Senior Scientist I, Molecular Biology/Microbiology

AbbVie•Madison, WI

About The Position

AbbVie's mission is to discover and deliver innovative medicines and solutions that solve serious health issues today and address the medical challenges of tomorrow. We strive to have a remarkable impact on people's lives across several key therapeutic areas including immunology, oncology and neuroscience - and products and services in our Allergan Aesthetics portfolio. We are seeking a Senior Scientist I with a background in molecular biology and/or microbiology to join our peptide display hit generation team. In this role, you will lead and manage technology development projects and therapeutic peptide hit generation efforts. You will utilize phage-display and/or mRNA-display peptide technologies, including the design and generation of peptide display libraries, screening against therapeutic targets, and identification and maturation of pharmaceutically relevant hits. You will leverage our innovative peptide microarray platform to accelerate hit identification and maturation from peptide display campaigns. This position offers the opportunity to play a key role in discovering impactful peptide therapeutics within a collaborative and innovative team.

Requirements

Bachelor’s Degree and 10 years of experience, Master’s Degree and 8 years of experience, PhD and no experience necessary.
Degree(s) should be in Molecular Biology, Microbiology, Biochemistry, Chemical and Biological Engineering, or other relevant fields.
Thorough knowledge of Chemical Biology principles as they relate to the structure and function of peptides, proteins, and other biomolecules
Experience with mRNA-display and/or phage-display libraries, including the design and generation of libraries, screening processes, and subsequent data analysis.
Proficiency in generating next-generation sequencing (NGS) libraries and analyzing the resulting sequencing datasets.
Coding skills relevant to data science (e.g., Python) or a demonstrated willingness to learn such skills.
Demonstrated ability to learn, understand and master new experimental techniques.
Ability to multitask and work within timelines.
Effective writer and communicator of research.

Nice To Haves

Experience with incorporation of non-canonical amino acids in mRNA-Display or Phage-Display libraries
Experience in peptide therapeutics discovery and development
Experience with automation for scaling molecular biology/microbiology workflows

Responsibilities

Lead the development of in-house peptide display workflows (mRNA-display and/or phage-display) utilizing our proprietary peptide microarray platform to accelerate hit identification.
Design and generate display libraries, screen peptide libraries against therapeutic targets, perform next-generation sequencing, and conduct large-scale data analysis.
Explore and assess advanced technologies for modifying peptide display libraries, such as chemical modification and incorporation of non-canonical amino acids.
Use proprietary data analysis tools to efficiently analyze next-generation sequencing data and other large-scale datasets derived from peptide display libraries.
Routinely demonstrate scientific initiative and creativity in research and development activities.
Be highly autonomous in performing laboratory research or method development, requiring only minimal direction from or interaction with supervisor.
Formulate conclusions and design follow-on experiments based on multidisciplinary data.
Initiate new areas of investigation that are scientifically meaningful and can be incorporated into a research or development plan.
Primary author of publications, presentations, regulatory documents, and/or primary inventor of patents.
Effectively communicate results and conclusions to a wide range of target audiences.
Demonstrate high proficiency across wide range of relevant techniques/technologies.
Maintain a high level of efficiency and productivity.
Adhere to timelines.
Understand and adhere to corporate standards regarding code of conduct, safety, appropriate handling of materials, and controlled drug and radioactive compounds where applicable.