About the role

Since proteins are at Peptone’s core, your work contributes an essential basis for realizing our vision. We are looking for a versatile Scientist to provide us with recombinant proteins of high quality and purity, obtained from various expression systems (mammalian & bacterial) and by applying an array of different purification strategies. You bring a broad experience in developing and optimizing cloning, expression and purification strategies for various therapeutically relevant proteins and closely collaborate with the analytics and bioassays team. By actively managing timelines, project priorities and members of the protein production team, you make sure that we reach our goals. Your position goes along with the clear perspective to develop yourself into a strong scientific and management lead in the company. Being part of an interdisciplinary, creative and highly motivated team, you have plenty of opportunities to contribute your scientific skills and expertise that go beyond the production of proteins. You will be part of a highly collaborative, team-oriented and fast-paced startup environment with a strong commitment to deliver and in ways that cut across traditional industry boundaries.

What you’ll do…

You independently implement existing or you develop new expression protocols for recombinant proteins using both bacterial and mammalian expression systems.
Implement and develop purification strategies in lab scale and R&D format by creatively employing a wide variety of chromatographic strategies.
You closely work together with a technician and/or a second scientist for protein purification, give guidance and instructions and are actively planning and managing his/her capacity to reach project goals and timelines.
Handling and management of CROs for QC measurements using MS and other techniques.
You evaluate, interpret and present results and propose recommended actions.
You continuously and actively improve our processes for protein production.
You plan, scope, evaluate and implement solutions for a high-throughput protein purification facility.
You contribute to the generation of large protein variant libraries.
Take part in scientific discussions and implement recent scientific and technological developments in our lab.

What you Bring…

You have a Master or PhD degree with USP and/or DSP experience in the biopharmaceutical industry or are a postdoctoral researcher in a protein-biochemistry/structural biology laboratory.
Experience and in-depth technical knowledge of cloning, expression and purification of proteins with a commitment to quality and scientific rigor.
Strong hands-on experience in molecular cloning techniques, various expression systems (mammalian and bacterial) and protein purification strategies.
Both creativity and sound knowledge of generating and using various protein affinity tags and their removal.
Handling difficult protein targets and operating AKTA FPLC or similar systems feels like a second skin to you and is absolutely required for the position.
Experience in biochemical and molecular biology methods (e.g., ELISA, WB and enzyme assays).
Experience in the use of liquid handling robotics, high-throughput screening and high-throughput protein purification is highly beneficial.
Advanced cloning experience for library generation of protein variants is a clear plus.
Sound knowledge in protein chemistry.
Relevant industry experience is a big plus.
Ability to solve challenges creatively and a drive to contribute to the development of new and improved processes and strategies.
Strong computer, scientific, and organizational skills with a great attention to detail.
You enjoy mentoring, instructing and guiding team members to efficiently manage their capacity and align them with project goals.
Proactive, independent, structured and highly motivated approach to work combined with excellent problem solving skills and a great team spirit.
Desire to learn and operate across numerous functions to develop into a senior role.
Fluency in spoken and written English is mandatory. Fluency in Italian is a plus.
Creative and eager to solve scientific challenges and to broaden your expertise while coordinating your efforts with your team colleagues. Your open and friendly communication skills as well as scientific excellence will help to foster the welcoming and scientific working atmosphere in our group.

About Us

Peptone is a category-defining translational biophysics company focusing on the intersection of physics, biology and supercomputing. Currently, we are in the scale up phase, where our efforts go into building out our experimental lab capacity in Switzerland while growing the HPC and ML teams in the UK.

Our interdisciplinary team consists of physicists, biologists, computational chemists, software engineers and mathematicians. We have created a company culture that is based on scientific and personal integrity and a highly supportive, inclusive attitude. Our curiosity and drive stem from the shared passion to contribute to our scientific understanding of proteins and to translate these insights into reality by developing drugs that make people’s lives better.

Corporate Culture

Default to transparency. As individuals, we view transparency as a lifestyle of authenticity, respect, and honesty. As a team, we view transparency as an effective way to work remotely and establish a culture of trust.

Cultivate positivity. We strive to approach things in a positive way while realizing all emotions are valid. We encourage constructive feedback from team members and business partners to foster positive collaborations.

Show gratitude. We regularly stop and demonstrate gratitude for our circumstances. We are reverent to our team, investors, advisors, and commercial partners who believed in us from the beginning and will always use this as a guiding light to growth.

Practice reflection. We believe the act of introspection is where true learning and life-changing adjustments originate. We approach discussions intentionally and think through all angles.

Improve consistently. We are biased toward action and have a higher expectation of ourselves and of our technology than others have of us. We aim to be fully engaged in our work and activities, and fully disconnected when we’re not working.

Act beyond yourself. We consider the bigger picture, knowing our work goes beyond ourselves. We are not afraid of the less-traveled path if it holds true to our values and betters the world.

Build Sustainably. Sustainability is at the core of our technology, research, and team values. Oppenheimer’s supercomputer runs on 100% renewable energy and mitigates the need for traditional high-throughput experiments in our Swiss lab. Our team is incentivized and committed to growing a sustainable future and corporate culture.

Diversify. Diversity at all levels is paramount in translating biophysics to first in-class medicines while embracing the serendipity of science. Diversity in mindsets, gender, skills, backgrounds, and — because we are geeks, protein sequences — are key to building an impactful future for our patients.

Patient Passion. Our team is interwoven with a passion for understanding the “why” of protein drug failures to avoid them. The integration of the Oppenheimer platform with our Swiss pre-clinical laboratory is an unwavering commitment to developing first-in-class protein therapeutics for our patients.

Reverence to the giants. We embrace the fortitude and ingenuity of all the great minds and teams who advanced the field of protein biophysics to enable cutting-edge therapeutics. It is our honor to collaborate in this arena to pay homage to scientists who laid the very foundation.

Committed to our Corporate Culture to embrace diversity, Peptone Ltd and affiliates are Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action employers building a culturally diverse workforce. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race; color; creed; religion; national origin; age; ancestry; nationality; marital, domestic partnership or civil union status; sex, gender, gender identity or expression; affectional or sexual orientation; disability; veteran or military status or liability for military status; domestic violence victim status; atypical cellular or blood trait; genetic information (including the refusal to submit to genetic testing) or any other characteristic protected by law. We believe in an agile working culture for all our roles. If flexibility is important to you, we encourage you to explore with our hiring team what the opportunities are.

Our Mission

Delivering first-in-class medicines for better patient outcomes is our obsession. Translating biophysics of intrinsic protein disorder to generate de novo protein therapeutics is our passion.

What we bring…

A non-hierarchical environment where everyone has a voice to influence and shape the company’s future direction
An appreciative atmosphere with fair salaries, company benefits and top class working equipment
A highly dynamic environment with plenty of opportunities for career development
A highly skilled and interdisciplinary team that is passionate about proteins, science and business
A unique company giving you the opportunity to push the boundaries of biopharmaceutical drug development
A fast-paced company with novel science and academic rigor at its core
A company that values your contribution to scientific endeavor and supports presentation and publication of your novel discoveries
A flexible working setup to ensure a work-life balance

Scientist - Protein Purification