Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Protein Design

Visterra • Waltham, MA

9d • $80,000 - $120,000 • Onsite

About The Position

Visterra is seeking a creative and driven Postdoctoral Research Fellow to join its Protein Design team. This hands-on role supports early-stage drug discovery programs across a broad portfolio by bringing machine learning approaches into the pipeline, including methods for structure prediction, de novo protein and antibody design, and computational optimization. The fellow will work in a fast-paced, interdisciplinary environment and gain experience with antibody and non-antibody biotherapeutics. The position is based at Visterra’s offices in Waltham, Massachusetts, and the expected fellowship length is 24 months. The role reports to the Associate Director, Research. Possible travel to local and national conferences.

Requirements

• Ph.D. or equivalent in computational biology, structural biology, biochemistry, or a related discipline, with significant and extensive experience in protein design.
• Strong knowledge of experimental and computational aspects of protein structure, function, and engineering.
• Demonstrated track record of employing or developing protein design methods.
• Proficiency with computational protein modeling, design, and analysis tools and algorithms, such as PyRosetta, AlphaFold, ESMFold, RFdiffusion, ProteinMPNN, BindCraft, and PyMOL.
• Hands-on experience processing and analyzing large, complex datasets.
• High proficiency in Python and Python libraries for data analysis, machine learning, and deep learning frameworks.
• Experience working in a Linux environment, including bash scripting.
• Comfort working in high-performance computing environments such as SLURM and/or cloud environments.
• Ability to work in multidisciplinary teams, with excellent interpersonal skills.
• Possible travel to local and national conferences.

Responsibilities

• Champion integration of the latest machine learning methods and emerging technologies into protein design workflows.
• Read broadly, critically evaluate new tools, and bring useful tools in-house.
• Partner with computational and experimental scientists inside and outside Visterra to guide structure- and property-based design of therapeutic proteins and antibodies.
• Analyze scientific results, troubleshoot methods, and develop solutions to complex challenges.
• Translate complex data analyses into clear findings and communicate them to colleagues and leadership.
• Contribute ideas in team meetings and help advance programs through the drug discovery process.
• Potentially publish novel methods and research findings at conferences and in scientific journals.
• Help direct experimental evaluation of computational methods and designs, and use experimental data to validate and refine in silico methods.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Intern
• Education Level: Ph.D. or professional degree