Director, Recombinant Antibodies & Services in London

Vector Laboratories is seeking a talented and highly motivated individual to join our growing team. As an organization known for its culture of service, reliable products and unmatched technical expertise, our employees are passionate about the impact and quality of their work. The opportunities we provide to work collaboratively and build trusting relationships in a team-oriented environment make Vector Laboratories an ideal place to learn, flourish and contribute to scientific advancement. We genuinely value diverse perspectives and ideas and strive to demonstrate how this approach results in success. With 50 years of history, Vector Laboratories boasts an unparalleled reputation in protein labeling, detection, and conjugation. Our recent mergers and acquisitions have significantly expanded our portfolio, serving the biopharma industry, academia, life science tools, and diagnostics, providing comprehensive solutions to the life science industry. Our recombinant antibody platform combines a catalogue of recombinant antibodies with custom antibody engineering, expression, and manufacturing services for research and preclinical customers worldwide. We are looking to take Vector Laboratories to new heights and hope you’ll consider joining our globally impactful team!
Job Summary
The Director, Recombinant Antibodies & Services is a dual-mandate senior scientific leader who owns two interconnected platform businesses at Vector Laboratories: the Antibody-Drug Conjugate (ADC) capability build at the Wilton, UK site, and the recombinant antibody and custom protein engineering services platform. Internally, the role sets the technical direction for both platforms — owning the ADC conjugation chemistry, analytics, and cytotoxic payload facility build, and driving the forward capability roadmap that keeps the recombinant antibody platform competitive in a crowded custom services market. At the bench, it is the protein engineer who converts client molecule requirements into a complete production design package for the Operations team to deliver. Externally, the role is the commercial subject matter expert and Vector Laboratories’ senior scientific voice — the scientist customers and prospects speak to when a project is technically complex — converting deep protein engineering expertise into won business and successfully delivered projects. Bridging these, the role contributes to strategic direction, partnering with the CSO, Product Marketing, and Corporate Development to identify where capability gaps sit and whether they are best closed by building internally, partnering, licensing, or acquiring. This is a hands‑on, senior role for a scientist equally comfortable leading a platform build, on a technical sales call, at the design bench, in a troubleshooting session with manufacturing, and in front of a conference audience. The role leads a small R&D team (2–5 scientists).
This position reports to the Chief Scientific Officer.
Competencies Identified for Success
Deep, personally owned expertise in conjugation chemistry, linker design, and ADC CMC; able to build and scale a platform from the ground up including facility setup, SOP development, and QC release specifications.
Demonstrated expertise in antibody engineering, including formats, isotypes and species variants, Fc engineering, tagging strategies, and multi‑specific architectures; hands‑on mammalian (CHO/HEK) expression expertise; able to design complex biologics to a defined client requirement, advise customers, and troubleshoot across the full expression and manufacturing workflow.
Platform Build & Scientific Execution
Proven ability to build and scale technical platforms from the ground up; translates R&D priorities into capability investments, SOPs, and measurable performance improvement across expression yields, cost per project, turnaround time, and throughput.
Credible senior scientific voice with customers, KOLs, and partners; comfortable on a technical sales call and at a conference podium; converts deep scientific expertise into commercial outcomes and successfully delivered projects.
Strategic Influence & Cross‑Functional Leadership
Partners across CSO, Product Marketing, and Corporate Development to shape the platform roadmap and close capability gaps through build, partner, or acquire decisions; influences without direct authority across UK, EU, and US‑based colleagues.
Scientific Content & External Representation
Produces scientific content including case studies, application notes, posters, and conference presentations; represents the company externally and brings back competitive and market intelligence to inform strategy.
Leads, mentors, and develops a small R&D team of scientists, and raises the collective standard of molecule design and troubleshooting across the wider technical organization.
Responsibilities
ADC Platform Build & Technical Leadership
Own the ADC capability build at the Wilton, UK site, including the linker portfolio, site‑specific conjugation chemistry, and supporting HIC, CEX, and LC‑MS analytics.
Direct DAR (drug‑to‑antibody ratio) determination and peptide mapping workstreams in support of ADC characterization.
Build and operate cytotoxic payload facilities, including authorship and ownership of SOPs and QC release specifications.
Manage cellular pharmacology technical partnerships.
Lead Phase 4 commercialization of the ADC platform across Vector’s four client tiers.
Partner with the Chief Scientific Officer on the broader Technical Development strategy and roadmap.
Serve as the senior scientific authority for the recombinant antibody and custom protein engineering services platform, setting technical direction and aligning R&D, manufacturing, product, and commercial teams behind it.
Support prospective clients through technical and commercial calls across all territories — understanding their requirements and advising on molecule and antibody design, formats, tagging strategies, mutations, and optimal bioprocessing approaches to increase their probability of success, including achieving high yields and purities.
Partner with global sales teams, with particular focus on the UK and Europe, to develop strategies that attract new business and expand the customer base, including target