Associate Principal / Principal Scientist (Protein Science)

Position Overview:
We are seeking a highly motivated and experienced Principal Scientist in Bispecific Antibody Design & Engineering to establish and strengthen Singapore’s role as a center of excellence for complex antibody design and molecular engineering. In this role, you will serve as a functional leader in molecular design, format selection and recommendation, and engineering strategy while enabling improved expression, developability, and manufacturability. Additionally, you will play a key role in client-facing projects, ensuring seamless collaboration and delivery of high-quality biologics solutions. This position requires a blend of platform building, leadership skills, and the ability to build cross effectively.

Key Responsibilities:

Biologics Production Leadership:

• Develop, triage, implement, and troubleshoot innovative strategies for the design and engineering of complex antibody formats (bispecifics, multivalent, Fc-fusions, VHH). to achieve high yields, purity, and functionality.
• Design and manage a portfolio of projects to provide data-driven, structure-function insights to improve expression, stability, and manufacturability.
• Oversee a team of research associates and/or biotechnologists, providing technical guidance and fostering a culture of excellence in protein science methodologies.

Cross-Functional Collaboration:

• Collaborate with cross-functional and cross-cultural teams to support the development of biologics, with a focus on evaluate and translate new technologies into production-ready solutions.
• Periodically review internal and external advancements in:
  • Antibody formats and engineering strategies
  • Upstream and downstream integration impacts driven by molecule design
• Assess readiness of new technologies for tech transfer, including:
  • Fit-for-purpose application across different molecule classes
  • Scalability and reproducibility
  • Impact on quality attributes (aggregation, mispairing, heterogeneity)
  • Act as a scientific bridge between R&D innovation and operational deployment, ensuring:
    1. New platforms are not only scientifically sound but also translatable to production workflows
    2. Design decisions are aligned with manufacturing realities
  • Partner with internal stakeholders (e.g., Quality Assurance, Process Development, and Manufacturing) to ensure alignment and efficiency in biologics production workflows.

Develop design-for-manufacturability strategies and internal guidelines:

• Develop and integrate AI-assisted design-for-manufacturability frameworks, leveraging internal datasets and external computational tools (e.g., structure prediction, developability scoring) to proactively identify and mitigate risks such as aggregation, mispairing, and low expression in complex antibody formats.
• Lead or support AI-enabled design and innovation initiatives (internal and external partnerships, including governmental or consortium projects) by translating computational design outputs into experimentally validated constructs, and ensuring alignment between in silico design predictions and real-world expression, quality, and manufacturability outcomes.

Innovation & Intellectual Property:

• Generate novel ideas and contribute to the company’s intellectual property portfolio by drafting scientific papers, filing patents and reporting innovations in scientific forums.
• Contribute to the development of scientific publications, conference presentations, and webinars to showcase innovative findings and advancements.
• Prepare and review technical reports and documentation to internal and external stakeholders.

Qualifications and Preferred Skills:

• Ph.D., in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, Structural Biology, Bioengineering or a related field.
• At least 5 years of experience in antibody design, protein expression, and purification, preferably in an industrial setting.
• Strong expertise in bispecific design and troubleshooting expression challenges.
• A demonstrated record of success with protein engineering for enhanced protein expression or properties.
• Experience with the biophysical characterization of proteins and the assessment of protein-protein interactions.
• Familiarity with automation and high-throughput techniques for protein expression and purification.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with a wide ranging experience in analytical techniques such as SPR, and mass spectrometry.
• Excellent written and verbal English communication skills, with a track record of scientific publications, presentations, and conferences.