Senior Scientist, TCR

At Lyell, our vision is to develop curative cell-based immunotherapies for solid tumor cancers. We have innovative science originating from our founder’s world class labs and a unique and disruptive approach to research and development. Our company is first and foremost focused on understanding the science. We are a learning organization, dependent on deep collaborative relationships between all of our colleagues, partners and founders. Our culture is based on Science, Respect, Courage and Collaboration and it reflects who we are and the environment we are creating.

Lyell Immunopharma is seeking a qualified candidate to join our newly established R&D center in South San Francisco and Seattle as group leader in the TCR team. The ideal candidate will play a principal role in developing the next generation of cancer immunotherapies. The candidate will be responsible for scientifically supporting the T cell team in developing assays to characterize the cellular identity of enhanced T cells for adoptive cell therapy.

 Essential Functions:

• Analyze and identify T cell lineage populations in heterogenous population of cells including human cord blood, peripheral blood, thymic tissue or in vitro cultures.
• Ability to discern in detail the cell lineage and phenotypic characteristics of conventional and unconventional T cell lymphocytes.  
• Contribute in the development of a system to generate a large number of tumor antigen specific T lineage cells.
• Represent Lyell externally through presentations at key National / International meetings, interactions with our key investigators.
• Participate and thrive in an interactive, team-oriented culture.

Preferred Experience:

Deep molecular knowledge and field expertise of pre-thymic T cell development including T lineage cell differentiation, positive and negative thymic selection, recent thymic emigrant (RTE) biology and RTE to naïve T cell differentiation.

• Proven record of relevant experience and expertise in isolation and culture of thymocytes and primary T cell cultures from T cell progenitor stage through single positive thymic emigrants.
• Expansive knowledge and relevant experience and expertise in thymic education of T cells.
• Relevant experience and expertise in RTE development from their thymic emigration stage until their maturation into naïve T cells in lymph nodes.
• Regenerative medicine work in academia/biopharmaceutical industry, and ability to integrate and communicate complex data sets effectively.
• Strong cell/molecular biology knowledge and experience.
• Consistent record of innovative contributions to T cell development field with an emphasis on intra-thymic T cell maturation and/or T cell differentiation as evidenced by first / senior-authored publications in top-tier journals and patent authorship.

Preferred Education:

• Ph.D. degree in molecular biology, cancer biology, immunology, pathology or related field.

Preferred Additional Skills: 

• Deep knowledge in several biologic fields: iPSC and stem cell biology, hematopoietic differentiation, immature T cell differentiation, developmental biology, cancer immunology, organoid technology, automated bioengineering and others.

At Lyell, we believe that highest performing teams include people from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences who respectfully challenge each other. We are committed to building an open, diverse and inclusive culture for all employees.

Lyell is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, citizenship status, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, age, religion, creed, physical or mental disability, medical condition, marital status, veteran status or any other characteristics protected under applicable federal, state and local laws.

We’ve learned from experience that some of the best people don’t always match our requirements perfectly - if you’re interested and think you could fit, please don’t hesitate to apply.