Scientist/Sr Scientist, Therapeutics

Earli, Inc.•Redwood City, CA

2h•$110,000 - $145,000

About The Position

Earli is a biotechnology company focused on addressing systemic toxicity in cancer drug treatments, a major issue in the $100B cancer drug market. Current treatments often require suboptimal dosing due to on-target/off-tumor effects, limiting efficacy and the use of potent drug classes. Earli's BioAI approach aims to solve this by ensuring drugs are produced only where needed – within the tumor, by the tumor, and against the tumor. This allows cancer cells to act as their own drug factories, enabling localized immune activation, even in tumors that are typically resistant to treatment. This is achieved through three key innovations: extrahepatic lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) that can reach tumors like lung cancer, AI-designed genetic switches that activate only in malignant cells by sensing transcription factor dysregulation, and the local production of immune therapies (TCEs, cytokines, multispecifics) at the tumor site. These technologies collectively create a new biological control layer, enabling tumors to self-identify and trigger their own targeted immune attack with specificity exceeding current targeted or IO therapies. Earli plans to initiate a Phase 1/2 lung cancer trial by mid-2027. The company is supported by prominent investors and a distinguished Scientific Advisory Board, and its leadership team possesses extensive experience in gene therapy, LNP, CMC, and technology. The CEO has a successful track record of leading high-return exits.

Requirements

Ph.D. in Immunology, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Protein Engineering, Cancer Biology, or a closely related field with 4+ years of postdoctoral or industry experience; OR M.S./B.S. with 8+ years of directly relevant industry experience.
Solid molecular biology skills: multi-component gene cloning, mammalian vector design, PCR/qPCR, and standard biochemical assays (Western blot, ELISA).
Hands-on expertise in recombinant protein expression in mammalian systems (HEK293, CHO) including transient transfection, construct design, and small-scale purification.
Strong background in cellular and molecular immunology, with deep understanding of the innate and adaptive immune response in the context of cancer.
Experience designing and executing in vitro functional assays in cancer cell lines and primary human immune cells; proficiency in multiparameter flow cytometry.
Track record of generating high-quality, reproducible data and clear scientific communication in presentations and written reports.
Ability to integrate and collaborate into a high achieving team environment.
Ability to handle multiple projects simultaneously and meet aggressive project timelines.
Exceptional verbal communication and scientific writing.
Desire to continue in a laboratory focused role.

Nice To Haves

Industry experience in biotherapeutics discovery, particularly in oncology.
Experience with cytokine engineering, immunocytokines, bispecific antibodies or T cell engagers, or other immunomodulatory therapeutic formats.
Familiarity with tumor microenvironment biology and ex vivo TME modeling approaches.
Experience with high-throughput or automated expression/assay platforms.
Structural biology intuition (PyMOL, AlphaFold) or familiarity with computational protein design tools to inform engineering decisions.
Experience with viral and non-viral gene delivery methods (lentivirus, AAV, mRNA, LNP) for cell line engineering or functional studies.
Track record of scientific publication and/or patent contributions.

Responsibilities

Design novel protein therapeutics, including cytokines, immune agonists, fusion proteins, and bispecific constructs, using structure-function knowledge and/or computational tools.
Engineer protein variants to optimize potency, selectivity, half-life, manufacturability, and other developability attributes for DNA-encoded oncology applications.
Identify strategies to improve candidate properties based on experimental outcomes.
Stay current with scientific literature on protein therapeutics, bispecific engager biology, cytokine engineering, and tumor immunology to inform design decisions.
Develop and execute medium-throughput transient mammalian expression workflows (HEK293, CHO, or equivalent) to produce protein candidates for functional evaluation.
Optimize expression constructs (signal sequences, tags, codon usage, linkers) to maximize yield, potency, and solubility of challenging therapeutic formats.
Perform His or Fc based affinity purification and characterize proteins using SDS-PAGE, SEC, ELISA, and other relevant analytical methods.
Characterize the efficiency of mRNA transcription and protein translation and address bottlenecks.
Establish quality criteria to prioritize candidates for functional assays and maintain comprehensive records of expression and purification outcomes.
Design, develop, and execute functional assays in relevant cancer cell lines and primary human immune cells (PBMCs, T cells, NK cells, monocytes/macrophages) to evaluate candidate activity, potency, and selectivity.
Utilize flow cytometry, cytokine profiling (Luminex, CBA, ELISA), proliferation, cytotoxicity, and signaling assays to characterize potential candidates.
Design and execute tumor microenvironment (TME)-relevant in vitro model systems, including co-culture platforms, to assess immunological mechanism of action (MoA).
Contribute to the development of high-content or medium-throughput screening platforms for candidate triage in collaboration with the broader team.
Contribute original scientific thinking to project strategy, experimental design, and data interpretation; present findings to internal teams and leadership clearly and compellingly.
Collaborate cross-functionally with Platform Biology, Delivery, and Computational teams to integrate protein therapeutics within Earli's cancer-activated gene expression system.
Proactively identify scientific risks and propose mitigation strategies; drive projects forward with appropriate urgency in a fast-paced startup environment.
Author and maintain clear experimental records, SOPs, and internal research reports; contribute to external publications and patent disclosures as appropriate.
Mentor junior scientists and research associates where appropriate; model a culture of intellectual rigor, curiosity, and collaboration.