Scientist, Antibody Engineering

Who We Are:

At Neurocrine Biosciences, we pride ourselves on having a strong, inclusive, and positive culture based on our shared purpose and values. We know what it takes to be great, and we are as passionate about our people as we are about our purpose - to relieve suffering for people with great needs.

What We Do:

Neurocrine Biosciences is a leading neuroscience-focused, biopharmaceutical company with a simple purpose: to relieve suffering for people with great needs. We are dedicated to discovering and developing life-changing treatments for patients with under-addressed neurological, neuroendocrine and neuropsychiatric disorders. The company's diverse portfolio includes FDA-approved treatments for tardive dyskinesia, chorea associated with Huntington's disease, classic congenital adrenal hyperplasia, endometriosis* and uterine fibroids,* as well as a robust pipeline including multiple compounds in mid- to late-phase clinical development across our core therapeutic areas. For three decades, we have applied our unique insight into neuroscience and the interconnections between brain and body systems to treat complex conditions. We relentlessly pursue medicines to ease the burden of debilitating diseases and disorders because you deserve brave science. For more information, visit neurocrine.com, and follow the company on LinkedIn, X and Facebook. (*in collaboration with AbbVie)

About the Role:Neurocrine is building a team of talented scientists with proven track records to drive therapeutic pipeline progression from discovery to lead selection within a cutting-edge antibody engineering group.
The Scientist, Antibody Engineering will conduct laboratory activities related to antibody engineering including cloning, mutagenesis, library construction and variant screening. The ideal candidate will have extensive hands-on experience working on therapeutic antibody optimization preferably in a biotechnology or pharmaceutical company setting. The person in this role will support protein engineering in all areas of early-stage antibody optimization for Neurocrine’s biotherapeutic pipeline.

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Your Contributions (include, but are not limited to):

• Construct design, molecular cloning, multi-piece DNA assembly, site-directed mutagenesis and preparation of libraries

• Generate and screen site-directed, CDR randomization and combinatorial antibody libraries for affinity maturation and developability optimization

• Critical member of the team contributing to characterizing antibodies and antibody-based therapeutics (for e.g. affinity, specificity, cross-species binding, epitope determination)

• Will be involved in the engineering of advanced modalities such as bispecific antibodies

• Contribute to the design and cloning of antigens

• Responsible for understanding experimental data from multiple sources, forming hypotheses, devising strategy and implementing prioritization

• Contribute to the evaluation of emerging molecular biological or biochemical methods, initiate and support new platforms, instrumentation and technologies for antibody engineering

• Working cross-functionally with protein biochemists, cell biologists and gene therapists to achieve projects goals

Requirements:

• BA/BS in Molecular Biology, Biochemistry or other relevant discipline and 2+ years of Biotechnology industry experience in antibody or protein engineering OR

• Master's degree in Molecular Biology, Biochemistry or other relevant discipline and similar experience noted above OR

• PharmD or PhD in Molecular Biology, Biochemistry or other relevant discipline; may include postdoc with relevant experience noted above 

• Experience with routine antibody cloning

• Hands-on experience in the design and execution of antibody optimization campaigns using directed evolution screening platforms such as capture-lift, phage display or yeast display a plus

• Demonstrated mastery of standard molecular biology bench skills, DNA sequence analysis and software, oligo design coupled with strong desire to work in the laboratory

• Experience with standard laboratory instrumentation: PCR, centrifugation, DNA quantitation, gel documentation systems, plate readers and washers, liquid handling, etc.

• Familiarity with affinity determination methods (e.g. ELISA, MSD, Octet, Carterra, Biacore or Kinexa)

• Ability to maintain detailed experimental documentation

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with an ability to work both independently and in a team environment

• Proficiency in Microsoft Office and DNA sequence analysis software such as Sequencher, Geneious or SnapGene

• Experience with various antibody formats including Fab, scFv, IgG, nanobody and multi-specific derivatives a plus

• Knowledge of standard antibody assay and cloning reagents and preferred vendors

• Experience with small scale antibody expression/purification a plus

• Experience doing small scale tissue culture and running ADCC, ADCP, CDC and cell-based reporter assays a plus

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Neurocrine Biosciences is an EEO/Disability/Vets employer.

We are committed to building a workplace of belonging, respect, and empowerment, and we recognize there are a variety of ways to meet our requirements. We are looking for the best candidate for the job and encourage you to apply even if your experience or qualifications don’t line up to exactly what we have outlined in the job description.

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The annual base salary we reasonably expect to pay is $89,800.00-$123,000.00. Individual pay decisions depend on various factors, such as primary work location, complexity and responsibility of role, job duties/requirements, and relevant experience and skills. In addition, this position offers an annual bonus with a target of 20% of the earned base salary and eligibility to participate in our equity based long term incentive program. Benefits offered include a retirement savings plan (with company match), paid vacation, holiday and personal days, paid caregiver/parental and medical leave, and health benefits to include medical, prescription drug, dental and vision coverage in accordance with the terms and conditions of the applicable plans.