Senior Scientist, Protein Engineering

Arbor Biotechnologies, a clinical stage, next-generation gene editing company based in Cambridge, MA, is advancing a portfolio of first-in-class genomic medicines addressing serious diseases for which there are no existing functional cures, with a CNS pipeline initially prioritizing multiple ALS targets and a co-developed, clinical program, ABO-101, for the treatment of primary hyperoxaluria type 1. The company’s unique breadth of gene editing technologies goes beyond the limitations of early editing approaches to unlock access to new gene targets and expand the therapeutic reach of genomic medicines.

For more information, please visit: arbor.bio .

You're driven by purpose and curious by nature. You take ownership, speak up, and stay steady when things get hard. You'd rather the team win than get the credit. If that sounds like you, keep reading.

About the role.

We are seeking a Senior Scientist to drive key protein engineering work streams within campaigns for our cutting-edge genome editing tools toward generating best-in-class molecules. You will play a key role in designing and executing protein engineering experiments, including selecting protein mutants and variants, testing in cellular and biochemical screens, analyzing downstream data, and communicating results within the team and cross-functionally.

You will work closely with project leads, computational scientists, and experimental teams to apply structure-guided and AI-enabled design approaches, interpret results, and recommend next steps for assigned engineering efforts. You will also help coordinate technology hand-offs by documenting findings, summarizing technical outcomes, and communicating key learnings to internal stakeholders.

This role is ideal for a rigorous and innovative molecular engineer who is comfortable combining hands-on experimentation with data analysis, structural insight, and collaborative problem-solving to help generate improved gene editors.

What you'll do.

• Drive defined work streams within protein engineering campaigns, including the design, generation, and evaluation of protein mutants and variants.
• Recommend experimental approaches, controls, and follow-up studies in collaboration with project leads and cross-functional partners.
• Select and apply protein engineering strategies, such as rational design, structure-guided engineering, deep mutational scanning, or related approaches, based on project goals and the enzyme properties being optimized.
• Independently design and execute experiments to test protein engineering hypotheses and evaluate variant performance.
• Analyze experimental results and recommend next experimental steps to support iterative design-build-test-learn cycles.

• Apply structure-guided protein engineering approaches using experimental structures, homology models, AI-predicted structures, and other relevant models to generate and prioritize variant hypotheses.
• Use protein structure visualization and molecular modeling tools, such as PyMOL, ChimeraX, and Alpha Fold-derived models, to analyze active sites, protein-protein interfaces, conformational states, and sequence-structure-function relationships.
• Evaluate sequence-structure-function relationships to inform protein design and interpretation of variant performance.
• Design and perform biochemical assays to investigate protein properties in support of engineering goals, including activity, stability, specificity, kinetics, or other relevant functional readouts.
• Interpret biochemical and cellular assay results to support protein engineering decisions and identify follow-up experiments.

• Develop, optimize, and execute cell-based…