Senior Scientist; Protein and Cell Sciences

Job Title: Senior Scientist; Protein and Cell Sciences 

Location: Cambridge, UK  

Salary: Competitive with excellent benefits! 

Introduction to role: 

Are you ready to turn recombinant protein design into therapies that change the way cancer is treated? In this laboratory-based role, you will deliver high-quality antigens that fuel our biologics discovery portfolio and help move promising ideas into the clinic. Your work will directly enable teams to evaluate novel modalities and make faster, better-informed decisions for patients. 

As a Senior Scientist in Protein and Cell Sciences, you will design, express, purify and characterize recombinant proteins that underpin antibody discovery and other biologics programs. You will use modern computational tools alongside rigorous experimental methods to ensure the proteins you produce behave as intended. Can you see your experiments influencing cross-functional strategy in real time? This is the bench where that happens. 

Accountabilities: 

• Recombinant Antigen Design: Apply computational structural biology (including AlphaFold and ProteinMPNN) to design target proteins that are fit-for-purpose for discovery and development. 

• Expression Vector Engineering: Design recombinant expression vectors using standard molecular biology techniques; optimize constructs for expression and stability. 

• Protein Production: Express and purify recombinant proteins using bacterial and transient mammalian systems (E.coli, HEK, CHO), building robust, scalable methods and standard operating procedures that improve throughput and reproducibility. 

• Functional Characterization: Develop and deploy assays to monitor protein expression, function and quality (e.g. SDS-PAGE, analytical SEC, ELISA, cell based assays, OCTET), ensuring integrity and suitability for downstream applications. 

• Data, Documentation and Insight: Make detailed observations, analyze data and interpret results; maintain rigorous electronic laboratory notebooks and databases to create a reliable evidence base for decision-making. 

• Collaboration and Communication: Report and present findings to project teams and the department; contribute scientific judgment that shapes early- and late-stage therapeutic programs. 

• Continuous Improvement: Troubleshoot experimental processes and apply automation in molecular biology and protein expression to reduce cycle times and increase consistency. 

Essential Skills/Experience: 

• BSc or higher degree with lab-based experience 

• Practical knowledge and demonstrable technical skills in molecular biology, cell culture, transient protein expression and protein purification 

• Computational structural biology knowledge enabling recombinant protein (antigen) design – use of AlphaFold, ProteinMPNN and related computational methods 

• Practical knowledge of developing and deploying assays to monitor/assess protein expression, function and quality (e.g. SDS-PAGE, analytical SEC, ELISA, cell based assays, OCTET). 

• Excellent communication, capable of developing good working relationships with individuals in team; experience working within a team environment 

• Ability to maintain accurate experimental records, databases and use/develop standard operating protocols 

• Demonstrable ability to troubleshoot experimental processes relating to protein expression and purification 

• Application of automation to laboratory processes in areas of molecular biology and protein expression 

Desirable Skills/Experience: 

• Experience designing recombinant expression vectors and producing proteins in bacterial and transient mammalian systems (E.coli, HEK, CHO) 

• Experience building robust methods and standard operating procedures for protein production 

• Experience developing assays for recombinant protein functionality and integrity 

• Experience with electronic laboratory notebooks and data systems 

• Experience reporting and presenting results to project teams 

• Experience collaborating with cross-functional colleagues and external outsourcing partners 

Why AstraZeneca: 

Here, science meets bold collaboration to deliver meaningful outcomes for people living with cancer. You will learn from diverse experts who blend academic rigor with industrial scale, working with cutting-edge computational tools and rich data to push biologics forward. We bring unexpected teams into the same room to unleash inventive thinking, value kindness alongside ambition, and empower individuals to take smart risks—so your contribution at the bench connects to real change in the clinic. 

So, what's next?