Associate Principal Scientist Cell Biology & Assay Development London

At LabGenius Therapeutics, our mission is to accelerate the discovery of next-generation therapeutic antibodies. To do this, we\’ve pioneered the development of EVA – a smart robotic platform that\’s capable of designing, conducting and, critically, learning from its own experiments.

For our wholly-owned pipeline, we\’re using our closed-loop discovery engine to establish a pipeline of highly selective T-cell engagers and ADCs for the treatment of solid tumours.

LabGenius has raised >£58M and is backed by top-tier investors, including M Ventures, Octopus Ventures, LG Corp, Atomico, Kindred Capital, Lux Capital and Obvious Ventures amongst others.

The company is headquartered in London (UK) where we\’ve established a state-of-the-art antibody engineering facility. The company is staffed by a multidisciplinary team of more than 50 scientists and engineers.

As an Associate Principal Scientist, with a track record of drug delivery in Immuno-Oncology, you will be a pivotal member of the Cell Biology & Assay Development team. You will be experienced in line management of a small wet-lab team, with a focus on delivery. You will provide technical mentorship to ensure delivery of the highest quality data from the team across projects spanning early stage discovery to preclinical. You will have in-depth experience of assay development and execution across a broad range of functional cell-based assays relevant to immuno-oncology drug discovery.

Our Cell Biology & Assay Development team is responsible for delivering cell-based functional data to characterise and validate our machine learning-designed antibodies. Working closely with other functional teams, we develop both high- and low-throughput screening, mechanistic and translational assays to characterise, understand and validate our novel antibodies. We integrate automation into our assay pipelines to deliver machine learning-grade data to accelerate and advance our in-house drug discovery pipeline.

What you\’ll do in this role

• You will manage a team of 4-5 FTEs, reporting directly to the Head of Cell Biology and Assay Development.

• You will conduct set goals for team members, provide feedback, technical mentorship and troubleshooting, QC data and presentations and conduct ELN audits.

• Identify/propose new technologies/methodologies within the team.

• You will provide hands-on teaching from the bench and have an \’all hands on deck mindset\’ to help out ad hoc in the lab when required.

• You will be accountable for the quality and timely delivery of your direct reports\’ work packages.

• You will embed in all of LabGenius\’ projects and understand company priorities.

• You will work closely with the Head of Cell Biology and Assay Development to ensure adequate resourcing across projects, identifying bottlenecks and proposing/implementing solutions to overcome these.

• You will have a proactive approach to ensuring data is delivered on time, with the ability to troubleshoot when needed to prevent project delays.

• You\’ll share your knowledge throughout the company and help to train others.

• You will keep up to date with the latest technical developments in the field along with a competitive intelligence awareness.

What we\’re looking for

• You will have relevant industrial experience with a strong scientific background in one or more of antibody discovery, immuno-oncology or T-cell biology.

• You will bring experience of delivering cell-based assays and how they support drug discovery.

• You\’ll have the ability to communicate clearly and effectively with specialists from your own and other fields (e.g. data science, protein production, automation).

• You will have experience in progressing immuno-oncology drugs from discovery into preclinical/translational stages.

• You will have experience in delivering functional assay-based workpackages for IND/regulatory agency submission, including report writing.

• You will have experience in line managing teams (3+ FTE), where you will be the first port of call for any technical and personal issues.

• You will be working closely with the Head of Department to ensure adequate resourcing across the team and identify any clashes.

• Experience in Benchling would be an advantage.

In addition to the above, we are looking for people who will embrace, embody and enhance not only our company values – but also our mindsets which you can find detailed on our careers page:

What you\’ll receive from us

Aside from being part of our brilliant, purpose-driven team, you\’ll also enjoy:

Financial

• Discretionary performance-linked annual bonus
• A generous stock option plan
• 3x Salary Life Insurance with YuLife
• Health Shield Cash Back Plan on day-to-day health expenses
• 5% pension, with an additional top up on tax savings from us
• Free Will-writing Service

Health

• Private Medical Insurance, including dental and optical (currently with AXA)
• Discounted gym membership through either AXA or HealthShield
• 24/7 access to GP Services
• Access to the Cycle to Work scheme: to make your commute cheaper, healthier and a whole lot greener
• Easy access to the on-site gym and climbing wall to break a sweat or indulge your inner monkey available at competitive rates

Time-Off

• 25 days annual leave (plus the bank holidays)
• Up to 20 days paid sick leave (including mental health days – no questions asked)
• 3 days paid emergency leave so it doesn\’t eat into your relaxation time
• 1 week paid bereavement leave plus 1 day to attend a funeral
• 1 day paid for moving home

Wellbeing

• Employee Assistance Programme including access to coaching and CBT sessions

Team-building

• Weekly team lunches through Feedr.
• A programme of social events both company-wide and within your own teams

Diversity & Inclusion

We believe that diversity makes for innovative, exceptional teams.

We are an equal opportunity employer and do not discriminate based on gender, race, colour, religion or belief, national origin, age, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, or any other protected class.

If you don\’t feel like you meet every single requirement of this role, we still want to hear from you! We encourage you to apply, have a discussion with us about the role or others that we may have at LabGenius either now or in the future, together we can build more inclusive workplaces.