Scientific Lead, Biophysics - Eli Lilly and Company

At Lilly, we unite caring with discovery to make life better for people around the world. We are a global healthcare leader headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. Our employees around the world work to discover and bring life-changing medicines to those who need them, improve the understanding and management of disease, and give back to our communities through philanthropy and volunteerism. We give our best effort to our work, and we put people first. We’re looking for people who are determined to make life better for people around the world.

About Loxo@Lilly

Loxo@Lilly aims to create medicines that make life better for all those affected by cancer around the world. Bringing together the focus and spirit of a biotech with the scale, resources, and heritage of Lilly, our team is focused on rapidly delivering impactful new medicines for people with cancer. Our approach centers on creating oncology medicines that unequivocally show early signs of clinical activity and will matter to patients. We intend to curate a balanced pipeline of medicines, either internally or externally discovered, with the potential to treat cancer with dramatic effect. Loxo@Lilly was created in December 2019, combining the Lilly Oncology organization and Loxo Oncology, which was acquired by Lilly in early 2019. Loxo@Lilly is a global organization with team members in Louisville, Colorado; Indianapolis, Indiana; New York City, New York; San Diego, California; South San Francisco, California; Stamford, Connecticut; and Madrid, Spain.

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Position Summary:

This position is an opportunity to learn and grow within a dynamic chemical biology team that supports early molecule discovery. Our multidisciplinary team combines medicinal chemistry, biophysics, structural biology, and enzymology to identify molecular leads that result in targeted oncology therapeutics. We are seeking a cross-functional Biochemist/Biophysicist that will immediately contribute to the early molecule discovery team. This role centers around contributions to efforts in both bioconjugation, as well as protein biophysical characterization. Responsibilities of this position include optimizing the conjugation and purification procedures for a variety of biologics and linkers, performing bioanalytical analyses on the resulting conjugates, and biophysically characterizing protein-protein and protein-ligand interactions.

*Roles and Responsibilities of the Position:

• Develop and optimize conjugation schemes to achieve the required product specifications.
• Biophysical characterization of proteins and conjugates (e.g., UV/VIS spectrophotometry, DLS, SEC-MALS, Tm or Tagg determination)
• Perform the following bioconjugation procedures; 1) Antibody and recombinant protein isolation and purification, 2) Purification of antibodies and conjugates using various liquid chromatography methods (IEX, SEC, HIC); 3) Antibody and conjugate validation via various functional tests, 4) Biophysical characterization of proteins and conjugates (e.g., UV/VIS spectrophotometry, DLS, SEC-MALS, native mass-spectrometry Tm or Tagg determination)
• Characterize protein-ligand and protein-protein interactions by a variety of methods including but not limited to; Intact protein and peptide-based mass spectrometry, native mass spectrometry, fluorescence spectroscopy, SPR, BLI, and DSF.
• Biophysically characterize protein samples destined for multiple workflows.
• Independently learn and develop technical expertise in protein biochemical and biophysical characterization across multiple platforms which may lay outside current skill set.
• Develop and continually advance one’s knowledge base on genetically targeted drugs and structure-based drug design.
• Collaborate closely with senior scientists to accomplish team objectives and research milestones.
• Adapt to highly dynamic project priorities, with diligent and rapid communication of scientific results and insights to the team, including maintaining an ELN and uploading data to the database.
• Communicate and effectively collaborate with vendors, contractors, CRO’s, and internal and external collaborators.
• Maintain scientific equipment either through direct maintenance or working with third-party service contractors.
• Present results in a variety of avenues such as group meetings, team meetings, 1-on-1 meetings, etc.
• Perform all work in compliance with Lilly Research Policies.

Required Qualifications:

• PhD in Biochemistry, Chemical Biology, or a related field required.

• 4+ years of relevant experience in biochemical and biophysical characterization of proteins.
• Working knowledge of chemical labeling workflows including a variety of labeling methodologies and downstream biophysical characterization of labeled products.
• Expertise in evaluating protein-protein and protein-small molecule interactions using SPR/BLI (e.g., Biacore or Octet), FRET based technologies (e.g., Lanthascreen), or other relevant technologies.
• Expertise in assay development for HPLC, mass spectrometry, and SEC-MALS.
• Highly organized with excellent analytical, documentation and multi-tasking skills.
• Proven ability to work in a flexible, team-oriented environment.

Additional Preferences:

• Practical knowledge of protein purification and construct design.
• Excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to communicate and interact well with colleagues at all levels.
• Committed to staying current with the latest scientific breakthroughs in structure-based drug design and biophysical analysis.
• Other methods of enzymology/biophysical characterization and structural biology are a plus.

Lilly (Eli Lilly and Company) currently anticipates that the base salary for this position could range from between $94,500-178,200 and will depend, in part, on the successful candidate’s qualifications for the role, including education and experience. Full-time equivalent employees also will be eligible for a company bonus (depending, in part, on company and individual performance). In addition, Loxo@Lilly (Eli Lilly and Company)  offers a comprehensive benefit program to eligible employees, including eligibility to participate in a company-sponsored 401(k); pension; vacation benefits; eligibility for medical, dental, vision and prescription drug benefits; flexible benefits (e.g., healthcare and/or dependent day care flexible spending accounts); life insurance and death benefits; certain time off and leave of absence benefits; and well-being benefits (e.g., employee assistance program, fitness benefits, and employee clubs and activities).Of course, the compensation described above is subject to change and could be higher or lower than the range described above. Further, Loxo@Lilly (Eli Lilly and Company) reserves the right to amend, modify, or terminate its compensation and benefit programs in its sole discretion and Loxo@Lilly (Eli Lilly and Company) compensation practices and guidelines will apply regarding the details of any promotion or transfer of Loxo@Lilly (Eli Lilly and Company) employees.

Physical Demands/ Travel:

The physical demands of this job are consistent with light lab duties (e.g., the ability to move solvent and waste bottles, gather packages received, etc.); anticipate occasional travel (less than 10% annually).

The physical demands here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

Work Environment:

This position’s work environment is based primarily in a wet lab, with some data analysis and documentation in an office environment.

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job.

*To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each role and responsibilities satisfactorily. The requirements listed above are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions

Eli Lilly and Company, Lilly USA, LLC and our wholly owned subsidiaries (collectively “Lilly”) are committed to help individuals with disabilities to participate in the workforce and ensure equal opportunity to compete for jobs. If you require an accommodation to submit a resume for positions at Lilly, please email Lilly Human Resources ( Lilly_Recruiting_Compliance@lists.lilly.com ) for further assistance. Please note This email address is intended for use only to request an accommodation as part of the application process. Any other correspondence will not receive a response.

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