NOTE: This is a flexible term position dependent on project funding. Current funding is expected for at least 3 years.

We have an opening for a Biologist with expertise in Structural Biology, Protein Biochemistry, or Biophysics. We are seeking a life science staff researcher to conduct research and development in infectious disease research and countermeasure development for future pandemic preparedness. Successful applicants will actively participate in research to develop a pipeline for producing and testing biologic countermeasures, principally therapeutic antibodies. Positions are in the Microbiology/Immunology or Bionanomaterials group in the Biosciences and Biotechnology Division.

This position will be filled at either the SES.2 or SES.3 level, depending on your qualifications. Additional job duties will be assigned at the higher level.

In this role you will:

• Conduct fundamental research in biologic countermeasure production and characterization
• Design and produce DNA plasmids for recombinant protein expression
• Scale up and optimize recombinant protein expression, including expression with eukaryotic systems, for structural and biophysical characterization
• Assist in the development and optimization of parallel protein characterization assays, e.g., SPR, BLI, DLS, SLS.
• Optimize antigen: antibody complex purification and assist in crystallization screening and/or preparation for electron microscopy imaging
• Assist with protein crystallography and/or CryoEM imaging data collection and analysis
• Collaborate on research plans, generating and interpreting results, and contributing to progress reports and peer-reviewed journal articles
• Work with other scientists to expand programs for national preparedness against pandemic and other infectious disease threats
• Contribute to funding programs progress reports and participation in multi-institution program meeting and scientific conferences.
• Interact with a large interdisciplinary team of scientists, project and program leaders, and commercial partners
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Additional duties at the SES.3 level:

• Conceive, develop, and implement approaches for biochemical/structural/biophysical characterization of recombinant proteins, e.g. protein stability, solubility, binding specificity assessments
• Assist with analysis of crystallography and/or CryoEM datasets and complex structural model building
• Have frequent interactions with contract research organizations to explore and/or execute commercial complementation toward program goals.
• Publish research results in peer-reviewed scientific or technical journals and present results at external conferences, seminars, and/or technical meeting.
• Work with computational biologists and data scientists to inform computational design of biologic countermeasures.