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BigHat Biosciences is seeking an experienced Director of Antibody Discovery to lead the company's antibody discovery and display function. This is a strategic leadership role responsible for setting scientific, technical, and multi-year team strategy while overseeing operational execution of display-based selection campaigns to identify and mature high-quality antibodies across diverse antigen types and formats.
Key responsibilities include leading the antibody discovery and display functions with strategic direction; managing routine execution of display-based selection campaigns to enhance affinity, developability, and function; building and mentoring a team of scientists in library design, generation, screening, selection, and optimization; expanding BigHat's antibody discovery technologies and capabilities, including new display methods, library design strategies, and computational approaches; providing scientific leadership to ensure antibodies possess strong functional and developability characteristics; collaborating with Protein Sciences, Data Science/ML, Engineering, and Platform groups for seamless progression from discovery through characterization; aligning display outputs with therapeutic program objectives; and fostering a collaborative, high-performance culture.
Required qualifications: Ph.D. in molecular biology, biochemistry, protein engineering, or related field with 12+ years of antibody discovery and engineering experience in academia, biotech, or pharma; 8+ years leading scientific teams; strong expertise with protein display systems (yeast, phage, mammalian, mRNA); demonstrated experience with antibody library design, construction, screening, and selection analysis; deep understanding of antibody structure-function relationships and antigen recognition mechanisms; experience integrating discovery workflows with downstream characterization and developability assessment; familiarity with computational or ML-enabled protein design; experience advancing biologics from early discovery through lead optimization; knowledge of diverse antibody modalities including multispecific and advanced formats; strong leadership and team-building skills; strategic thinking aligned with company goals; excellent cross-functional communication; comfort in fast-paced startup environments. Must work onsite 5 days per week.
