Senior Scientist – Protein Design

AstraZeneca•Seattle, WA

1d•$118,870 - $178,306•Onsite

About The Position

AstraZeneca is seeking a Senior Scientist to join its Early Infectious Disease Unit in Seattle, Washington. The team discovers and develops vaccines and biologics for viral pathogens, drawing on expertise in virology, bacteriology, immunology, and vaccines. The Senior Scientist will apply computational protein design throughout drug discovery to advance next-generation vaccines and therapeutics, collaborating across disciplines to develop innovative proteins with potential patient impact. The role combines computational design and experimental biology. The scientist will develop and maintain computational pipelines, use structural and sequence data to guide design hypotheses, translate computational designs into testable constructs, analyze computational and laboratory results, and incorporate emerging algorithms and frameworks. The position also includes project organization, technical documentation, compute-resource optimization, publication of research, and contributions to intellectual property.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Computational Biology, Bioengineering, Computer Science, Biophysics, Structural Biology, or a related scientific discipline and 4+ years of experience; or master’s degree in one of these fields and 2+ years of experience; or Ph.D. in one of these fields or a related scientific discipline.
Broad experience in machine learning, structural biology, and/or biochemistry techniques.
Current hands-on experience with state-of-the-art computational protein-design methods.
Proficiency with deep-learning models and agentic workflows for proteins, such as protein language models, diffusion or generative models, and supervised learning for property prediction.
Hands-on experience with structure prediction and design, including tools such as AlphaFold/ColabFold, Rosetta, ProteinMPNN, and RFdiffusion; docking; and enhanced sampling.
Extensive hands-on experience designing, engineering, producing, and characterizing protein antigens and/or other complex proteins.
Extensive knowledge of protein structure and structural biology, including model building, analysis, and structure determination techniques such as X-ray crystallography and cryo-EM.
Experience with protein biochemistry techniques, including mammalian or bacterial recombinant protein expression and protein purification, and characterization techniques such as UV-Vis spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, SEC-MALS, and nanoDSF.
Experience with molecular biology techniques such as gene synthesis, PCR, and cloning.
Strong Python or similar programming experience, including software engineering practices such as version control, testing, and code review; scientific computing; data management; and shared compute resource usage.
Strong interpersonal and collaborative skills, with evidence of applying them to problem solving and delivery in a team-oriented environment.
Ability to work in a collaborative, fast-paced environment while planning and meeting timelines.
A successful research track record and experience preparing written scientific reports, such as manuscripts, and oral presentations, such as slides and posters.
Ability to understand, conduct, and interpret technically challenging experiments with minimal supervision.
Ability to multitask and prioritize numerous projects.
Strong verbal and written communication skills.

Nice To Haves

Experience training novel models for protein design and/or modeling.
Experience drafting patents for protein-based inventions.

Responsibilities

Design and generate novel protein antigens, immunogens, binders, and antibodies for prophylactic immunity or therapeutic benefit against clinically relevant pathogens.
Develop, validate, and maintain computational pipelines using protein-structure software, including agentic workflows, deep learning, generative models, structure prediction, docking, and molecular simulation.
Contribute concepts and methods in antigen design, protein nanoparticle scaffolding, multivalent display, epitope focusing, and other emerging vaccine modalities.
Use structural biology, large-scale sequence datasets, and literature to guide design hypotheses and conduct in silico experiments.
Collaborate across the organization to translate computational designs into testable constructs and drive projects to completion.
Make detailed observations, conduct quantitative analyses, interpret results independently, and propose follow-up experiments or model refinements using in silico and in vitro readouts.
Evaluate and integrate new algorithms, tools, and frameworks to improve design success rates and reduce cycle time.
Prepare technical summaries, protocols, quantitative analyses, and appropriate documentation.
Contribute to intellectual property by drafting invention disclosures and working with legal teams on patents related to computational design methods and novel constructs.
Optimize the use of compute resources.
Oversee day-to-day organization of project-related components.
Publish discoveries in high-quality, peer-reviewed journals.