Open position
Job vacancy at PentaBind (London, UK)
Job title: Biopharmaceutical Scientist (Part-Time or Full-Time)
Company
PentaBind is the first computational aptamer discovery company using generative artificial intelligence (AI) to design a new generation of nucleic acid-based therapeutics. We are pioneering the development of these drug-candidates that have the potential to revolutionise care in diseases with high, unmet clinical need. We are a Venture Capital backed startup, supported by Entrepreneur First.
Our Vision
Our vision is to help people live longer, but also healthier. We believe that our AI-enabled technology can help bring about this change, by revolutionising personalised healthcare. By harnessing insights from our unique data-sets and proprietary algorithms, we are developing drug-candidates that can deliver urgent answers to some of the most pressing therapeutic needs in the clinic right now, ready for personalised medicine, including but not limited to oncology, rare and neurodegenerative diseases.
The Role
This position will focus on the design and development of a SELEX pipeline in the context of an early-stage AI drug discovery company. The SELEX pipeline will be an integral part of our AI-wet-lab feedback loop. The position may also offer outstanding opportunities to work on state-of-the-art high-throughput platforms and our patent-pending technologies. This role is ideally suited for a motivated experimental scientist who is passionate about pharmaceuticals and technology.
Key Responsibilities
- Design, execute, and troubleshoot biochemistry and molecular biology experiments
- Perform SELEX experiments, NGS library preparation and RT-qPCR
- Perform biophysical binding studies
- Suggest your own ideas, formulate plans and strategy proposals to present to the CTO and senior management
- Maintain excellent documentation of laboratory work
- Analyse, interpret, and present results to present to colleagues in regular meetings
- Collaborate with the R&D ML and Bioinformatics teams
- Help shape the hiring strategy for the R&D team, train or supervise future employees
Ideal Candidate (essential)
- Have already obtained a Masters degree in a relevant discipline, with industry experience or internships
- Outstanding experimental (i.e., lab) skills with an attention to detail
- Experience in molecular biology, biochemistry, and/or assay development
- DNA and protein handling skills
- Hands-on experience with PCR, nucleic acid QC, protein QC (e.g., SDS-PAGE) and analysis
- English language speaking, listening and writing fluency
- Excellent organisational, data-archiving and presentation skills
Desirable Candidate (not essential)
- Have obtained, or currently finishing, a Ph.D degree
- Hands-on experience with aptamer selection (e.g., Affinity-SELEX and/or CE-SELEX)
- Hands-on experience with protein purification
- Experienced in biophysical characterisation of nucleic acid-protein or nucleic acid-ligand interactions (e.g., ELISA, FP, BLI) is a plus
- Publication in a major scientific journal with molecular biology/biochemistry contributions is a plus
What to expect
- We are a fun and ambitious early stage start-up and you will be a core member of our small team
- Join weekly meetings with the CEO, CTO, and CAIO
- This can be a fast-paced, high-pressure role due to tight deadlines, but it’s also challenging and rewarding
- We expect you to complete work on your own computer
- Willingness to travel to on-site laboratory (Scale Space, London)
Our Culture
We are building a diverse and inclusive high-growth company. We are recruiting fun and proactive team-players who are passionate about making positive changes to our society through technology and enterprise.
Send your application and CV to contact@pentabind.com
PentaBind | Aptamer AI Discovery
www.pentabind.com | www.linkedin.com/company/pentabind/
