Associate Dir, Protein Sciences

Absci•Vancouver, WA

22h

About The Position

The Associate Director, Protein Engineering and Structural Biology, leads a team of specialized scientists supporting Absci’s internal and partnered drug-creation programs at the intersection of antibody engineering, structural biology, and AI-enabled biologics discovery. The role contributes to advancing programs and works in accordance with Absci’s values of Innovation, Collaboration, and Determination. The role provides scientific and people leadership across antibody engineering, structural biology, binding characterization, and platform development. It partners with AI, computational biology, analytical development, and translational teams to coordinate experimental and computational strategies, advance biologics programs, and support informed decisions. The position also develops and optimizes platforms for monoclonal and multispecific therapeutics, from design through production, testing, and evaluation.

Requirements

PhD in life sciences with 8 or more years of experience, including 5 or more years in biopharma or biotech, or an MS with equivalent experience.
Experience leading efforts related to protein engineering and/or structural biology in programs, such as project teams, technical initiatives, or technology development.
Track record of scientific and technical contributions to pipeline advancement.
Proficiency in protein structure–function analysis and computational modeling, such as Schrödinger, MOE, or Rosetta.
Hands-on experience designing and optimizing bispecific and multispecific antibodies.
Deep understanding of antibody structure–function relationships, sequence optimization, and expression and purification workflows.
Experience in binding and interaction analyses, such as BLI or SPR, and/or biophysical characterization techniques, such as analytical SEC, DSF, or DLS.
Experience managing teams of PhD-level scientists and research associates.
Excellent oral, written, and interpersonal communication skills.
Legal authorization to work in the United States is required.

Nice To Haves

Experience deploying AI/ML models for protein sequence and structure analysis to enable biologics design and optimization.
Familiarity with Fc engineering, half-life extension strategies, antibody developability, and immunogenicity assessment.
Demonstrated success progressing one or more biologics programs to lead candidate stage.
Track record of peer-reviewed publications and/or patent filings.

Responsibilities

Lead a multidisciplinary team focused on antibody engineering, structural biology, and binding characterization for internal and external drug-creation programs.
Mentor scientists and research associates, supporting their technical development, scientific excellence, and career growth.
Partner with the AI team to align experimental and computational strategies, collaborate on model evaluation, and establish in-silico metrics for de novo design and lead optimization.
Serve as protein engineering lead on cross-functional project teams, coordinating experiments and maintaining alignment on timelines, resources, and objectives with computational biology, analytical development, and translational teams.
Summarize and present data to internal and external stakeholders to support program decisions.
Maintain awareness of emerging technologies and the competitive landscape in biologics discovery.
Lead development and optimization of platforms for monoclonal and multispecific therapeutics, from design through production, testing, and evaluation.
Rationally design molecules and perform antigen and antibody structural analyses to recommend residue-level changes that improve interaction function, specificity, stability, and manufacturability.
Design and implement binding and biophysical assays to assess the effects of mutations on protein structure and function.
Coordinate with Absci teams to ensure high-quality protein expression, purification, and biophysical characterization of complex biologics and antigens.
Partner with Translational Biology teams to provide mechanistic insight into target biology and antibody–target interactions, supporting target assessment and mechanism-of-action understanding.