Senior Scientist, Affinity Reagents (B-cell), Oncology R&D

Do you have expertise in, and passion for B-cell technologies and antibody discovery? Would you like to apply your knowledge and skills to deliver key affinity reagents to impact drug discovery programmes in a company that follows the science and turns ideas into life changing medicines? Then this role at AstraZeneca might be the one for you!

About AstraZeneca

At AstraZeneca, we put patients first and strive to meet their unmet needs worldwide. Working here means thinking big and working together to make the impossible a reality.

Site description

Granta Park, Cambridge (UK), one of over 400 sites here at AstraZeneca, providing an environment where everyone feels comfortable and able to be themselves is at the core of AstraZeneca’s priorities, it’s important to us that you bring your full self to work every day. To help you maintain your best self, here’s a sneak peek into some of the things this site provides for you…Cambridge is one of the most bioscience hotspots in the world and plays a central role in our mission to deliver life-changing medicines to patients. Granta Park has a gym, nursery and central restaurant/coffee place as part of the science park facilities that are accessible to our staff. We also have our own bistro and deli in the AZ buildings. There are regular lunch & learn events including running clubs and after work socials on the last Friday of every month. This is our biggest and most spacious lab site with easy access from all major routes and ample car parking availabl e - come and join us! Please be aware that during the early part of 2024 you will be required to move the our new Cambridge Biomedical Centre.

Business area

In the Oncology Business Unit we relentlessly follow the science, challenging the status quo to deliver more effective treatments to patients in need. Our dedication means we purposefully push back the limits of knowledge to change the practice of medicine. To ensure no patient is left behind, no matter what stage of disease. Fast-paced, it takes agility and responsiveness to stay committed in our pursuit of excellence. We work with focus to seek the unanswered questions – innovating, questioning accepted norms, quick decision-making and doing things differently. A place of trust, it’s an opportunity to take accountability, be brave, speak up, step up and redefine Oncology, now and in the future. This is the time to join the team who is confident that cures for cancer are within our grasp.

What you'll do

We are seeking a highly motivated and independent Senior Scientist to join the Affinity Reagents Team, to play a key role in enhancing our capabilities in antibody discovery, delivering key affinity reagents to enable critical activities in diverse drug projects across AstraZeneca’s portfolio. The successful candidate will add to our team of multidisciplinary and passionate scientists excited by innovative and collaborative research. They will be a well-organized and a highly productive bench scientist that can independently design and execute experiments efficiently, as well as analyse, interpret and present high quality data. The role entails the delivery of tool antibodies using our B cell platform to support the progression of diverse discovery pipeline projects in different therapeutic areas, and support technology development and innovation programs within the team in the area of B-cell technologies.

Essential for the role

• A Ph.D level scientist, or Bachelor’s degree with equivalent experience in immunology and/or molecular and cell biology applied to antibody discovery
• Strong hands-on experience in molecular biology methods and technologies (e.g., PCR, RT-PCR, cloning (ligation-dependent and independent methods), site-directed mutagenesis, Sanger sequencing/analysis), ideally applied to antibody discovery
• Experience and track-record working with flow cytometry and/or microfluidics, molecular biology, antibody display technology
• Understanding of antibody genetics and experience with analysis of antibody repertoires – germline annotation, clustering and diversity analysis
• Antibody screening and characterisation methods including in vitro biochemical assays (ELISA, SPR, BLI or flow cytometry)
• Ability to independently design, execute and manage diverse antibody isolation campaigns and fit-for-purpose engineering strategies
• Experience with next-generation sequencing (NGS), ideally applied to antibody discovery including bioinformatic skills for dataset analysis
• Ability to optimize protocols, troubleshoot, interpret experimental results/data and maintain accurate, high quality and up-to-date experimental records
• Strong communication skills in a team environment and a strong contributor to new technology development

Desirable for the role

• Cell culture, protein expression and purification ideally applied to antibody isolation and optimisation
• Antibody engineering expertise
• Design and generation of synthetic antibody/scaffold libraries
• Computational methods / machine learning applied to antibody design and optimisation
• Leading or managing research projects
• Managing or supervising other scientists
• Enthusiasm to embrace opportunities to develop skills with new methods and equipment

So, what’s next?

• Are you already envisioning yourself joining the team? Good, because we can’t wait to hear from you.

Competitive salary package and benefits

Close Date: 02/10/2023

Where can I find out more?

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