Research Associate, Bioengineering

Ridge Biotechnologies, Inc

Job Description: Research Associate – Bioengineering

About Us:

Ridge Biotechnologies enables the development and construction of the next generation of precision medicines through enzyme and targeted therapeutic design. Using our powerful experimental and computational platform built on large datasets generated by cell-free synthesis, biorthogonal chemistries, and ever-improving machine learning models, Ridge is pioneering the design of new medicines and scalable production methods that enable our partners to bring life-saving therapies to patients in need. In recent months, we’ve secured multiple partnerships and launched our first product lines: NativeLink enzymes that provide precise and stable bioconjugation without modification of protein sequence, glycan, or disulfide bonds; ProTrigger protease-cleavable linkers that enable selective drug release in the tumor microenvironment; and novel enzyme-based Catalytic Medicines.

Ridge Bio's founders are industry veterans who have previously built successful biotechnology companies and academic leaders from top institutions including Stanford and Caltech with world-leading expertise in cell-free systems, therapeutic development, and protein engineering. We are backed by Sutter Hill Ventures, a quiet powerhouse that has been building successful companies since 1962 by focusing on bringing together great people to solve hard technological problems in big markets. Our company culture is dedicated to intellectual integrity, service ownership, and creative impact.

Role Description:

We are looking for a thoughtful and driven researcher with experience in high-throughput protein engineering, excellent hands in the lab, and strong problem-solving abilities to join our tightly knit team. You’ll work with brilliant scientists with complementary sets of expertise to solve challenging problems at the intersection of biochemistry, protein engineering, and therapeutic development, applying our NativeLink and ProTrigger technologies to advance therapeutic programs with our growing group of partners. An appetite for tackling new challenges and techniques, working flexibly across disciplines, and a pragmatic approach to protein engineering and analysis are a must. You’ll have the opportunity to consistently expand your skillsets from laboratory automation to bioinformatics as you help build new technologies and design then execute impactful projects working with scientists across the company. Level and compensation will be set by experience and previously demonstrated impact in highly related research.

Required Qualifications:

• At least a B.S. with 2-3 years of experience or an M.S. with 1-2 years of experience in biochemistry, chemistry, biology, bioengineering, chemical engineering, or a related discipline. Additional experience and demonstrated impact in highly related research are welcomed and will be reflected in level and compensation.
• Direct experience engineering functional proteins (enzymes and biotherapeutics) using high-throughput experimentation, protein synthesis and analysis workflows.
• Direct experience in protein and molecular biology techniques including DNA/RNA design, extraction, purification and quantification, cloning, PCR, transformation/transfection, protein production and purification workflows in various hosts.
• Direct experience with biochemical analytical techniques including electrophoresis, ELISA, enzyme activity assays, mass spectrometry, and methods for biophysical characterization of proteins.
• Demonstrated ability and drive to boot up, run, and report out on experimental assays in an interdisciplinary and fast-paced environment.
• Ability to work full-time hours at our San Carlos location with flexibility to complete time-sensitive projects.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience programming and setting up laboratory automation for high-throughput screening.
• Direct experience with chromatography equipment, including FPLC and HPLC.
• Direct experience designing, scaling, and ensuring regulatory compliance of bioprocesses for clinical-stage therapeutics.
• Direct experience developing and advancing protein therapeutics (such as antibodies, nanobodies, gene therapies, or enzymes) in an industry setting.

How you’ll contribute:

• Optimize, produce, and characterize large numbers of enzymes and therapeutic proteins in-parallel by on-boarding and implementing a variety of high-throughput and/or display based protein engineering methods.
• Document experimental designs and results; keep excellent records and data.
• Analyze experimental data to provide recommendations for the next experimental steps.
• Present and communicate experimental results to multidisciplinary team members.
• Work closely with our enzyme engineering team to achieve precise modification of protein therapeutics to ultimately develop more effective medicines.
• Assist in the development and filing of intellectual property on new protein engineering pipelines and discovered proteins and substrates.
• Accelerate the development, production, and analysis of cutting-edge therapeutic modalities.
• Develop and implement internal and partnership-based technology development projects on short timelines.
• Support the larger R&D team in various lab/day-to-day operations and activities.
• Collaborate closely with our computational team to build our sequence-function database used for continuous improvement of our enzyme and linker designs.

We offer a strong benefits package, competitive compensation, and an opportunity to work collaboratively with a top-notch team with diverse skillsets to solve challenging problems with wide impact in therapeutics. If you are a highly motivated researcher looking to apply your skills in high-throughput protein engineering to impact patients by helping to usher in the next generation of precision medicines in a fast-paced entrepreneurial environment, then this job is for you!