a plus, especially grid vitrification, screening, and data processing using RELION.
• Lead and provide technical and scientific guidance to the team and manage all projects to produce high-quality results and meet the timeline.
• Excellent communication, interpersonal, organizational, and management skills. Fearless attitude to tackle longstanding complex problems.

Location

This position is based in Indianapolis, Indiana, and does NOT offer a hybrid option. Interaction with external service vendors is also expected.

Physical Requirements

• Able to lift 30 lb objects.
• Able to visualize microscopic objects under microscopes.

Non-standard work schedule, travel, and lab safety

Able to adhere to safe work practices and perform lab work with appropriate personal protective equipment such as but not limited to safety goggles, facial mask, gloves, lab coat/ protective gowning, and closed-toe shoes. Able to work at flexible hours occasionally when performing time-sensitive experiments.

Other job details

• Eligible for Relocation Package
• Competitive Salary + Bonus
• Retirement (matching 401K)
• Company Apple computer

Helix BioStructures, LLC is an equal-opportunity employer, and we embrace the increasingly diverse world around us. Helix BioStructures, LLC prohibits unlawful discrimination based on race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin or ancestry, age, disability, marital status, and veteran status.