Research Assistant – Protein production & Cell Culture in Oxford

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Research Assistant to join the Protein production Small Research Facility (SRF) within the Centre for Medicines Discovery (CMD), part of the Nuffield Department of Medicine at the University of Oxford. Working within a highly collaborative and multidisciplinary research environment, you will support early-stage drug discovery projects by contributing to protein production, cell culture, and assay development, helping to accelerate the discovery of new medicines for patients.

You will be joining a team of 5 highly motivated and enthusiastic scientists, who work closely together to achieve the group’s scientific objectives and support the researchers who use the facility. The CMD and the NDM are highly collaborative environments and the team works closely with the other groups in the CMD and the wider NDM. Projects are often highly multidisciplinary with opportunities to work with and learn from scientists across many fields. This role is based on the Old Road Campus in Headington.

You will be responsible for:

• Production of proteins, including expression and purification, from large scale (~1-10 L) culture (e.coli, insect or mammalian) using AKTA Pure systems or equivalent, including appropriate quality control.
• Helping develop techniques into standard practices that can be offered by the small research facility.
• Maintaining cultures and stocks of insect; mammalian cells and other cell lines.
• Generating recombinant baculovirus including expansion, titration and characterisation of baculovirus stocks.
• Contributing to report writing and scientific publications related to projects supported by the SRF.

It is essential that you hold a Bachelor's degree in Biology, Chemistry, or a related scientific discipline, together with practical laboratory experience in protein expression and purification. You will have excellent organisational and communication skills, strong attention to detail, and the ability to work both independently and collaboratively within a multidisciplinary team. Experience with insect or mammalian cell culture, membrane proteins, or endotoxin-free protein production would be advantageous.

This position is offered full time on a fixed term contract until 1 September 2028 and is funded by the Department. Only applications received before 12 midday on Monday 24 August 2026 will be considered. Please quote 187446 on all correspondence.

Salary (£): Research Grade 6: Salary in range £35,681 - £41,636 per annum (pro rata). This is inclusive of a pensionable Oxford University Weighting of £1,730 per year (pro rata).