(Senior) Scientist, Protein Engineering

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The Position

POSITION

At Roche, over 100,000 colleagues are working together and doing what patients need next. Our ambition is to deliver novel therapeutics, diagnostic solutions and insights to patients with game changing clinical benefits. China Innovation Center of Roche (CICoR) is seeking a talented and experienced Scientist or Senior Scientist for the discovery, design and engineering of novel antibody drugs. The final position offered depends on the experience level of the candidate.

The position requires the candidate to perform the engineering of antibodies through rational design, computational engineering or display technologies. The successful candidate will work with dynamic and highly motivated teams to drive the development of antibody therapeutics for unmet medical needs. The candidate will collaborate with colleagues in Biologics Discovery and Development (BDD), Immunology Discovery, Oncology Discovery, Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disease Discovery, Protein Sciences, Structural Biology, AI Data and Digital, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Biologics CMC. This position requires effective participation in multidisciplinary teams with members from CICoR.

RESPONSIBILITIES

● Contribute as a project member or as BDD project lead and collaborate with other cross-functional project leads in the design and execution of the program strategies and goals.

● Perform protein engineering to drive therapeutic antibody lead selection, design, and optimization for antibody discovery projects.

● Design and execute display libraries (phage, yeast or in vitro display) for antibody optimization.

● Design and select fit for purpose antibody format.

● Develop and apply cutting-edge computational and AI/ML tools for protein engineering and antibody optimization.

● Coordinate with CROs and monitor outsourcing activities to ensure timely delivery of qualified data to steer portfolios.

● Participate in due diligence to evaluate relevant external opportunities in order to license in assets or technologies.

CANDIDATE PROFILE

Qualification and experience

The candidate qualifications include a Ph.D. in Protein Engineering, Biophysics, Structural Biology, Computational Biology, or a related discipline, with at least 3 years of post-doctoral or industry experience, preferably in a biotechnology or pharma setting. A track record of effective protein engineering support of antibody generation and optimization efforts in drug discovery programs.

Competencies

The ideal candidate will have demonstrated competence in the following areas:

● Strong background in sequence and structure-based protein analysis and engineering.

● Hands-on experiences with antibody humanization, affinity maturation and developability optimization. Deep understanding of display technologies and workflows.

● Expertise of cutting-edge biologics formats including bi- and multi-specific antibodies.

● Experience with computational protein engineering, antibody paratope-epitope modeling, protein engineering to reduce immunogenicity, and next-generation sequencing (NGS) are vital.

● Strong proficiency in integrating AI/ML models (e.g., structure/sequence prediction algorithms) and computational protein design into wet-lab workflows.

● Hands-on experience with core molecular biology techniques (e.g., cloning, site-directed mutagenesis, library construction) and functional cell-based assays (e.g., binding, signaling, or cytotoxicity assays) is a strong plus.

● A track record of publications and accomplishments reflecting deep technical knowledge, adaptability in learning new techniques, and a history of consistent research productivity.

● Excellent communication and collaboration skills with a deep commitment to working as part of teams and recognizing the strengths of everyone on the team.

Who we are

A healthier future drives us to innovate. Together, more than 100’000 employees across the globe are dedicated to advance science, ensuring everyone has access to healthcare today and for generations to come. Our efforts result in more than 26 million people treated with our medicines and over 30 billion tests conducted using our Diagnostics products. We empower each other to explore new possibilities, foster creativity, and keep our ambitions high, so we can deliver life-changing healthcare solutions that make a global impact.

Let’s build a healthier future, together.

Roche is an Equal Opportunity Employer.