Senior Scientist II, Structural and Biophysical Analytics

Job Description Summary

The Structural BioAnalytics (SBA) group within Global Discovery Chemistry at Novartis Biomedical Research in Emeryville, CA (San Francisco Bay Area) is seeking a self-motivated, highly skilled scientist with extensive experience in structural biology analytical techniques. Candidates with a strong background in one or more of the following technologies are strongly encouraged to apply: protein mass spectrometry (MS) techniques such as hydrogen-deuterium exchange MS (HDX-MS), native MS (nMS), hydroxyl radical protein footprinting (HRPF) or Biomolecular NMR (Bio-NMR). We expect the successful candidate to be curious about new drug discovery approaches, eager to learn and to adapt quickly to the evolving needs and priorities of the SBA group. While solid hands-on experience of LC-MS, HPLC/UHPLC is preferred, we invest in our employees’ growth and offer various professional development opportunities including technical training and mentorship programs. Knowledge of other biochemical, biophysical and cellular screening techniques for small molecule characterization and development is a plus.

 

Job Description

Internal Job Title: Senior Scientist II

Position Location: Emeryville, CA onsite #LI-onsite

About the Role:

The Structural BioAnalytics (SBA) group within Global Discovery Chemistry at Novartis Biomedical Research in Emeryville, CA (San Francisco Bay Area) is seeking a self-motivated, highly skilled scientist with extensive experience in structural biology analytical techniques. Candidates with a strong background in one or more of the following technologies are strongly encouraged to apply: protein mass spectrometry (MS) techniques such as hydrogen-deuterium exchange MS (HDX-MS), native MS (nMS), hydroxyl radical protein footprinting (HRPF) or Biomolecular NMR (Bio-NMR). We expect the successful candidate to be curious about new drug discovery approaches, eager to learn and to adapt quickly to the evolving needs and priorities of the SBA group. While solid hands-on experience of LC-MS, HPLC/UHPLC is preferred, we invest in our employees’ growth and offer various professional development opportunities including technical training and mentorship programs. Knowledge of other biochemical, biophysical and cellular screening techniques for small molecule characterization and development is a plus.

SBA is a multidisciplinary team with expertise in biomolecular nuclear magnetic resonance (Bio-NMR), small molecule NMR, nMS and HDX-MS. Our group collaborates closely with other structural and biophysical groups across Novartis to investigate new drug targets and identify and validate small molecule compounds from biochemical, biophysical and cellular screens. Together we collaborate with scientists at the frontiers of chemical biology, chemical genomics, data sciences and disease biology to identify opportunities for next generation therapeutics. Our goal is to find and develop small or large molecules with the potential for modulating diseases, and we support or lead drug discovery projects in various therapeutic areas like oncology, immuno-oncology, virology, parasitical, cardiovascular, immunological and neurological diseases.

The Senior Scientist II will be an integral member of structure-based drug discovery teams. They will provide structural MS and/or NMR expertise to advance early drug discovery efforts, design and conduct HDX-MS, native MS and/or Bio-NMR experiments to solve key scientific questions, communicate effectively and efficiently in team meetings, review sessions, and collaboratively work with other scientists to develop innovative medicines. This role will impact our local discovery efforts and the global discovery portfolio through bench-level and strategic contributions. The successful candidate will be expected to implement novel structural MS and/or Bio-NMR techniques to answer drug discovery questions related to protein dynamics/folding, mutant analysis, epitope/paratope mapping, and protein/nucleic acid-small molecule interactions.

Key Responsibilities:

• Interpret data, present results and provide strategic input to internal project teams and global stakeholders to help drive our drug discovery projects

• Prepare HDX-MS samples as well as record and analyze deuterium labeling data of proteins in complex with peptides, nucleic acids or small molecules

• Prepare, execute and analyze native MS experiments

• Design, execute and interpret Biomolecular NMR experiments

• Independently support multiple drug discovery projects in parallel

• Working closely with scientists in Protein Sciences to creatively design and generate protein constructs suitable for nMS, HDX-MS or Bio-NMR experiments

• Participate in maintaining