Senior Scientist – Protein Design

Here at AstraZeneca you’ll have the opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives every day. As one of the world’s premier biotechnology companies, our mission is centered on delivering life-changing products that advance world health and help fight and cure disease. As a Senior Scientist in the Early Vaccines and Immune Therapies Unit (Early V&I) in Seattle, WA, you’ll play a pivotal role in channeling our scientific capabilities to make a positive impact on changing patients’ lives.  

The Early V&I team at AstraZeneca is discovering and developing novel vaccines and biologics targeting key viral pathogens.  We are consistently pushing the boundaries of science to deliver life-changing medicines to patients.  Our deep expertise in virology, bacteriology, immunology, and vaccines enables our ability to advance novel therapeutic approaches and technologies to prevent and treat infectious disease.  We have an industry-leading pipeline and offer a unique and strong collaborative network as part of the AstraZeneca family. 

Currently, we are seeking a highly motivated and broadly skilled scientist with scientific and technical expertise in machine learning based computational protein design and structural biology demonstrating a track record of scientific achievement to join the group at AstraZeneca in Seattle, WA.  The Senior Scientist will be a key member of a growing, dynamic team focused on developing next-generation vaccines and antibody therapeutics through the implementation of protein design in the drug discovery process.  The position requires a strong interest in computational protein design work driving projects forward.  AstraZeneca has a dynamic environment that fosters collaboration and innovation as we look to attract and develop top talent. 

Major responsibilities: 

• Perform a range of computational experiments to design and generate novel protein antigens, immunogens, binders, and antibodies that elicit prophylactic immunity or provide therapeutic benefit against clinically relevant pathogens 

• Develop, validate, and maintain novel computational pipelines based on various protein structure software (e.g., deep learning, generative models, structure prediction, docking, and molecular simulation) for protein antigen, binder and antibody design 

• Contribute to new concepts and methodologies in antigen design, protein nanoparticle scaffolding, multivalent display, epitope focusing, and other emerging vaccine technology modalities 

• Leverage structural biology (e.g., AlphaFold, Rosetta, experimental-derived models), large-scale sequence datasets, and literature to guide design hypothe