Senior Scientist, Cell Sciences Assays (Discovery Biologics)

Job Description

Our Company is a global health care leader with a diversified portfolio of prescription medicines, vaccines, and animal health products. The difference between potential and achievement lies in the spark that fuels innovation and inventiveness; this is the space where our company has codified its legacy for over a century. our company's success is backed by ethical integrity, forward momentum, and an inspiring mission to achieve new milestones in global healthcare. We are on a quest for cures and are committed to be the world’s premier, most research-intensive biopharmaceutical company. Today, we’re doubling down on this goal to take our company's leading discovery capabilities and world-class small molecule and biologics R&D expertise to create breakthrough science that radically changes the way we approach serious diseases.

The Discovery Biologics Department is seeking a Senior Scientist to join the Cell Sciences team that leverages cell engineering and innovative bioassays to drive design and progression of biotherapeutics. Understanding cellular trafficking of large molecules is integral to Discovery Biologics and enables antibody discovery, functional characterization, and development of pipeline molecules. The Senior Scientist (R3) will be instrumental in monitoring the fate of various biologics modalities by assessing kinetics of internalization, recycling, endosomal escape, and functional activity to drive progression of our Discovery Biologics pipeline.

The successful candidate will possess a broad and strong technical background in cell biology, molecular biology, a range of cell-based assays as well as expertise in high content imaging technologies. This role will be based in South San Francisco and will work collaboratively with scientists and teams across our various our company's research sites.

We recognize that the diversity in our team is our strength and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees. Successful candidates must demonstrate inclusive behaviors in working with a diverse group of scientists to drive our core mission.

Key Responsibilities:

• Antibody mediated receptor internalization and endocytosis

• Familiarity with FcRn dependent cell-based recycling assays 

• Design, develop and execute bioassay methods that mimic the mechanism of action for biologic therapies

• Assess and evaluate new technologies, suitable for bioassay development to enable mechanism of action studies and analytical characterization of molecular concepts

• Explore next-generation reporters, proximity assays, and expression cassettes

• Author associated method development reports, test procedures, and relevant method transfer documents

• Contribute to and lead the authoring of patents and external publications

• Present research findings at group meetings, project meetings, and at external meetings

• Actively develop talent, strategically maximize diversity to complement and strengthen our team

• Foster a high-performance culture of collaboration, engagement, self-accountability, and inclusion

Qualifications:

Education:

• Bachelor's (with 7+ years), Master’s (with 4+ years) or Ph.D. in life sciences and relevant experience listed below 

Required Experience and Skills:

• Cell culture experience with a variety of human cell types including lymphoid & myeloid derived cell lines

• Experience working with engineered cell lines to enable functional assays and mechanism of action studies

• Expertise with FACS-based methods for characterizing cell surface expression

• Proficient in monitoring antibody and receptor internalization with techniques like, imaging, Incucyte and FabZap

• Experience in screening biologics using assays for cell killing, cell signaling, proliferation or reporter gene assays

• Team player who can successfully work in cross-functional teams

• Detail-oriented, highly organized, and able to multi-task with multiple projects

• Strong oral and written communication skills

Preferred Experience and Skills:

• Experience around Fc effector function and related assays

• Knowledge of cell fractionation and organelle isolation for targeted protein degradation assays

• Relevant experience with the development of biotherapeutics and general interest in functional characterization of large molecules

• An innovator who proactively seeks opportunities to share their knowledge and enthusiasm

• Worked with multiple vendors and contract research organizations to build on in