Principal Scientist, Cell-free Protein Synthesis

Position Summary & Role

In this position, you will drive and be responsible for the scaling and expansion of applications of cell-free technology in the biopharmaceutical industry by designing and implementing research and process development projects. The work will involve cell-free reaction and cellular protein synthesis optimization; (glyco)protein and metabolite purification and analytics; defining and implementing training and workflows for control and measurement of cell-free fermentations, extracts, and small-scale reactions; developing high-throughput methods for cell-free; and collaborating with other groups on strain development, technology transfer, Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Control Strategies. Overall, your work will focus on making a wider variety of proteins and scaling-up the cell-free protein synthesis process from the bench scale to GMP clinical batches.

Responsibilities

• Drive the improvement of our cell-free synthesis, purification, and characterization platform to deliver new classes of proteins, expand throughput, and increase speed using synthetic biology, bioprocess engineering, and metabolic engineering.

• Design and execute experiments to screen, characterize, and produce analytical and preparative amounts of protein therapeutic candidates.

• Perform and optimize cell-free protein expression of various therapeutic proteins using PCR, protein and DNA electrophoresis, Western blotting, expression, cell culture (bacterial).

• Develop methods to prepare and validate materials for cell-free protein expression for use at the bench and pilot scale.

• Define and implementing workflows and training systems for control and measurement of cell-free fermentations at various scales.

• Collaborate with other groups within Resilience on strain development, technology transfer, Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Control Strategies.

• Purify proteins at scales from magnetic beads to AKTA Explorer/AKTA Pilot.

• Characterize proteins using UPLC, SDS-PAGE, and ELISA.

• Design plasmid and genomic DNA using synthetic biology-based methods.

• Develop automation methods to increase cell-free protein synthesis throughput and robustness.

• Hire, train, manage, and mentor other team members in our cell-free protein synthesis group.

• Interpret and present experimental data to colleagues and company leadership.

Preferred Experience, Education & Qualifications

• [Required] Direct experience working with molecular cloning, protein expression, purification, and characterization (preferably of protein therapeutics).

• [Required] PhD (+ 10 years experience) in Bioengineering, Biochemistry, Synthetic Biology, Biological Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Biotechnology, Microbiology, Chemical Engineering, or related fields.

• [Required] Direct experience with in vitro transcription translation or cell-free protein synthesis systems.

• [Required] Direct experience with upstream process development for a biopharmaceutical process.

• [Preferred] Strong understanding and experience with GMP practices, technology transfer, and CMC strategies as they apply to process development.

• [Preferred] Direct experience with automation and high-throughput workflows.

• Demonstrated ability to interpret, compile, and present experimental data.

• Ability to work in a fast-paced small company environment with a drive to creatively solve problems around how to speed up protein therapeutic development and experimental workflows.

• Availability to work full-time hours at our Oakland, CA location.

• High intrinsic motivation and a desire to learn new techniques.

Benefits

• Competitive Compensation

• Comprehensive Benefits

• Growth opportunities

Our work environment is focused on treating everyone on our team with respect, fostering a collaborative environment, taking ownership of our work, learning new skills, and having fun.