What are the responsibilities and job description for the Senior Research Scientist I, Antibody Engineering and Characterization position at Broad Institute?
Embedded within the Broad Institute, the Center for the Development of Therapeutics (CDoT) is a highly collaborative organization of professional drug discovery scientists. Our mission is to translate cutting edge biological insights originating from the Broad community into impactful drug discovery projects. We partner with faculty from MIT, Harvard, and the Harvard teaching hospitals together with industry partners in pharmaceutical, biotechnology and venture capital firms to validate targets and identify leads. We combine our deep expertise in drug discovery with the knowledge and unique capabilities of the Broad Institute to explore drug discovery projects in a wide range of disease areas (including oncology, cardiovascular, psychiatry, infectious and rare diseases). We use systematic approaches in genomics, biology, high content imaging, chemistry, single-domain antibody discovery, and machine learning coupled with the Broad's culture of creativity, risk taking, and collaboration, to successfully advance science and develop new treatments for patients.
We are seeking a passionate and highly motivated Senior Research Scientist I to join CDoT's growing Biologics team. The successful candidate should have extensive experience with biologics and multispecifics engineering, analytical characterization, and a proven track record of advancing biologics drug discovery programs from inception to proof-of-concept and candidate nomination stages.
Responsibilities
- Lead integrated antibody and biologics engineering campaigns from early concept through lead identification and optimization.
- Design, execute, and oversee antibody engineering and optimization workflows, including affinity maturation, humanization, format conversion, Fc engineering, expression, purification, and characterization.
- Engineer and evaluate antibodies across multiple therapeutic formats, including IgG, Fab, scFv, bispecific or multispecific antibodies, T cell engagers, TCR engagers, CAR-T-related formats, and other novel modalities.
- Characterize antibody candidates using biochemical, biophysical, and functional assays to assess binding, affinity, specificity, epitope diversity, developability, potency, and mechanism of action.
- Collaborate with industry and academic partners and other CDoT team members (protein sciences, RABIT binder discovery) on cross-functional projects
Required Qualifications
- PhD in immunology, molecular biology, biochemistry, protein engineering, or a related discipline, with 5 years of relevant post-PhD industry experience in biologics drug discovery
- Deep technical expertise in antibody biology, structure and function, discovery platforms, and therapeutic antibody optimization
- Experience with complex biologics formats, such as T cell engagers, TCR engagers, bispecific or multispecific antibodies, ADCs, CAR-T or immunocytokine fusions is essential
- Hands-on experience with structure-guided engineering of antibodies and modeling software (Schrodinger, MOE, Pymol) to optimize biophysical properties and developability
- Expertise in antibody characterization assays and platforms, including affinity determination, epitope binning, competition assays, specificity profiling, and developability assessment by Biacore, Carterra, Octet, ELISA, HPLC, DLS/SLS, and related technologies
- Experience with biologics expression and purification using various chromatographic methods (affinity, SEC, IEX, HIC)
- Proven ability to design, manage, and critically evaluate outsourced biologics drug discovery, production and characterization workflows at CROs, and work on multiple projects simultaneously
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience with display platforms (phage, yeast) for antibody discovery and optimization
- Experience managing direct reports and developing talent is a plus
- Experience with LC-MS characterization of biologics
- Experience implementing AI/ML in biologics drug discovery workflows
The successful candidate will be a results-focused, team-oriented, creative bench scientist able to excel in a fast-track environment. She or he must be self-motivated, detail-oriented and exhibit strong problem solving skills. In addition, the successful candidate should be a clear and effective communicator, demonstrating strong interpersonal skills to enable collaboration with project teams, peers, and management in identifying and achieving research goals.
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or protected veteran status.