Research Senior Associate

Research Senior Associate

Takeda Development Center Americas, Inc. is seeking a Research Senior Associate with the following duties: design and execute in vitro antibody discovery campaigns using full length IgG yeast display and phage display platforms, applying platform-specific selection strategies to maximize hit diversity and develop ability; collaborate with computational teams to experimentally interrogate de novo antibody designs in yeast display platform. Independently lead end-to-end discovery campaigns including library construction, FACS selection strategy development, sequencing analysis, clone triage, and hit confirmation;

develop and apply Python-based scripts, data visualization tools, and agentic AI-enabled workflows to support high-throughput screening, sequence-function analysis, and multi-dimensional antibody discovery datasets; execute NGS-based analysis of antibody discovery campaigns, including clone enrichment analysis, lineage tracking, sequence prioritization, and identification of productive binders across selection rounds; design and lead multi-stage discovery experiments to advance novel biotherapeutic candidates from target validation through lead optimization with a focus on develop ability and affinity;

construct immune antibody libraries from diverse immune sources, including mice, humanized transgenic mice, and llamas, across multiple antibody formats such as Fab, IgG, sdAb, and HCAb to support antigen-specific discovery campaigns; perform mammalian cell culture, ELISA, and multi-parameter flow cytometry; and high-throughput cell sorting systems for single B cell and yeast workflows; screen and characterize outputs from antibody discovery campaigns using biophysical, cell-based, and develop ability assays, including biolayer interferometry (BLI) and on-cell binding, polyspecificity, stability, and expression analyses to support hit confirmation and lead progression;

design molecular cloning strategies for antibody variable gene amplification, combinatorial library construction, and diversity generation for display libraries; apply advanced molecular biology techniques including DNA/RNA extraction, PCR, RT-PCR, restriction enzyme cloning, site-directed mutagenesis, and library generation; lead troubleshooting and scientific problem-solving efforts within discovery programs; perform quantitative data analysis and formulate mechanistic hypotheses to guide program decisions.

Master’s degree in Biochemistry, Biotechnology, Molecular Biology, Immunology Bioengineering, or related field plus 30 months of related experience. Prior experience must include: design and execute end-to-end antibody discovery campaigns on a bicistronic phage display platform advancing immune Fab and single-domain libraries through helper/hyperphage rescue & biopanning selection strategies; lead phage-based antibody discovery campaigns against complex targets from GPCRs, HLAs to the wider cell membrane proteome, translating immune libraries into high-affinity, functional binders;

building next-generation sequencing (NGS) libraries from Fab and VHH antibody repertoires, amplicon-based library preparation, indexing/barcoding, library QC, & preparation for Illumina sequencing; leverage multi-parameter flow cytometry & fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS)-based sorting, ELISA and Octet-based biolayer interferometry (BLI) to confirm binding & resolve kinetic profiles; interpret flow cytometry experimental and statistical data through Flow Jo & Graph Pad Prism, structure visualization in PyMOL & design library construction & mutagenesis using Geneious Prime, Geneious Biologics, IgBLAST, Snap Gene or similar tools;

construct recombinant plasmids…