Xaira Therapeutics

Senior Scientist, Protein Engineering

South San Francisco, California, United States · Senior

Sponsorship not specified$150k-$170kDetected 8 days ago

ExpressLLMsPharmacologyMolecular BiologyCommunicationProblem Solving

About the role

As a member of the Protein Engineering team, you will play a critical role in the discovery and development of next-generation protein therapeutics.
You will be responsible for designing, engineering, producing, and characterizing therapeutic proteins and antibodies, with an emphasis on optimizing functional and developability.

Partner with Disease Biology and Therapeutic Protein Design teams to evaluate new targets, define therapeutic hypotheses and target product profiles, and develop integrated drug discovery strategies.
Design and execute protein engineering strategies to optimize affinity, specificity, format, and developability.
Coordinate binder discovery campaigns, working closely with internal teams to prioritize screening strategies, interpret results, and advance lead molecules.
Collaborate with screening, pharmacology, biology, and computational protein design teams to integrate experimental data, guide molecule optimization, and advance therapeutic protein programs toward clinical development.
Maintain accurate, timely, and well-documented experiment records in ELN.
Stay current with advances in antibody engineering and protein design.
Mentor and develop junior scientific staff to foster a high-performing and collaborative team.
Manage and oversee CROs for outsourced protein production, assay development, and screening, ensuring data quality and timely delivery.
Xaira Therapeutics an equal-opportunity employer. We believe that our strength is in our differences. Our goal to build a diverse and inclusive team began on day one, and it will never end.
Our goal to build a diverse and inclusive team began on day one, and it will never end.

4+ years of industry experience in biotech or biopharma R&D supporting large molecule therapeutic programs.
Extensive hands-on experience in protein engineering, including structural and functional characterization of antibodies and proteins using state-of-the-art analytical methods.
Deep expertise in antibody formats, production, purification, and characterization.
Proficiency in developability assessments and stability studies.
Ability to propose novel scientific approaches and a genuine interest in exploring relevant therapeutic hypotheses.
Enthusiasm for working in a fast-paced, collaborative startup environment, with a demonstrated ability to foster cooperation and knowledge sharing across multidisciplinary teams.
Ph.D. in a relevant scientific discipline, with a strong foundation in molecular biology, biochemistry, structural biology, or a related field.
Fluency with protein visualization and structural modeling software (e.g., PyMOL, AlphaFold).
Strong organizational, communication, and interpersonal skills.
Proactive, self-starter mindset with excellent problem-solving and troubleshooting capabilities.
A strong record of scientific achievement as evidenced by first-author publications in peer-reviewed journals or granted patents.

Experience with protein-protein interaction assays (e.g., SPR, BLI) is preferred.
Experience interacting with Process Development teams and contributing to IND-enabling documentation is preferred.

About Xaira Therapeutics
Xaira is an innovative biotech startup focused on leveraging AI to transform drug discovery and development.
Collectively, these technologies aim to continually enable the identification of novel therapies and to improve success in drug development.
Xaira is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area, Seattle, and London.

We offer a competitive compensation and benefits package, seeking to provide an open, flexible, and friendly work environment to empower employees and provide them with a platform to develop their long-term careers.
We offer a competitive package that includes base salary, bonus, and equity.
The base pay range for this position is expected to be $150,000 to $170,000 annually
however, the base pay offered may vary depending on the market, job-related knowledge, skills and capabilities, and experience.

This listing is sourced directly from Xaira Therapeutics's careers page and normalized into a canonical job model.