Research (or Senior) Scientist - Antibody Discovery & Optimization

Make your mark for patients

We are looking for a Research (or Senior) Scientist to join us in our Antibody Discovery and Optimization team, based in our Slough, UK facilities.

About the role

Bispecific antibodies are bringing new treatment opportunities for immune-mediated disease by directly targeting immune cells to pathogenic cells driving disease. At UCB, we are using our novel and proprietary antibody discovery platform to generate diverse panels of high-quality antibodies for use in Bispecific Immune Cell Engager therapeutics. As a member of the Antibody Humanisation and Engineering team, you will engineer the antibody variable domains to ensure that they have the desired characteristics for inclusion in an immune cell engager therapeutic, including humanisation of antibodies derived from non-human sources so that they can be safely administered to patients, and engineering molecule properties to ensure they are suitable for manufacture as Bispecific formats. This exciting role is based at our UK site in Slough/Windlesham and offers the opportunity to bring your enthusiasm and expertise to design innovative solutions for the benefit of patients living with immune-mediated disease.

Who you'll work with

You will report to a Principal Scientist for Antibody Humanization and Engineering

What you'll do

• To design and engineer therapeutic antibodies for Immune Cell Engager projects (initially under supervision), to deliver candidate bispecific molecules into development.
• To clone and express antibodies in mammalian cell culture (CHO and HEK-293 cells) to provide material for assessment of activity, binding affinity etc.
• To screen candidate molecules for biophysical properties suitable for developability and manufacture as Bispecific antibodies.
• Using structural insights and computational methods, optimise antibody candidate sequences to improve their developability profile
• To analyse and interpret data to design next experiments.

Interested? For this position you'll need the following education, experience and skills:

• A PhD or experienced graduate with an interest in developing antibody-based therapeutics.
• A background in molecular biology, protein/antibody expression in mammalian cell culture and/or structural biology is desired.
• Experience of mammalian cell culture and transient expression methodologies is an advantage.
• Familiarity with structural visualization tools (eg. Pymol) would be an advantage.
• Previous experience in antibody cloning/engineering would be an advantage.
• An interest in applying automation and computational methods to enhance and accelerate antibody engineering technologies

Are you ready to 'go beyond' to create value and make your mark for patients? If this sounds like you, then we would love to hear from you

About us

UCB is a global biopharmaceutical company, focusing on neurology and immunology. We are over 9.000 people in all four corners of the globe, inspired by patients and driven by science.

Why work with us?

At UCB, we don't just complete tasks, we create value. We aren't afraid to push forward, collaborate, and innovate to make our mark for patients. We have a caring, supportive culture where everyone feels included, respected, and has equal opportunities to do their best work. We 'go beyond' to create value for our patients, and always with a human focus, whether that's on our patients, our employees, or our planet. Working for us, you will discover a place where you can grow, and have the freedom to carve your own career path to achieve your full potential.

At UCB, we've embraced a hybrid-first approach to work, bringing teams together in local hubs to foster collaborative curiosity. Unless expressly stated in the description or precluded by the nature of the position, roles are hybrid with 40% of your time spent in the office.

UCB is an equal opportunity employer. All employment decisions will be made without regard to any characteristic protected by applicable laws.

Should you require any adjustments to our process to assist you in demonstrating your strengths and capabilities contact us on EMEA- Please note should your enquiry not relate to adjustments; we will not be able to support you through this channel.