Sr. Principal Scientist / Associate Director – Antibody Engineering
Location: San Diego, CA
Employment Type: Full-time
Hiring Company: BioPhase (on behalf of our client)
Pay: $170,000–$190,000 base + bonus; stock options
Hours: Monday–Friday, full-time (no overtime)

Job Description:
We’re seeking a hands-on scientific leader to head Protein/Antibody Engineering. You’ll guide strategy and execution from hit discovery through optimization to development candidate, manage a small team, and partner closely with cross-functional groups to advance novel biologics.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:
• Serve as subject-matter expert for protein/antibody engineering, formatting, and structure–function hypotheses.
• Lead, mentor, and develop protein engineering scientists; provide technical oversight.
• Act as project lead to deliver milestones across discovery programs.
• Collaborate with biology, computational, and development teams to progress hits into developable candidates.
• Design/build antibody & protein combinatorial libraries; plan and run engineering campaigns.
• Drive continuous improvement of lab workflows and data practices.
• Oversee curation/aggregation of experimental & in-silico data to inform predictive models.
• Contribute to platform/technology strategy with scientific leadership.

Qualifications:
• MS/PhD in Biochemistry, Chemistry, or related field with 7+ years biopharma experience.
• Deep knowledge of protein structure, interactions, and physicochemical properties.
• Proven people leadership and experience managing scientists.
• Track record leading cross-functional programs from target validation through optimization to candidate nomination.
• Advanced understanding of multiple antibody formats (mAbs, bi/multispecifics, scFv, sdAbs, etc.).
• Extensive hands-on experience in antibody/protein engineering (humanization, liability removal, optimization).
• Familiarity with developability assessments (solubility, stability, manufacturability) and using them to guide design.
• Comfort with in-silico tools/programming/databases; exposure to ML-aided discovery a plus.

Preferred:
• Experience with plate-based assay development & high-throughput workflows.
• Engineering of small proteins/enzymes.
• Ability to synthesize structural/biophysical data (epitope mapping, kinetics, physicochemical profiling) for decisions.

Benefits:
Comprehensive package including medical, dental, vision, life & disability insurance; 401(k) with match; PTO; parental leave; flexible schedule; relocation assistance (if applicable); year-end shutdown.

Apply today and help us bring transformative biologics to patients!