Senior Scientist II, Biophysics and Protein Sciences

The Opportunity:
We are seeking a creative and experienced biophysicist to accelerate target validation, hit confirmation, and drug discovery across our oncology discovery portfolio. This role will leverage orthogonal biophysical approaches to characterize protein quality and molecular interactions enabling confident progression from screening hits to mechanistically validated leads.  The successful candidate will provide scientific leadership in selecting and integrating the most appropriate biophysical approaches to address key discovery questions, including the characterization of weak, transient, and cooperative protein interactions relevant to our molecular glue discovery platform.  This individual will partner closely with Structural Biology, Medicinal Chemistry, Discovery Biology, and Assay Development to advance mechanistic understanding and enable faster, higher-confidence project decisions. 

Role Responsibilities:

• Serve as the biophysical subject matter expert on multidisciplinary discovery teams, providing scientific leadership that informs target validation, screening strategies, and lead optimization.

• Design, execute, and interpret quantitative biophysical experiments to characterize protein quality, molecular interactions, binding mechanisms, kinetics, thermodynamics, stability, oligomerization, and higher-order complex formation, integrating these data to drive project decisions.

• Develop and apply orthogonal biophysical strategies that accelerate hit confirmation, mechanistic understanding, and progression from screening hits to validated leads through early go/no-go decision making.

• Build and optimize workflows to assess the quality, stability, and suitability of recombinant proteins and protein complexes, ensuring quality reagents for biochemical, biophysical, structural, and screening applications.

• Characterize weak, transient, cooperative, and induced protein interactions using solution-based biophysics to complement structural biology and support mechanistic understanding of binary and ternary protein complexes.

• Develop and implement robust biophysical assays, workflows, and best practices while evaluating emerging technologies that strengthen orthogonal hit validation and mechanistic discovery capabilities.

• Evaluate emerging biophysical technologies and methodologies that enhance the organization's ability to address challenging discovery questions.

• Communicate scientific findings effectively across multidisciplinary teams, provide technical mentorship, and promote rigorous experimental design and data-driven decision making.

Required Skills, Experience and Education:

• Ph.D. in Biophysics, Biochemistry, Structural Biology, or related discipline with 8+ years of industry experience in drug discovery.

• Demonstrated scientific judgment in experimental design and execution, data interpretation, and selecting appropriate orthogonal approaches to address challenging discovery questions.

• Extensive hands-on experience in protein biochemistry and biophysics, including recombinant protein characterization and work with challenging proteins and multi-protein complexes.

• Strong foundation in quantitative biophysical methods with experience selecting and applying orthogonal approaches (e.g., DSF, SEC-MALS, DLS, CD, ITC, SPR, BLI) to address complex discovery questions. Experience supporting hit validation, mechanism-of-action studies, and structure-based drug discovery.

• Demonstrated ability to integrate biophysical data with medicinal chemistry, structural biology, and functional biology to guide project decisions.

• Proven ability to work independently in a fast-paced discovery environment while contributing effectively as a collaborative team member with willingness to learn and improve.

Preferred Skills:

• Experience with molecular glues, induced proximity, or complex protein–protein interaction systems, including analysis of ternary or higher-order complex formation and stability.

• Familiarity using higher-order or structural biophysics methods (e.g., SAXS, HDX-MS, NMR) to contextualize binding mechanisms and protein behavior in solution.

• Experience establishing new biophysical technologies, workflows, and practices within a discovery organization.

• Experience balancing internal experimentation with external CRO resources to solve complex scientific problems efficiently.

• Track record of reducing technical risk through orthogonal experimental design and mechanistic problem solving. 

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