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Cradle is an AI-guided protein discovery and optimization platform used by clients across biopharma, biotech, agri-tech, food-tech, and academia. The company has ~100 employees, multiple years of runway, and offices in Amsterdam, Boston, and Zurich.
You will join the Large Libraries team as a Senior Scientist to drive development of novel high-throughput screening capabilities for protein-protein interactions. Your core mission is to develop innovative methods to screen protein variant libraries (e.g., antibodies) for measurement of protein interaction binding affinities, generate large-scale datasets that power Cradle's AI/ML platform, and enable customers to engineer better proteins faster.
Key responsibilities include:
**Method Development & Execution**
- Develop and optimize novel workflows for high-throughput protein-protein interaction library screening
- Build and optimize in vitro or cell-based assay pipelines across multiple display and screening modalities (yeast, phage, mRNA, ribosome display, mammalian display)
- Design, build, and execute molecular biology and biochemistry frameworks for library construction, screening, and data generation at scale
- Establish robust, repeatable assays with statistical rigor required for ML model training, evaluation, and optimization
**Technical Leadership**
- Drive and lead projects from experimental design through data delivery
- Identify opportunities to improve throughput, data quality, repeatability, and workflow efficiency
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams to troubleshoot complex technical challenges and iterate on solutions
**Cross-functional Collaboration**
- Partner with the ML team to define data requirements and integrate experimental outputs into the ML pipeline
- Communicate results, insights, and technical challenges effectively across disciplines
- Contribute to shaping the scientific direction of the Large Libraries team and advancement of the Cradle platform
The company emphasizes that missing one or two criteria is acceptable if you meet most requirements and can demonstrate groundbreaking work.
**Requirements:**
- PhD in biochemistry, molecular biology, biophysics, synthetic biology, bioengineering, or related field
- Demonstrated creativity in method development: you have invented or substantially adapted workflows, not just executed established ones
- Excitement to learn, contribute, and drive innovation in an early-stage startup environment; comfort with ambiguity and fast pace
- Strong verbal and written communication skills in English; proactive sharing of results, successes, and challenges in cross-functional settings
- Ability to run multiple projects simultaneously while ensuring process steps are documented and data are organized
**Nice-to-haves:**
- Large-scale DNA library construction methodologies (>10^6 variants)
- Display platforms experience (yeast, phage, mRNA, ribosome display, mammalian display)
- Flow cytometry and FACS
- Binding kinetic measurement techniques (SPR, BLI, ELISA, etc.)
- Next-generation sequencing library preparation, QC, and bioinformatic analysis (Illumina, Nanopore, PacBio)
- Statistically rigorous experimental design and data quality assessment
- High-throughput data analysis or scripting languages (Python, R)
- Classical high-throughput laboratory automation (robotic liquid handlers, plate readers, colony pickers)
