Post Job Free
Sign in

Scientist - Protein Chemistry

Company:
Planet Pharma
Location:
Redwood City, CA, 94063
Posted:
October 06, 2025
Apply

Description:

The Opportunity: Scientist, Protein Biochemist

We are seeking an experienced and creative protein biochemist to support our in-house protein chemistry team within the Structural Biology group. They will be responsible for purifying and characterizing small molecule protein targets to support screening pipelines, biophysical studies and structural biology. The ideal candidate will have a strong track record of leveraging internal and external resources to produce high quality proteins of therapeutic interest to support downstream in vitro assays and structural biology efforts. This role will report to the principal scientist leading protein chemistry and will have responsibility and visibility across the early discovery pipeline. This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced individual looking to work in a fast-paced, dynamic biotech environment. The candidate will have a range of responsibilities detailed below.

Expertise in all steps of the gene-to-protein process. Experienced in generation of high-quality recombinant proteins that are well characterized using biophysical and biochemical techniques.

Perform expression, purification (with and without affinity tags), and characterization of challenging targets to establish robust protocols that can be used internally or transferred to external (CRO) resources as needed. Ability to evaluate and establish protocols transferred in from external resources.

Develop robust and reproducible biochemical and biophysical assays to characterize enzymatic activity, protein stability, protein-protein interaction, etc.

Support protein chemistry by exploring new technologies, contribute to long-term activity planning and budgets, and maintaining modern instrumentation in the laboratory.

Communicate experimental design, results and timelines to cross-functional teams

Generate high-quality, reproducible data. Analyze and interpret data, keep organized and detailed records. Communicate findings to cross functional team members.

Partner and integrate with multidisciplinary, highly collaborative discovery teams to design, optimize, and produce reagents that play a critical role in structure-based drug design and screening

Required Skills, Experience and Education:

Ph.D. degree, MS +5, BS +7 years experience (or equivalent) in biochemistry, structural biology or related discipline, biopharmaceutical experience is a plus.

Expertise with expression of proteins and protein complexes using multiple host systems (e.g. mammalian, insect, bacterial).

Expert in designing, and optimizing DNA constructs for expression and purification of challenging targets.

Expert in protein purification using AKTA and multiple chromatography techniques (e.g. affinity, IEX, SEC, HIC).

Extensive protein biochemistry experience working with challenging proteins and multi-protein complexes.

Knowledge of protein structure and experience in the preparation of high-quality protein samples for assay (e.g. BLI, SPR, DEL, TR-FRET) biophysical (e.g. ITC, DSF, MALS, SLS, DLS, CD, anSEC, thermal melt, LC-MS) and structural studies (e.g. NMR, X-ray crystallography, Cryo-EM).

Creative and capable of developing new techniques and methods to drive science forward.

Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Ability to develop and optimize written protocols and document research progress.

Conscientious team-player interested in a fast-paced biotech environment.

Demonstrated willingness to learn and improve processes.

Preferred Skills:

Experience with mass spectrometry and sample preparation is desired.

Experience balancing CRO and internal resources to solve problems and drive progress is beneficial.

Clear examples of establishing new technologies to increase throughput in protein expression/purification.

Demonstrated collaborations with Structural Biology and/or Assay groups through publications and/or patents.

Experience with protein-protein complexes including antibodies/Fabs, molecular glues, PROTACs, etc. highly desirable.

Equal Opportunity Employer: We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We welcome and encourage applications from all qualified candidates regardless of race, sex, gender identity or expression, disability, age, religion or belief, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by applicable laws and regulations. It is our policy not to discriminate against any applicant or employee, and we are committed to fostering a diverse, inclusive, and respectful work environment across all locations in which we operate. We believe that diversity, equity, and inclusion are fundamental to our mission and enhance our ability to serve clients globally. If you have a disability or require any reasonable accommodations during the application or interview process, please inform your recruiter or contact us directly so that we can explore the appropriate arrangements.

Fraud Alert: Candidate safety is a top priority at Planet Pharma. The industry has seen an increase in people falsely representing themselves as recruiters to gather personal information from job seekers. For your safety, do not provide sensitive data to anyone you have not spoken with thoroughly, never provide banking information during the application process and always double check the email address of the Recruiter to ensure it's from an official Planet Pharma domain (@planet-pharma.com, @planet-pharma.co.uk, and @ppgadvisorypartners.com) and not a domain with an alternative extension like .net, .org or .jobs.

Apply