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Intern - Early Discovery Protein Sciences
Vilya
South San Francisco, CA, USA
USD 25-45 / hour
Posted on Mar 11, 2026
Vilya is a computational biotechnology company creating a novel class of medicines to precisely target disease biology. We believe computational approaches are an integral, if not foundational, component of drug discovery and development. Our platform is built on ground-breaking research in advanced computational approaches and taps into uncharted chemical space to design new molecular structures not found in nature.
We are harnessing the power of our platform to go after previously impossible targets in an array of indications. Vilya’s ultimate goal is to solve some of the most challenging unmet medical needs that exist today.
Our Vision: Harness a revolution in technology and biology to better human health
Our Mission: Build an independent, leading biotech company founded on intelligent drug design to cure the incurable
We are seeking a highly motivated and enthusiastic Summer Intern to join a cross functional effort between Vilya’s Structural Biology Team and Biology Team in South San Francisco for 12 weeks during the summer of 2026. Reporting to our Director of Structural Biology, this fully onsite position will play a key role in expanding our platform technology and advancing orally available macrocycles into the clinic.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Execute the screening, expression, and purification of proteins that will be used for hit identification
- In collaboration with Vilya computationalists, leverage results from the Vilya-1 pipeline to expand our design space of peptide therapeutics
- Engineer and institute a rapid, cost-effective automated workflow capable of generating and screening recombinantly produced peptides
- Apply this new workflow to screen against multiple protein targets, identifying new hits and validating novel scaffolds to serve as starting points for drug discovery
- Present experimental progress to the structural biology team and collaborate actively with cross-functional research groups
- Maintain a precise and detailed electronic lab notebook
- Comply with all safety and environmental regulations
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
- Currently enrolled in an undergraduate, or graduate degree program in Biophysics, Biochemistry or a related field is strongly preferred
- At least 1–2 years of hands-on, lab-based experience in one or more of the following: protein biochemistry, library based screening (eg phage, mRNA, or yeast display), structural biology
- Experience purifying challenging proteins is strongly preferred
- Interest in structural biology is a plus
- Enthusiastic and self-motivated with strong time management and multitasking skills
- Highly organized, motivated, able to work independently, and have strong analytical, organizational, and communication skills
- Passion for exploring and developing new technologies
- Commitment to high scientific and ethical standards
- Scientific curiosity with positive attitude and an eagerness to learn
- Ability to work onsite in our South San Francisco office
VILYA INTERN COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS:
- Wage: $25/hour - $45/hour, based on a combination of education and experience
- Opportunity to work in a disruptive startup with a talented, experienced, and dedicated team
- Monthly commuter stipend