Principal Scientist, Antibody Discovery and Engineering

Principal Scientist, Antibody Discovery

Moderna is seeking an accomplished and highly motivated Principal Scientist to join the Antibody Discovery team within Therapeutics Research. Therapeutics Research generates innovative therapeutic concepts and advances them from early scientific idea through First-in-Human studies. The Antibody Discovery team plays a central role in discovering, engineering, and optimizing antibody-based therapeutic molecules that enable new treatment strategies across Moderna's therapeutic pipeline.

This Principal Scientist will lead integrated antibody discovery and engineering campaigns across oncology and autoimmune disease programs. The role spans concept development through lead identification, including biological and therapeutic-area research, target and antigen strategy, immunization and B cell discovery campaign design, antibody screening, sequence analysis, engineering, characterization, and optimization.

The successful candidate will bring deep expertise in therapeutic antibody discovery, antibody engineering, immune repertoire mining, display technologies, and molecular-format optimization. This individual will operate with a high degree of independence, scientific judgment, and cross-functional influence while partnering with antigen design, structural and computational biology, Immuno-oncology and Autoimmune Therapeutics research leadership, project teams, and external CRO partners.

This is a hands-on scientific leadership role for someone who thrives in a fast-paced, innovative, and highly collaborative environment. The Principal Scientist will help shape differentiated antibody-based therapeutics from early idea to therapeutic lead nomination, strengthen discovery strategy, and contribute to Moderna's next-generation antibody capabilities.

Here's What You'll Do

• Lead integrated antibody discovery and engineering campaigns from early concept through lead identification, optimization, and nomination.
• Develop discovery strategies that incorporate target and antigen evaluation, immunization design, B cell screening, display-based engineering, sequence analysis, and data-driven lead selection.
• Design, execute, and oversee antibody generation and optimization workflows, including immunizations, B cell discovery, yeast or other display campaigns, affinity maturation, humanization, format conversion, expression, purification, and characterization.
• Engineer and evaluate antibodies across multiple therapeutic formats, including IgG, Fab, scFv, bispecific or multispecific antibodies, T cell engagers, TCR engagers, CAR-T-related formats, and other novel modalities.
• Characterize antibody candidates using biochemical, biophysical, and functional assays to assess binding, affinity, specificity, epitope diversity, develop ability, potency, and mechanism of action.
• Partner with antigen design, structural biology, computational biology, and project teams to move programs efficiently from scientific concept to actionable lead molecules.
• Analyze complex datasets, identify scientific and technical risks, and develop practical mitigation strategies that guide program decisions.
• Monitor emerging antibody discovery and engineering technologies and translate relevant advances into ideas that strengthen Moderna's therapeutic discovery capabilities.
• Prepare clear technical reports, project plans, and presentations for internal teams, collaborators, governance forums, and leadership.
• Lead cross-functional scientific discussions, manage external partners, and mentor scientists or research associates as appropriate.

Here's What You'll Need (Basic Qualifications)

• PhD in immunology, molecular biology, biochemistry, protein engineering, cancer biology, or a related discipline, with 5+ years of relevant post-PhD industry experience in antibody discovery, antibody engineering, or biologics discovery.
• Demonstrated track record independently leading therapeutic antibody discovery campaigns from concept through lead identification, optimization, or nomination.
• Deep technical expertise in antibody biology, antibody structure and function, discovery platforms, and therapeutic antibody optimization.
• Hands-on…