Director, Protein Engineering
$180,000–$240,000 year
On-site · Redmond, Washington, United States or Bothell, Washington, United States
Job Summary
Director of Protein Engineering at SystImmune leads the FUSE team in a hands-on scientific leadership role overseeing platform ownership, team management, and program-level decisions across bi-specific and multi-specific antibodies and ADCs. The role drives the next-generation yeast display platform, integrates it with the FUSE automation wet lab, and directs display-based discovery campaigns while partnering with discovery biology, antibody discovery, CMC, and computational teams to deliver optimized lead molecules into the pipeline. The position requires building and mentoring a team, defining platform performance metrics, overseeing data quality and SOPs, and contributing to strategic decisions and portfolio reviews. Strong expertise in yeast display, antibody engineering, platform integration with automation, and leadership of scientists is essential.
Required Qualifications
- PhD in protein engineering, biochemistry, structural biology, molecular biology, bioengineering, or a related field
- Minimum 10 years of industry experience in biologics drug discovery and development
- Minimum 8 years of hands-on experience with yeast display, including library design and construction, FACS-based selection and sorting, deep sequencing analysis, and downstream characterization of selected binders
- Demonstrated experience building or substantially advancing a yeast display platform, including integration with laboratory automation (liquid handlers, automated cell sorters, LIMS, or equivalent)
- Track record leading and developing a team of scientists and research associates, with clear examples of hiring, mentoring, performance management, and career progression
- Demonstrated delivery of engineered binders or therapeutic leads into a biologics pipeline, ideally including bi-specific or multi-specific formats
- Strong working knowledge of antibody and binder formats (IgG, Fab, scFv, VHH) and engineering strategies including affinity maturation, stability and developability optimization, and conditional activation
- Experience leading display campaigns alongside complementary discovery modalities (phage display, immunization-derived repertoires, in silico/AI-based design) is strongly preferred
- Excellent scientific judgment and the ability to make timely, decisive calls on campaign strategy, hit triage, and resource allocation
- Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to represent the function to senior leadership and external partners
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