Job Details

Sr. Principal Scientist/Associate Director Antibody Engineering

About Enlaza Therapeutics

Enlaza Therapeutics is a biotech company developing an innovative synthetic biology platform to create a disruptive new class of biologic therapeutics. We are dedicated to the development of these novel therapies to help patients suffering from cancer and other serious diseases.

Role Description

We seek a leader in the field with extensive experience in engineering and optimization of hit molecules to direct and oversee the protein engineering group. The successful candidate will have a deep understanding of structure-function relationships and integrate protein sciences with biological mechanisms to design and execute on discovery campaigns. They will demonstrate exquisite communication and collaboration and will work closely with empirical and computational protein engineering staff and will be a key scientific partner for multiple project and functional leads.

Responsibilities

• Use subject-matter expertise in protein engineering to advise teams on therapeutic formatting, target structure-function hypotheses, and design and selection of tool molecules and reagents
• Directly supervise protein engineering scientists, providing technical oversight and professional development
• Act as project team lead for discovery programs and ensure delivery of key project goals and milestones
• Closely collaborate and coordinate with inter-disciplinary discovery and development function leads, scientists and project management to progress molecules from initial hits to developable clinical candidates
• Oversee or perform design and construction of antibody/protein combinatorial libraries and engineering campaigns
• Lead continuous improvement in laboratory workflows
• Supervise the collection, aggregation and curation of experimental and theoretical data to inform predictive algorithms
• Assist scientific leadership with technology development and strategy

Required Skills and Experience

• Advanced degree (MS, PhD) in Biochemistry, Chemistry, or other relevant discipline and 7+ years of directly related biopharmaceutical industry experience
• Deep knowledge of protein structure, interactions, and physicochemical properties
• Experience directly managing scientists
• Competence in leading cross-functional project teams from target validation, through discovery and optimization, to development candidate
• Advanced understanding of sequence and structure features and properties of multiple antibody formats (traditional mAbs, bi/multi-specifics, scFvs, single domain antibodies, and others)
• Extensive hands-on experience with therapeutic protein and antibody engineering, humanization, liability removal, and optimization
• Background in leveraging developability assessment (solubility, stability, impact of formulation, manufacturability) to optimize protein design
• Familiarity with advanced in silico experiments, computer programming, databases, and machine learning integration in antibody discovery/engineering

Additional Experience Preferred but Not Required

• Experience with plate-based assay design and development and high-throughput workflows
• Experience with engineering of small proteins or enzymes
• Ability to synthesize structural and biophysical data, including epitope mapping, binding kinetics and physicochemical profiling, to inform decision-making

Compensation

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.