Principal Scientist, Protein Biochemistry Full-time

Protein Biochemist

The Protein Biochemistry team at the GSK Vaccines R&D Center in Cambridge, MA is seeking an enthusiastic and highly motivated Protein Biochemist to join the team supporting vaccine and infectious disease-related initiatives. As a Principal Scientist, you will provide deep subject-matter expertise and hands-on leadership in high-throughput protein expression, purification, and biochemical/biophysical characterization, while shaping technical strategy, mentoring scientists, and influencing project direction at the portfolio level. This role requires close collaboration with cross-functional partners across disciplines, sites, and geographies to ensure protein reagents, data, and workflows are aligned with program goals and timelines.

You will be expected to use and maintain a scientifically current, state-of-the-art laboratory environment, introduce new methods and protocols related to your area of expertise, and drive improvements in throughput and reproducibility. You will help identify opportunities for automated or semi-automated solutions, contribute to workflow design and method development, and ensure experimental data and metadata are captured in a structured, reusable way. You will perform complex data interpretation tasks and make effective decisions that influence project direction. Your critical thinking skills will be crucial. You will need to anticipate problems, proactively seek solutions, and use your scientific expertise to solve project-related problems.

You will be expected to operate with a high degree of scientific independence, proactively identify and address technical risks, and introduce innovative approaches that elevate the performance, scalability, and impact of protein biochemistry workflows across the organization, including identifying opportunities to increase throughput and reproducibility and driving fit-for-purpose solutions from prototype to routine use. Your multicultural responsibilities will also be part of the role. You will need to interact with scientists based in other centers or countries, ensuring that you can access the most up-to-date knowledge and capabilities to efficiently fulfill your missions.

Key Responsibilities:

• Design, optimize, and execute scalable, high-throughput protein expression strategies across multiple host systems (including bacterial, mammalian, and insect platforms) to support vaccine discovery and development programs.
• Develop, standardize, and refine robust protein purification pipelines using chromatographic techniques such as affinity, ion exchange, and size exclusion chromatography, with a focus on reproducibility, efficiency, and pipeline reuse across projects.
• Implement high-throughput and parallelized expression and purification workflows (e.g., plate-based approaches, automated chromatography where available) to rapidly evaluate constructs, optimize conditions, and enable timely delivery of high-quality protein reagents to downstream teams.
• Identify and implement automation or semi-automation opportunities across protein production and characterization (e.g., plate-based workflows, liquid handling where available, automated chromatography), supporting method development, robustness, and adoption while keeping scientific goals, data quality, and timelines in focus.
• Perform high-throughput biochemical and biophysical characterization of purified proteins to assess purity, homogeneity, stability, and functionality, enabling data-driven decisions on construct and workflow progression.
• Deliver consistent, well-characterized protein reagents to support biophysical, structural biology, and in vivo studies, ensuring seamless integration with downstream experimental pipelines.
• Manage and interpret complex experimental datasets generated across expression, purification, and characterization workflows, and translate results into clear scientific conclusions that guide project direction.
• Introduce and implement new methods, protocols, and workflow improvements to enhance throughput, data quality, and operational efficiency within a state-of-the-art laboratory environment.
• Document experimental workflows and results thoroughly, ensuring appropriate quality control, reproducibility, and intellectual property support, and enabling reagent and method reuse by other groups.
• Collaborate closely with cross-functional and geographically distributed teams to align protein production strategies with broader project needs and timelines, contributing effectively to multidisciplinary vaccine R&D efforts.
• Author, present, and communicate scientific findings and workflow updates through internal reports, project meetings, and external scientific forums as appropriate.

Basic Qualifications:

• PhD with 3+ years of experience in biochemistry, molecular biology, protein chemistry, structural biology, or a related field
• 3+ years of experience in protein expression and production, with a demonstrated ability to define, design, and oversee complex, multi-step experimental strategies supporting end-to-end protein pipelines across multiple programs.
• 3+ years of experience in protein purification and advanced biochemical/biophysical characterization, including critical evaluation of purity, homogeneity, stability, and activity, with an emphasis on robust, reusable and scalable workflows.
• Experience implementing high-throughput and automation-enabled approaches in protein workflows (e.g., plate-based sample prep, liquid handling where available, automated chromatography, instrument integration, ELN/LIMS-enabled workflows) to improve throughput, reproducibility and data quality.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Substantial industrial research experience in protein biochemistry, structural biology, molecular biology, computational biology, or related disciplines, particularly within pipeline-driven, multi-project, or portfolio-based research environments.
• Hands-on experience leveraging and/or partnering to implement automated or semi-automated laboratory workflows (e.g., liquid handling, automated chromatography, plate-based assay workflows), including troubleshooting, method transfer, and user adoption.
• Advanced working knowledge of biophysical and analytical techniques used to characterize proteins at scale (e.g., mass photometry, mass spectrometry, differential scanning fluorimetry, HPLC/SEC, DSC, ITC, BLI, SPR), with a track record of using these data to guide construct strategy, workflow optimization, and program decisions.
• Demonstrated experience leading or setting direction for workflow optimization, method development, and protocol standardization, resulting in measurable improvements in throughput, data quality, and reproducibility across teams or functions.
• Proven ability to manage scientific uncertainty, competing priorities, and aggressive timelines while maintaining strategic focus, scientific rigor, and delivery accountability.
• Clear evidence of technical and/or project leadership, including mentoring and developing scientists, owning key capabilities or platforms, and serving as a primary scientific contributor to multiple stakeholders.
• Exceptional oral and written communication skills, with the ability to influence, align, and represent protein biochemistry strategy and results to internal leadership and external scientific audiences.
• Proven experience using, maintaining, and strategically advancing laboratory instrumentation and capabilities relevant to protein expression, purification, and characterization in a state-of-the-art research environment.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to synthesize complex datasets, assess technical risk, and drive data-informed decisions that influence project and portfolio direction.
• Demonstrated ability to work with a high degree of scientific independence while providing technical leadership and direction within cross-functional, multidisciplinary teams.