Senior Scientist, Phage Platform

Company Description

Bicycle Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a novel class of medicines, referred to as Bicycle® molecules, for diseases that are underserved by existing therapeutics. Bicycle molecules are fully synthetic short peptides constrained with small molecule scaffolds to form two loops that stabilize their structural geometry. This constraint facilitates target binding with high affinity and selectivity, making Bicycle molecules attractive candidates for drug development. The company is evaluating zelenectide pevedotin (previously BT8009), a Bicycle® Toxin Conjugate (BTC®) targeting Nectin-4, a well-validated tumor antigen; BT5528, a BTC targeting EphA2, a historically undruggable target; and BT7480, a Bicycle Tumor-Targeted Immune Cell Agonist® (Bicycle TICA®) targeting Nectin-4 and agonizing CD137, in company-sponsored clinical trials. Additionally, the company is developing Bicycle® Radio Conjugates (BRC™) for radiopharmaceutical use and, through various partnerships, is exploring the use of Bicycle® technology to develop therapies for diseases beyond oncology. 

Bicycle Therapeutics is headquartered in Cambridge, UK, with many key functions and members of its leadership team located in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Culture is key and all Bicycle employees actively embrace and role model our company values:

• We are Adventurous. We believe it’s the way to deliver extraordinary results for our patients.
• We are Dedicated to our Mission. You can’t change the world if you don’t have determination. 
• We are One Team. We only succeed when we work together.

Job Description

We have an exciting new opportunity for a skilled and diligent Senior Scientist to join our dynamic Phage Platform team. The role will involve providing essential support to Bicycle’s early drug discovery efforts by designing, coordinating and constructing novel phage libraries to support the identification of Bicycle binders to targets of interest. This opportunity allows meaningful contribution to our efforts in finding new life-changing drugs. The role will also involve significant cross-functional collaboration to deliver technology and process improvements.

We are looking for a highly motivated, methodical, well-organised candidate who enjoys working at the bench. You will enjoy a varied and rewarding role working in a multi-disciplinary environment to develop and deploy our proprietary technology.

Previous experience in a multi-disciplinary lab utilizing molecular biology is essential. Experience of working with phage or other display technologies is desirable but not required. This role would suit someone looking for opportunities to coordinate critical tasks as well as a high degree of hands-on practical work where their efforts can impact broadly.

Key responsibilities

Perform and coordinate Bicycle phage library construction

• Design and produce high diversity Bicycle phage libraries
  • Design and perform assays to assess and optimise quality of phage libraries (sequence analysis, biochemical assays etc.)
  • Explore novel formats and opportunities to increase quality and diversity of our libraries
• Plan and co-ordinate phage library production and inventory activities to ensure team needs are met sustainably, anticipating future needs
• Drive continual process improvements by streamlining experimental and data analysis methods, keep SOPs updated

Design, test and implement innovations to platform technology

• Stay up to date with current literature in the area, seek ideas from internal and external sources to bring about process/technology evolution
• Present and share learnings with immediate and wider team
• Facilitate adoption through stakeholder engagement and rigorous validation

Plan, execute and troubleshoot phage display campaigns using proprietary Bicycle platform

• Phage panning, library design, sequencing (Sanger & NGS)
• Characterise Bicycle binders identified, e.g. AlphaScreen/ELISA, SPR, flow cytometry
• Interpret structure activity relationships to inform chemical optimisation

Other key responsibilities:

• Generate robust data packages to support project milestones
• Accurate and timely record keeping via electronic lab notebook system (Dotmatics)
• Analyse and present complex data to internal and external stakeholders
• Willing to take on additional responsibilities outside of core role such as EH&S roles, being “super user” for lab equipment etc.

Qualifications

Essential:

• Educated in a scientific discipline of relevance to drug discovery and/or equivalent demonstratable industry experience
• Deep theoretical knowledge and practical experience of molecular biology techniques (cloning, mutagenesis, sequencing)
• Experience of working in a multi-disciplinary, industrial laboratory
• Demonstrable track record problem solving and improving laboratory processes
• Ability to plan, conduct and critically analyse experimental work
• Diligence in documenting work and understanding of the importance of data integrity
• Proactive approach to problem solving and strong self-motivation
• Excellent organisational skills, effective at managing time between lab bench and office
• Close attention to detail, willingness to seek peer review and provide critical analysis
• Strong interpersonal skills; effective communication with multidisciplinary teams both locally and remotely

Desirable:

• Phage or other display technology experience
• Next-generation sequencing experience
• Bioinformatics analysis of NGS datasets
• Detailed understanding of protein biochemistry
• Theoretical knowledge and practical experience of biophysical or biochemical assay techniques
• High throughput screening of biologics, peptides or small molecules
• Degree level chemistry or biochemistry

Additional Information

• State-of-the-art campus environment with on campus restaurant and Montessori nursery
• Flexible working environment
• Competitive reward including annual company bonus 
• Employee recognition schemes
• 28 days annual leave in addition to bank holidays + option to buy up to 5 additional days annually
• Employer contribution to pension (employee does not have to contribute) 
• Life assurance cover 4x basic salary 
• Private Medical Insurance, including optical and dental cover. 
• Group income protection
• Employee assistance program
• Health Cash Plan
• Access to company subsidized gym membership.
• Eligibility for an option grant to subscribe to shares in Bicycle Therapeutics plc. 
• Cycle to work scheme 

Bicycle Therapeutics is committed to building a diverse workforce that is representative of the communities we serve. We recognize that diverse and inclusive teams build a stronger and more innovative company. Therefore, all qualified applicants will be considered for employment, and we do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability status, marital status, or veteran status.