Principal Scientist

Would you like to join an international team working to improve the future of healthcare? Do you want to enhance the lives of millions of people? Grifols is a global healthcare company that since 1909 has been working to improve the health and well-being of people around the world. We are leaders in plasma-derived medicines and transfusion medicine and develop, produce and market innovative medicines, solutions and services in more than 110 countries and regions.

Giga Gen, a subsidiary of Grifols, discovers and develops next-generation recombinant antibody therapeutics. Our core technology utilizes a microfluidic droplet system to capture and immortalize diverse immune repertoires, which can then be mined for exceptional monoclonals or enriched and used as high-potency polyclonal therapeutics. Our pipeline includes several recombinant polyclonal products for infectious diseases and a monoclonal antibody with a unique mechanism for oncology, with several projects in the clinic.

We are seeking an innovative and experienced Principal Scientist to direct protein engineering and molecular biology projects as a part of the Technology Development team. This team initiates and leads early-stage research projects with the goal to improve the platform technology and build a toolbox for our next-generation of recombinant antibody therapeutics. The successful candidate will have significant experience in antibody and antigen engineering, protein expression and purification, and advanced cloning techniques.

Additional expertise in mammalian synthetic biology, single-cell assays, bioinformatics, automation, droplet microfluidics, bacterial or yeast biology, or related areas may also be beneficial. A proven track-record of innovation as evidenced through publications and patents is expected.

** Primary responsibilities for role:*
* + Independently design and manage experiments for testing next-generation antibody therapeutics, including construct design, expression and purification strategies, and implementation of novel analytical assays.

+ Provide technical leadership for complex projects which may include elements of protein engineering, synthetic biology, high-throughput sequencing, and in vitro assays.

+ Contribute ideas for new assays and technologies to enable the next-generation of Giga Gen products and work with management to obtain support and resources to be successful.

+ Stay abreast of cutting-edge tools and new technologies related to Giga Gen's antibody discovery platform and coordinate for testing and implementation

+ Contribute to brainstorming sessions and troubleshooting efforts within the team

+ Propose and manage goals, timelines, and personnel for multiple projects, and drive internal and external communications within and across teams to ensure goals are met on time

+ Synthesize and interpret complex data for internal and external presentations

+ Mentor junior lab staff, with opportunities for management of one or more staff

+ Initiate and manage projects with external vendors

** Required experience, skills and education qualifications:*
* + PhD in chemical/biological engineering, biochemistry, molecular biology, or similar preferred

+ 8+ years industry and/or Post-PhD experience  
** OR
* * MS with 12+ years of industry experience  
** OR
* * Bachelors with 15+ years of industry experience

+ Strong background in a relevant scientific field, as evidenced by publications and conference presentations

+ Broad technical background covering additional areas of interest

+ Experience managing and mentoring direct reports

+ Experience managing CROs and external collaborations

+ Technical writing skills and experience authoring SOPs, manuscripts, or other documents

+ Ability to work in a fast-paced team environment, meet deadlines, and prioritize work across multiple projects

+ Strong written and verbal communication skills, and efficient in communicating in interdisciplinary and cross-functional teams

+ Advanced ability to creatively apply scientific principles in problem solving in potentially novel areas.

** Occupational Demands:*
* Work is performed in a clinical and/or a laboratory environment. Exposure to biological fluids with potential exposure to infectious organisms. Exposure to electrical office equipment. Exposure to chemicals.  Personal protective equipment required such as protective eyewear, garments and gloves.
Frequently sits and bends neck for 4-6 hours per day.  May stand and twist neck for 2-4 hours per day. Occasionally walks, bends and twists waist and squats.  Frequent hand movement of both hands with the ability to make fast, simple, movements of the fingers, hands, and wrists.  Ability to make precise coordinated movements, of the fingers to grasp and manipulate objects.

Moderate lifting of 15-30lbs. with a maximum lift of 35 lbs. May reach above and below shoulder height. Color perception/discrimination, near vision and far vision correctable in one eye to 20/30 and to 20/100 in the other eye.  Able to…