Senior Scientist - Antibody Characterisation

At LabGenius Therapeutics ("LabGenius"), our mission is to discover the next generation of therapeutic antibodies by combining human and machine intelligence. To do this, we’ve pioneered the development of EVA™, state-of-the-art automated platform, enabling the closed-loop discovery of high-performing, non-intuitive antibody designs using proprietary, ML-grade datasets.

For our wholly-owned therapeutic pipeline, we’re using our closed-loop discovery engine to establish a pipeline of highly selective T-cell engagers and ADCs for the treatment of solid tumours.

LabGenius has raised >£55M and is backed by top-tier investors, including M Ventures, Octopus Ventures, LG Corp, Atomico, Kindred Capital, Lux Capital and Obvious Ventures amongst others.

The company is headquartered in London (UK) where we’ve established a cutting-edge antibody engineering facility. The company is staffed by a multidisciplinary team of more than 50 scientists and engineers.

You’ll be a pivotal member of the Antibody Engineering and Developability team, serving as a technical lead for antibody characterisation. This is a high-impact opportunity for a versatile protein scientist within our group, executing diverse assays and assisting in building a world-class biophysical characterisation platform from the ground up.

Your primary mission is to ensure that our ML models are fed with high-resolution, high-quality developability and binding data. You won't just be running samples; you will be designing comprehensive workflows, utilising our internal BLI (Biolayer Interferometry) capabilities alongside UHPLC and stability assays while assisting in outsourcing mass spectrometry (MS) data analysis to transition our discovery pipeline from crude screening to clinical-grade lead optimisation.

You’ll be a member of our wet-lab team, where you’ll ensure that the best binders also possess the biophysical properties required to become successful therapeutic products. You won't just be looking at how well an antibody binds; you’ll be stress-testing its fitness for clinical use, identifying liabilities like aggregation, instability, or poor solubility early in the pipeline.

Whatever your previous experience includes, you’ll inject passion and energy into everything you do. You’ll enjoy multi-disciplinary work, and you’ll have an endless hunger for knowledge, learning, and growth; all the qualities LabGenius Therapeutics celebrates!

Your role at LabGenius Therapeutics will be varied, with clear communication being critical to your day-to-day interactions with the team. Being able to integrate your workflow with other teams, along with the ability to share findings in an articulate manner, will help you to achieve success within this position.

This position is a full time laboratory-based role.

What you’ll do in this role

• Act as the central point of contact between protein production, discovery, and data science, ensuring robust characterisation of all candidates.

• Perform and/or interpret diverse analytical assays, including HPLC (e.g., SEC, HIC, IEX), mass spectrometry (MS) data analysis, thermal stability, and self-association studies to build a complete developability profile.

• Design and run high-resolution BLI screening campaigns to determine kon, koff, and KD for large panels of antibody candidates, as well as complex epitope binning and mapping studies.

• Partner with the Lab Automation team to integrate liquid handling with BLI and HPLC workflows, moving toward fully autonomous characterisation assays.

• Work closely with our Data Science team to translate raw biophysical readouts and sensorgrams into clean datasets for ML/AI predictive models.

• Design and implement automated biophysical screening assays (e.g., HT-protein stability, solubility, and self-association) using 96- and 384-well formats.

• QC analyse, interpret, and troubleshoot developability experiments working closely with other R&D teams.

• Conduct research in a self-directed manner, troubleshooting complex analytical bottlenecks and binding profiles to provide actionable insights to the engineering team.

• Keep excellent experimental/data records for cross-functional teamwork and project learnings.

• Organise and manage your time effectively, balancing competing priorities based on business goals and the focus of your wider team, to deliver to timelines where others are relying on you.

What we’re looking for

• You have a PhD in protein/antibody engineering, protein biochemistry, or an MSc with 3-5 years of industrial experience with significant wet-lab expertise in a broad range of protein characterisation techniques. Any relevant biotech or pharma experience is a distinct advantage.

• You have strong experience in a wide breadth of characterisation techniques including thermostability assays (such as DSF), self-association assessments, dynamic light scattering (DLS), and analytical UPLC/HPLC techniques (such as SE-HPLC and HIC-HPLC).

• A firm understanding of mass spectrometry (MS) data analysis for antibody characterisation (e.g., intact mass, peptide mapping).

• Hands-on experience with BLI (e.g., Octet), including biosensor selection, immobilisation strategies, and regeneration optimisation

• Experience characterising non-traditional modalities like bispecifics, VHH, or scaffold proteins, and studying complex binding interactions that go beyond the 1:1 model.

• Proficiency in analytical data software and a sophisticated understanding of complex binding interactions, antibody structure-function relationships, and PTM liabilities.

• The ability to generate and implement new ideas, specifically in the context of setting up new lab infrastructure and automated workflows.

• Ability to articulate complex biophysical and kinetic data to non-experts, acting as the bridge between wet-lab engineering and computational biology stakeholders.

• You’re comfortable with challenging yourself and acquiring unfamiliar scientific skills and knowledge.

• You have excellent organisational and time management skills, with demonstrated ability to prioritise, define timelines and deliver to these commitments.

• You’re self-motivated with a strong desire to make an impact, and bring a positive attitude to everything you do.

What you’ll receive from us

Aside from being part of our brilliant, purpose-driven team, you’ll also enjoy:

Financial 💸

• Bonus: Discretionary, performance-linked bonus scheme.

• Equity: Generous stock option plan.

• Pension: 5% company contribution, plus an extra top-up on our tax savings.

• Financial Security: 3x salary Life Assurance and Income Protection.

Health & Wellness 🍏

• Private Medical Insurance: Fully comprehensive healthcare through AXA, including optical and dental coverage.

• Health Cashback: Health Shield plan to claim back everyday health expenses.

• Everyday Care: 24/7 digital access to GP services.

• Fitness: Discounted gym memberships via AXA or Health Shield.

• Commute: Cycle to Work scheme for a cheaper, greener, and healthier commute.

Time-Off ⏰

• Annual Leave: 25 days paid holiday plus bank holidays.

• Life Events: 1 paid day off for moving home, plus dedicated compassionate and emergency leave.

• Sick Pay: Comprehensive paid sick leave.

Wellbeing & Culture 💛

• Mental Health Support: Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) with direct access to coaching and CBT sessions.

• Weekly Team Lunches: Free lunches delivered weekly via Feedr.

• Socials: A regular schedule of company-wide and team-specific social events.

Diversity & Inclusion

We believe that diverse perspectives build innovative, exceptional teams. As an equal opportunity employer, we do not discriminate on the basis of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race (including colour, nationality, and ethnic or national origin), religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, or any other protected characteristic.

If you don't feel like you meet every single requirement of this role, we still want to hear from you! We encourage you to apply, have a discussion with us about the role or others that we may have at LabGenius either now or in the future, together we can build more inclusive workplaces.