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Senior Scientist - Cell Biology

COMPENSATION: Competitive with share options available

LOCATION: The Schrodinger Building, Oxford Science Park, Oxford 

HOURS: Full-time

CONTRACT TYPE: Permanent 

NUCLEOME THERAPEUTICS, a fast-growing biopharma that is building a passionate, creative, and dedicated multi-disciplinary team of scientists with expertise in gene regulation, genomics, machine learning, drug discovery, data analysis and software development, whose mission is to decode and mine the regulatory “dark matter” of the human genome to transform drug target discovery and deliver first-in-class precision medicine for autoimmune diseases. We are building a rewarding and fun environment where people embrace creative ways of thinking, take smart risks, and feel empowered to make a difference.

The drug discovery team are looking for a talented senior scientist with a background in cellular pharmacology in primary immune cells to support the progression into the pipeline of the early biologics drug targets emerging from Nucleome’s proprietary platform technology. In this lab-based role you will design and develop primary and secondary assays for evaluation of early biologics drug molecules, engage in mechanism of action studies and support the progression of multiple asset programmes in early drug discovery. You will design and develop assays to test therapeutic hypotheses, investigate the pharmacology of tool and candidate molecules, and characterise the biological impact of drug molecules in ‘on target’ and ‘off target’ cell types. You will work with a team of experienced drug discovery scientists and have the opportunity to broaden your expertise and understanding of drug discovery. In your position you will work in close collaboration with other scientists across cross-functional teams and will have responsibility for delivery of defined studies. You will achieve visibility for your work by frequent presentation across team meetings and collaborative interactions.

What we are looking for

Essential Knowledge
  • Strong understanding of the principles of cellular immunology and pharmacology
  • Understanding of principles of cellular assay optimisation with the aim of ensuring required reproducibility and sensitivity in those assays, ideally from a drug discovery background.
  • Ability to design, execute and analyse cellular pharmacology experiments in primary immune cells independently.
  • Ability to interpret, summarise and communicate results and ideas effectively across multi-disciplinary teams and to company managers.
Essential Experience/Skills
  • PhD qualification in a relevant field (e.g., immunology, autoimmunity, or immuno-oncology) together with 3-5 year’s experience within a biopharma.
  • Extensive experience in handling primary immune cells for use in downstream assays. Research experience in an immunological disease therapeutic area.
  • Direct practical experience in conceiving, developing and performing multi-parameter flow cytometry, ELISA (ideally a multiplex system e.g., Luminex or MSD) and plate-based fluorescence assays.
  • Experience of analysing and presenting data using FlowJo and GraphPad Prism software.
  • Strong communication skills and ability to communicate complex ideas to specialists and non-specialists project and functional team meetings.
  • Ability to work independently as well as thrive working in a multidisciplinary team.
  • Experience mentoring other staff irrespective of reporting relationships or job title.
  • Flexible and co-operative approach to colleagues.
  • Ability to develop and improve new skills and knowledge necessary to successfully support assigned projects.
  • Strong organisational and time management skills to work on multiple projects simultaneously and prioritise and balance competing demands accordingly.
  • Ability to deliver high-quality, consistent results in a timely fashion.
  • A positive “can-do” attitude, with openness to new ideas and working flexibly in a highly dynamic environment.
Preferred experience
  • Experience of biochemical mechanism of action studies.
  • Experience in imaging/fluorescent microscopy.
  • Proficiency in laboratory techniques including Western blotting, immunohistochemistry and/or qPCR.
  • Experience in genetic manipulation assays CRISPR or RNA knockdown.
To apply please send us your CV at [email protected]. If you know someone who could be a good fit, please share this posting with them.
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At Nucleome Therapeutics equality, diversity and inclusion is really important to us. We welcome applications from all candidates irrespective of age, disability, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, religion or belief, or marital or civil partnership status.