Senior Scientist, BioScience, In-vitro Discovery and Data Scientist Full-time

In Vitro Discovery Platforms Group

At AstraZeneca, we pride ourselves on crafting a collaborative culture that champions knowledge-sharing, ambitious thinking, and innovation – ultimately providing employees with the opportunity to work across teams, functions, and even the globe.

Recognizing the importance of individualized flexibility, our ways of working allow employees to balance personal and work commitments while ensuring we continue to create a strong culture of collaboration and teamwork by engaging face-to-face in our offices three days a week. Our head office and BlueSky Hub in downtown Toronto are purposely designed with collaboration in mind, providing space where teams can come together to strategize, brainstorm, and connect on key projects.

Our dedication to sustainability is also central to our culture and part of what makes AstraZeneca a great place to work. We know the health of people, the planet, and our business are interconnected which is why we're taking ambitious action to tackle some of the biggest challenges of our time, from climate change to access to healthcare and disease prevention.

Join AstraZeneca's In Vitro Discovery Platforms group within the Biologics Engineering department, where we are pushing the boundaries of science to deliver life-changing medicines. Our passion for discovery drives us to explore novel therapeutic approaches across various diseases, including Oncology, Respiratory, Inflammatory, Cardiovascular, and Infectious diseases. As part of our collaborative network, you will have the opportunity to engage with new and exciting technologies that are transforming patient care. As a key team member, you will plan and execute experiments focused on isolating, engineering, and characterizing antibody and antibody-like therapeutics. Collaborate with scientists to develop research plans, conduct in vitro discovery campaigns, analyze and extract data (NGS and Genedata Biologics entries), and present findings to project teams and the department. Your strong work ethic, organizational skills, and communication abilities will be essential in driving success.

Key Responsibilities:

• Complete wet-lab experiments (80%) and data analysis for hit selection and characterization (20%)
• Independently design and execute discovery campaigns using phage and yeast-display technologies
• Recover yeast plasmids and prepare samples for NGS data generation
• Analyze NGS data with appropriate software, e.g. Geneious Biologics/MixCR, and select hit lists for small scale antibody production
• Contribute to technology platform builds and streamline discovery workflows using phage/yeast display VH, scFv, and Fab libraries
• Interpret and present data as a lead scientist/co-lead in the context of multidisciplinary project teams
• Work within a matrixed environment across multiple groups

Education, Experience & Skills:

• Master's Degree in Biochemistry, Data Science, or related fields with 7+ years of proven experience in industry (preferred) or academia
• Doctoral Degree with 0-2 years of proven experience in industry (preferred) or academia
• Familiarity with handling large datasets; data science skills including coding and script writing
• Extensive and current hands-on experience with phage and yeast-display technology for antibody discovery
• Proven hands-on experience with sample prepping for NGS data generation and sequence analysis
• Experience in Sanger sequence analysis, protein expression and purification, ELISA, flow cytometry, and tissue culture
• Ability to work independently and in a team setting
• Self-motivated, diligent, and flexible in accommodating shifting priorities
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, both oral and written, with supervisor, team, and various cross-functional project team members
• Maintain accurate and well-organized laboratory records, including worksheets, lab notebooks, inventories, and databases
• Experience working with various antibody formats including VHH, scFv, and Fab
• Transfection/electroporation, culturing, and expansion of mammalian cells
• Experience with electronic notebook keeping and data entry using Genedata Biologics

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Are you interested in working at AZ, apply today! AstraZeneca is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to diversity and inclusion and providing a workplace that is free from discrimination. AstraZeneca is committed to accommodating persons with disabilities. Such accommodation is available on request in respect of all aspects of the recruitment, assessment, and selection process and may be requested by emailing AZCHumanResources@astrazeneca.com.