Senior Research Associate/Associate Scientist, Protein Sciences

Rubius Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of medicines called Red Cell Therapeutics™. Our proprietary RED PLATFORM® was designed to genetically engineer and culture Red Cell Therapeutics™ that are selective, potent and off-the-shelf allogeneic cellular therapies for the potential treatment of several diseases across multiple therapeutic areas. Our therapies can potentially be used to kill tumors in cancer and to regulate the immune system for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. We are currently enrolling patients in a Phase 1/2 clinical trial of RTX-240 in patients with relapsed/refractory or locally advanced solid tumors. In addition, RTX-240 is being evaluated in a second Phase 1 arm of the clinical trial for the treatment of patients with relapsed/refractory acute myeloid leukemia, and our IND has been cleared by the U.S. FDA for RTX-321 for the treatment of human papillomavirus 16-positive cancers.

We are proud of our passionate, high-performance culture – one based on a set of values that are the cornerstone of who we are and how we hold ourselves accountable. Founded in 2013, we are headquartered in Cambridge, MA, and our manufacturing facility in Smithfield, RI was named 2020 Top 5 Best Places to Work in Rhode Island among medium-sized companies by Providence Business News. We are currently expanding across all functions within the organization. Red blood cells are no longer just for carrying oxygen. Check us out at www.rubiustx.com, or follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn or like us on Facebook.

Summary

We are looking for a senior research associate or associate scientist to join our protein sciences group to help with production, protein chemical conjugation and development efforts. The candidate must be independent, goal oriented, technically competent, and able to efficiently work across multiple projects. We are searching for enthusiastic, innovative, and highly motivated individuals, with scientific background in protein expression, purification, protein conjugation and analytical techniques, who are comfortable working in a fast-paced entrepreneurial environment. 

Responsibilities

• Work closely with a team of scientists in protein sciences to help deliver proteins at various scales of production
• Design, plan and perform scientific experiments and contribute to project related scientific activities with some guidance from team members (e.g. interpret and report results, generate and evaluate data, draw relevant conclusions, write standardized reports)
• Contribute to maintenance of infrastructure/equipment
• Contribution to group organization, productivity, and expertise through collaboration and idea exchange
• Meet quality, quantity, and timelines in all assigned projects
• Support the discovery efforts in Protein Sciences
• Proper electronic notebook record keeping
• Communication of experimental plans and data to multiple cross-functional scientific teams
• Will be part of cross-functional teams including biologists, immunologists, and pharmacologists to contribute to the strategic direction of research programs across multiple therapeutic modalities

Qualifications & Education

• The candidate should have a BS/MS degree with 2+ years of relevant experience in biology, biochemistry, biophysics, chemistry, or a related field with relevant laboratory experience, pharmaceutical or biotechnology industry preferred
• Experience with protein purification is a must
• Experience with AKTA and unicorn software is a must
• Experience designing, performing, and analyzing biochemical assays (e.g. activity assays) is a must
• Candidate must be comfortable with routine use of FPLC (affinity, size exclusion, reverse phase, hydrophobic interaction, ion exchange chromatography), SDS-PAGE, and UV-VIS spectroscopy.
• Experience with sterile cell culture techniques is preferred
• Transient transfection of mammalian cells is preferred
• Experience with flow cytometry is nice to have
• Passionate about driving his or her projects from the bench to independently contribute to research directions and solve challenging issues
• Detail oriented, self-motivated, and comfortable working with highly technical projects
• Ability to work on multiple projects simultaneously and deliver conclusive results
• Highly adaptable and responsive to new priorities
• Effective written and oral communication skills
• Experience preparing and presenting using Powerpoint software
• Team oriented with strong work ethic