Senior Research Associate / Associate Scientist, Protein Science, Antibody Platform

Your Impact at Lila

Lila Sciences is seeking an experienced Senior Research Associate to join our Antibody Platform team. In this role, you will play a pivotal role in building Lila's Scientific Superintelligence platform by leveraging your deep expertise in high-throughput antibody discovery, production, and characterization.

What You'll Be Building

• Design, optimize and execute high-throughput workflows for antibody expression and purification. Drive platform evolution by identifying opportunities to improve efficiency, robustness, and scalability of antibody production.
• Collaborate closely with scientists, engineers, and automation experts to discover, evaluate and implement novel automation tools, technologies, and reagents to expand the Antibody Platform’s capabilities.
• Innovate and adapt protocols to accommodate new antibody formats, targets, and expression strategies.
• Analyze antibody yield and binding characteristics using biolayer interferometry (BLI) and other relevant techniques; interpret and communicate findings effectively.
• Ensure data quality, documentation, and reproducibility in all experiments; actively contribute to knowledge sharing and continuous improvement initiatives. Collaboration, flexibility, and creative problem-solving are key to thrive in this dynamic role.

What You’ll Need to Succeed

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Bioengineering, or related discipline with 2–5+ years of hands-on industry or academic experience.
• Proficiency with antibody expression in CHO-S, including DNA transfection, small-scale cell culture, and antibody characterization; ExpiCHO expertise strongly preferred.
• Experience using sequence analysis software for molecular biology workflows and annotating antibody sequences, specifically Geneious, Benchling, PipeBio, etc.
• Experience with liquid handling automation and high-throughput formats.
• Experience with biolayer interferometry (BLI) or surface plasmon resonance (SPR) quantitative binding assays, CE-SDS, and antibody developability assays.
• Outstanding troubleshooting skills, adaptability, and ability to drive innovation in experimental design.
• Familiarity with laboratory data analysis, digital recordkeeping, and collaborative scientific workflows.
• Strong communication skills and an eagerness to collaborate with a fast-paced, cross-functional team.

Bonus Points For

• Skilled in cloning, expression and optimization of multispecific antibody formats
• Data analysis using relevant software (Python, R, Spotfire, or similar)
• Scripting for automation platforms

About Lila

Lila Sciences is the world’s first scientific superintelligence platform and autonomous lab for life, chemistry, and materials science.  We are pioneering a new age of boundless discovery by building the capabilities to apply AI to every aspect of the scientific method.  We are introducing scientific superintelligence to solve humankind's greatest challenges, enabling scientists to bring forth solutions in human health, climate, and sustainability at a pace and scale never experienced before. Learn more about this mission at  www.lila.ai

If this sounds like an environment you’d love to work in, even if you only have some of the experience listed below, we encourage you to apply.

Compensation

We expect the base salary for this role to fall between $80,000 – $118,000 USD per year, along with bonus potential and generous early equity. The final offer will reflect your unique background, expertise, and impact.

We’re All In

Lila Sciences is committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, ancestry, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, gender identity or Veteran status.

Information you provide during your application process will be handled in accordance with our Candidate Privacy Policy.

A Note to Agencies

Lila Sciences does not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than candidates. The submission of unsolicited resumes by recruitment or staffing agencies to Lila Sciences or its employees is strictly prohibited unless contacted directly by Lila Science’s internal Talent Acquisition team. Any resume submitted by an agency in the absence of a signed agreement will automatically become the property of Lila Sciences, and Lila Sciences will not owe any referral or other fees with respect thereto.