Associate Director, Biotherapeutic Production and Characterization

The Associate Director will lead a talented scientific team working at the intersection of biological engineering, protein science, automation, and data-enabled discovery. You will help define how difficult and diverse protein targets are designed, produced, characterized, and delivered to project teams with greater speed, scale, quality, and scientific insight, working at the intersection of biological engineering, protein science, automation, and data-enabled discovery.

Your leadership will directly influence critical program decisions, the success of novel protein modalities in discovery, the technologies and capabilities we build, and the inclusive, high-performance culture we create.

At Generate:

Biomedicines, this is an opportunity to combine deep experimental science with agentic design, automation, and high-throughput experimentation to tackle some of the most complex challenges in protein design and production. You will develop novel solutions for difficult-to-express antigens, membrane proteins, and other complex modalities, building workflows that connect sequence and structure to construct design, production, characterization, and scientific learning at scale.

As Associate Director, Biotherapeutic Production & Characterization, you will lead protein production, purification, and fit-for-purpose characterization in support of discovery and early development. You will be accountable for delivering high-quality, assay-ready protein reagents and actionable data that support critical program decisions, while advancing the technologies, data practices, and team capabilities needed to expand what we can design and produce.

• Oversee production across mammalian, bacterial, and cell-free systems, including end-to-end workflows for construct design, expression, purification, characterization, quality control, normalization, and assay-ready handoff.
• Drive innovation for difficult antigens and complex proteins through construct and boundary optimization, tag and format selection, alternate expression systems, site-specific labeling, automation, and other enabling technologies.
• Establish fit-for-purpose production, purification, and characterization standards for attributes including yield, purity, aggregation, concentration, identity, oligomeric state, stability, and biotinylation.
• Lead portfolio planning, prioritization, and resource allocation for the team across internal and outsourced production and characterization activities, balancing program delivery, platform advancement, capacity, timelines, and external spend.
• Manage relationships with CROs, technology providers, and other external partners, and communicate progress, risks, resource needs, and tradeoffs to senior stakeholders.
• Represent Biotherapeutic Production & Characterization on cross-functional program and platform teams, translating scientific objectives into actionable strategies and recommendations.
• Lead adoption of automation, structured data practices, AI/ML-enabled tools, and agentic workflows while driving operational excellence through prioritization, resource planning, metrics, risk management, and continuous improvement.

• Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing team spanning protein construct design, molecular biology, expression, purification, characterization, and protein reagent operations.
• Establish clear expectations for scientific quality, delivery, collaboration, and accountability.
• Ensure team members understand how their work contributes to program, functional, and organizational priorities.
• Provide timely, constructive feedback and create equitable opportunities for technical development, leadership growth, increased responsibility, and…