Research Associate I​/II - Protein Engineering

Valora Therapeutics Inc. (Valora) is a pre-clinical stage biopharmaceutical company based in San Diego, California, USA, pioneering a new biologic platform invented by Nobel Laureate Dr. Carolyn Bertozzi (Stanford). Our proprietary platform technology enables the engineering of chimeric antibodies to unlock new mechanisms of immune signaling and activity, paving the way for transformative therapies in oncology, immune diseases, and beyond.

Valora is excited to expand our Protein Engineering team and is looking for a highly motivated scientist to support our R&D Operations in developing next-generation antibody therapeutics using our proprietary chimeric antibody platform. This role will focus on hands‑on laboratory work and will include activities such as the following:

In this position, you will:

• Contribute to both day-to-day operations and the advancement of Protein Science workflows. This position will support the design, optimization, and execution of transient transfection/purification processes at various scales for antibody and protein production in multiple expression systems.
• Leverage expertise in biophysical/bioanalytical characterization to evaluate key protein attributes.
• Establish quality requirements for proteins used in functional in vitro/in vivo studies and develop/execute protocols to deliver well‑characterized proteins.
• Assist in the design and execution of experiments to evaluate novel engineered antibodies, applying critical thinking and problem‑solving skills.

• Stay current with advancements in antibody engineering, characterization and immunology, applying this knowledge to ongoing projects.

• Minimum requirements:
  
  MS/BS with 4+ years of experience in an academic or biopharmaceutical industry setting.

• Background in protein engineering, recombinant protein production/purification, research-stage process and/or bioanalytical development
• Familiarity with antibody engineering concepts and methods, including Fc engineering for enhanced effector functions, bispecific and multispecific antibody formats, etc.
• Develop and execute the development of robust processes to support antibody production workflows.
  
  Optimize expression and purifications methods for antibodies, difficult‑to‑handle proteins and optimize platform processes for higher production yields and desired quality attributes.
• Hands‑on expertise with recombinant protein purification using FPLC and chromatography approaches such as affinity, ion exchange, hydrophobic interaction, and size exclusion.
• Strong working knowledge of recombinant protein analytical characterization using techniques such as HPLC, SDS‑PAGE, Western blotting, ELISA, and other biochemical or biophysical assays.
• Support develop ability assessment of antibodies for stability, purity and other relevant biophysical properties
• Apply specialized technical knowledge of protein expression, purification and chromatography to make detailed observations, analyze process data, evaluate chromatograms, and ensure processes are operating within established parameters.
• Troubleshoot and refine current Protein Science processes, for throughput, quality, and efficiency
• Assistance in general lab tasks to support analytical biochemistry and biophysical techniques, including sample preparation, data collection and data analysis
• Excellent analytical, communication, and organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities
• This role offers opportunities for broad technical growth, including assay development, molecular biology, protein engineering and early‑stage bio characterization.
• Experience with phage and yeast display techniques is a plus
• Excellent troubleshooting and…