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Scientist I, Platform R&D
A-Alpha Bio
Seattle, WA, USA
Posted on Saturday, June 1, 2024
A-Alpha Bio is an early-stage and rapidly growing drug discovery company headquartered in Seattle, WA. We are enabling the next generation of high-impact therapeutics by combining high-throughput synthetic biology to measure protein-protein interactions at scale with state-of-the-art machine learning to predict how proteins bind. We partner with leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to enable the discovery of antibodies, molecular glues, and other protein interaction-related drugs. In parallel, we use our wet-lab and computational platforms to discover and develop an internal pipeline of biologics and molecular glues to improve human health.
This role is not open to remote applicants and would require relocation to Seattle, WA.
Starting Salary Range: $122,000 - $138,000 annually
Exemption Status: Exempt
Location Expectations: Hybrid
Role Description
At A-Alpha Bio, we’re on a mission to improve human health by unlocking the potential of protein-protein interactions – and we’re now seeking a Scientist I to design, execute, and analyze experiments that leverage our AlphaSeq and AlphaBind platforms for drug discovery, with a focus on biologic therapeutics.
- As a scientist, you’ll design yeast surface display libraries as well as perform, supervise, and troubleshoot experimental assays.
- As an analyst, you’ll conduct complex data analyses on large experimental protein engineering datasets.
- As a cross-functional team member, you’ll manage complex internal and external projects, conveying work plans through both presentations and written reports.
You'll also contribute to the development of other experimental and computational platforms for the company.
Key Responsibilities
- Contribute to the design and lead the execution of internal R&D programs aimed at the discovery and validation of protein-protein interactions with therapeutic potential in the protein biologics space.
- Participate in discussions to determine departmental strategy and define project specifications with external partners and collaborators.
- Contribute to the design and lead the execution of projects for external partners, collaborators, and funding agencies.
- Present scientific findings to both internal teams and external collaborators and partners.
- Collaborate closely with the Data Science team to analyze massive protein-protein interaction datasets while addressing key research questions.
- Assist in the transfer of developed processes to the Technical Operations & Engineering team.
- Mentor and train junior members of the R&D and Technical Operations Teams.
- Independently author detailed, accurate, and accessible documentation of experiments and data.
- Remain current with scientific literature, presenting to the team on relevant topics.
- Perform other duties as assigned.
Qualifications & Experience
Required
- PhD in a related field; Bachelor’s degree in a related field with 8+ years of relevant laboratory experience; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
- Strong understanding of protein biochemistry, protein engineering, and molecular biology.
- Intermediate-level statistics and data science skills in Python (e.g., Pandas, Matplotlib, SciPy) or other relevant coding language.
- Demonstrated experience with troubleshooting.
- Excellent communication and organizational skills.
- Self-motivation, intellectual curiosity, and excitement to carry out interdisciplinary research in a fast-paced environment.
Preferred
- Experience in antibody discovery, antibody engineering, protein biologics, and/or immunology.
- Experience with DNA library assays (e.g., surface display, yeast-two-hybrid) and next-generation sequencing (e.g., Illumina, ONT, PacBio).
- Experience with flow cytometry, protein-based assays, tissue culture, and/or yeast biology.
- Strong statistics and data science skills in Python (e.g., Pandas, Matplotlib, SciPy) or other relevant software or coding language.
- Technical proficiency with at least one macromolecular modeling suite, preferably Rosetta.
We offer competitive compensation, including benefits, flexible time off, and equity in a fast-growing start-up. Applicants must have legal authorization to work in the United States. At this time, A-Alpha Bio is unable to offer visa sponsorship in any form.
About A-Alpha Bio
A-Alpha Bio is a biotechnology company that leverages synthetic biology and machine learning to measure, predict, and engineer protein-protein interactions. Our AlphaSeq platform applies synthetic biology to experimentally measure millions of protein interaction affinities simultaneously. Protein binding data is incorporated into our AlphaBind platform to train machine learning models that predict binding from sequence. We use both platforms to discover and optimize high-impact therapeutics for our pipeline and in partnership with leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.
In 2018, A-Alpha Bio spun out of the University of Washington’s Institute for Protein Design and Center for Synthetic Biology – both communities filled with brilliant and highly entrepreneurial scientists. Since the company’s inception, we have focused on an oncology-centered internal pipeline along with pharma and biotech partnerships to collaboratively train predictive machine learning models and discover and optimize drugs for therapeutic areas ranging from infectious disease to neurodegeneration. New members of the team should expect a fast-paced, highly dynamic, and interdisciplinary work environment. We are building a diverse, meritocratic, and supportive team that shares our values of speaking the truth, shooting for the moon, taking the reins, playing for the team, and improving the world.
A-Alpha Bio is headquartered in a custom designed lab and office space in downtown Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood. While the startup lifestyle occasionally requires grueling hours, we strongly value the need for a work-life balance. We are fortunate to be situated in a region that is renowned for its premier outdoor activities, including hiking, biking, climbing, skiing, kayaking, sailing, and more. At A-Alpha, you’ll find many who love the outdoors, but also gamers, amateur chefs, explorers, sports fans, bakers, crafters, photographers, brewers, jetsetters, animal lovers, and artists. Whatever your passions, you belong at A-Alpha Bio!