Senior Scientist, Cancer Immunotherapy (Antibody & CAR Development)

Fate Therapeutics is currently seeking a talented and highly motivated individual with a strong molecular and cell biology background to join a multidisciplinary team dedicated to the discovery and development of novel chimeric antigen receptors. The candidate will be responsible for leading Fate’s antibody and binder discovery efforts to identify, screen, and characterize lead binders to facilitate therapeutic development. This position will be responsible for the initiation and management of binder identification campaigns and will be expected to contribute both scientifically and strategically to their execution. As such, a successful candidate will bring a deep understanding of antibody generation, screening, and characterization, as well as knowledge of industry standard molecular and cell biology workflows. The successful candidate must be detail oriented, with excellent oral and written communication skills and must be able to successfully collaborate with cross-functional research teams. This is a full-time, bench-level position and is located at the Company's corporate headquarters in San Diego, California.
Responsibilities

• Provide scientific and technical support to identify, evaluate, and advance novel binders for development of targeted therapies including CARs.
• Manage and provide oversight for Fate’s binder discovery initiatives (CRO management, antibody characterization, etc.)
• Develop and execute screening methodologies and assays for evaluating the biophysical properties of candidate binders (i.e., affinity, specificity/cross-reactivity, aggregation, stability, etc.).
• Design and generate plasmid constructs, lentivirus, and cell line tools as needed.
• Develop and execute experimental plans to collaborate with other teams and to meet program objectives and timelines.
• Provide strategic direction and oversee implementation of binder identification and screening pipelines
• Communicate research and development findings in cross-disciplinary team meetings as well as with external partners.

Qualifications

• PhD in Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, or related fields with 7+ years postdoctoral and industry experience is highly preferred.
• In-depth experience with antibody/binder generation, screening, and characterization (specificity, affinity, epitope binning, aggregation, stability, etc.)
• Extensive experience in molecular cloning, vector construction, lentivirus production/transduction, and transgene expression.
• Antibody and protein characterization and assay development (ELISA, cell binding, Biacore/Octet, HPLC, SDS-PAGE) is preferred.
• Protein expression in mammalian systems (CHO or 293) and protein purification (FPLC, protein A, affinity column) experience is a plus.
• Extensive experience in cell culture and assay development (primary and tumor cell culture, transfection, viral transduction, multi-color flow cytometry, FACS, reporter assay).
• Experience with gene editing technologies including gRNA design, donor template building, and knock-in analysis is a plus.
• Experience with CAR design, iPSCs, T and NK cells is plus.
• Comfortable in a fast-paced environment and able to adjust workload based upon changing priorities.
• Ability to design, optimize, and perform experiments in a high-throughput manner is a plus.
• Demonstrated success in working in a cross-functional team environment.
• Excellent organizational skills with record keeping abilities.

Working Conditions and Physical Requirements

• Will require working with blood and cell lines of human and animal origin
• Will require working with hazardous materials
• 100% on-site work at corporate headquarters and research facilities in San Diego, CA
• Occasional evening and weekend work will be required

The preceding job description indicates the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification. Additional and incidental duties related to the primary duties may be required from time to time.

About Fate Therapeutics, Inc.
Fate Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development of first-in-class cellular immunotherapies for patients with cancer. The Company has established a leadership position in the clinical development and manufacture of universal, off-the-shelf cell products using its proprietary induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) product platform. The Company’s immuno-oncology pipeline includes off-the-shelf, iPSC-derived natural killer (NK) cell and T-cell product candidates, which are designed to synergize with well-established cancer therapies, including immune checkpoint inhibitors and monoclonal antibodies, and to target tumor-associated antigens using chimeric antigen receptors (CARs). Fate Therapeutics is headquartered in San Diego, CA. For more information, please visit www.fatetherapeutics.com.