Senior Scientist, Protein Engineering

Avalon BioVentures, Inc.; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock options

Relocation assistance

Comprehensive benefits

Job summary

Avalon BioVentures seeks a Senior Scientist (Ph.D. or equivalent) with 5+ years post-doctoral industrial experience to lead design and engineering of therapeutic proteins from concept to leads, collaborating with biology, analytics, and CMC.

You will mentor junior scientists, improve protein design and screening platforms, and contribute to data-driven decision making across cross-functional teams in La Jolla, CA.

Qualifications

• Ph.D. (or equivalent) in protein biochemistry, molecular biology, immunology, or related field.
• More than 5 years of post-doctoral industrial experience.

Responsibilities

• Design and engineer therapeutic proteins from concept to well-characterized leads.
• Plan and run expression, purification, and characterization workflows.
• Develop and refine biochemical and cell-based assays with biology colleagues.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to integrate data and prioritize leads.
• Document plans, methods, and results in ELNs; present findings to teams.
• Contribute to platform and process improvements to increase throughput and data quality.
• Mentor junior scientists and model collaborative, evidence-driven work.

Skills

Protein biochemistry

Molecular biology

Immunology

High-throughput workflows

Data management

Education

Ph.D. in related field

Tools

Purification techniques

PPI assays

Job description

Avalon BioVentures is a biotech venture capital firm that builds on Avalon’s 40-year success in pursuing disruptive ideas to improve life. From its established offices and labs on the Torrey Pines Mesa, in La Jolla, California, Avalon BioVentures leverages its Accelerator, which provides operational infrastructure and support, and the team’s extensive experience to identify promising science, build agile companies, and advance breakthrough therapeutics.

ABOUT THE ROLE

We are seeking a Senior Scientist (Ph.D. or equivalent, with more than 5 years of post-doctoral industrial experience) to join our growing team as a key player in the development of our therapeutic protein platform and the culture of our scientific team. In this role, you will lead the design and engineering of therapeutic proteins from concept through to well-characterized leads, working closely with colleagues in biology, analytics, and CMC.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Design, execute and interpret antibody selection and engineering campaigns to optimize affinity, specificity, stability, expression and developability of therapeutic proteins.
• Plan and run systematic expression, purification and characterization workflows, ensuring robust, reproducible results and high-quality data packages for project decisions.
• Develop and refine assays (biochemical and/or cell-based) in partnership with biology colleagues to assess function, mechanism and liabilities of engineered proteins.
• Collaborate closely with cross-functional teams (biology, structural, CMC) to integrate data, prioritize leads, and troubleshoot programs in a transparent, evidence-driven manner.
• Document experimental plans, methods and results rigorously in ELNs and internal reports; present findings clearly to project and leadership teams.
• Contribute to platform and process improvements in protein design, expression, and screening to increase throughput and data quality.
• Mentor and provide day-to-day technical guidance to junior scientists, modeling collaborative behavior and systematic problem-solving.

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE

• Ph.D. (or equivalent) in protein biochemistry, molecular biology, immunology, or a closely related field, with more than 5 years of post-doctoral industrial experience.
• Background in multiple expression systems (prokaryotic and eukaryotic), with experience of high-throughput workflows and data management.
• Experience with in vitro display technologies (phage, DNA, RNA, etc.).
• Hands-on experience with modern purification techniques and tools.
• Experience with developability assays (Tm, Tagg, DLS, DFS, specificity, solubility, stability, etc.).
• Experience with PPI assays (KD via SPR, BLI, GCI, ITC; or homogeneous assays such as HTRF, FRET/BRET, AlphaScreen, DELFIA, etc.).

PREFERRED EXPERIENCE

• Experience with the design, expression, and analysis of multi-specific or multi-valent molecules.

PERSONAL QUALITIES

• Collaborative and team-oriented: shares information openly, seeks input from colleagues, and is comfortable co-owning data, decisions and publications.
• Science-focused: grounded and focused on the quality and impact of the science rather than personal recognition; gives credit generously.
• Systematic and methodical: plans experiments thoughtfully, uses appropriate controls, and improves processes rather than relying on ad hoc fixes.
• Organized and conscientious: manages multiple experiments in parallel, meets commitments reliably, and maintains excellent records.
• Open to feedback: invites critique of their designs and data, adjusts their approach when the evidence points elsewhere, and helps create a psychologically safe lab environment.

WHAT WE OFFER

In addition to a competitive compensation package with stock options, the company also offers a comprehensive benefits package for our employees and their families, which includes medical, dental, vision, and supplemental disability insurance.

Job Type: Full-time

Supplemental pay types

• Dental insurance
• Employee assistance programli>
• Flexible spending account
• Parental leave
• Relocation assistance (if eligible)
• Year-end shutdown

We are an equal opportunity employer committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by law. The above description is intended to describe the general nature of the job and may include other duties as assumed or assigned; it is not intended to be all inclusive or limit the duties of the position.