Associate Scientist/Scientist I, Protein Science Developability
Lila SciencesCambridge, Massachusetts, United States · Posted 1 month agoDescription
Your Impact at LILA
Lila Sciences is seeking an Associate Scientist/Scientist I specializing in high-throughput protein purification and analytics to join the Protein Sciences team within the Autonomous Science Platform. In this role, you will design, optimize, and execute protein purification workflows using chromatography systems, develop and validate bioassays, and apply mass spectrometry techniques to support protein characterization across Lila's autonomous laboratory platform. You will work at the intersection of protein sciences and laboratory automation, partnering closely with AI scientists, automation engineers, and cross-functional research teams to accelerate scientific workflows. Your expertise in protein analytics, method development, and data interpretation will directly contribute to the development of Lila's Scientific Superintelligence platform.
What You'll Be Building
- Design, develop, and optimize high-throughput protein purification workflows using AKTA chromatography systems (affinity, ion exchange, size exclusion) across diverse protein classes (antibodies, bi-specifics, multi-specifics, enzymes, etc.).
- Perform mass spectrometry-based analyses to confirm protein identity, assess purity, and characterize post-translational modifications.
- Develop and validate bioassays (binding, activity, and stability) to assess protein function and quality, ensuring assay robustness and reproducibility at scale.
- Identify opportunities to improve throughput, yield, and reliability of purification and analytical methods, and drive implementation of those improvements.
- Partner with automation engineers to integrate purification, bioassays, and analytical workflows into automated workcells and high-throughput platforms.
- Ensure data quality, documentation, and reproducibility in all experiments; actively contribute to knowledge sharing and continuous improvement initiatives.
- Collaborate with computational scientists to support data analysis pipelines, data processing, and the development of predictive models for protein characteristics.
What You'll Need to Succeed
- MS in Biochemistry, Biophysics, Bioengineering, Molecular Biology, or a related field with 4+ years of relevant experience, or PhD in a related discipline with 0-2 years of postdoctoral or industry experience.
- Experience operating AKTA chromatography systems for protein purification with proficiency across a wide range of chromatographic techniques (e.g. affinity, SEC, HIC, IEX, etc.), and the ability to develop, optimize, and troubleshoot purification workflows.
- Hands-on experience in LC-MS techniques for protein characterization, including intact mass analysis, peptide mapping, PTM identification, and glycosylation profiling, with exposure to interpretation of complex mass spectral data and troubleshooting instrument performance.
- Familiarity with assay development, optimization, and data analysis for bioassay techniques such as ELISA, AlphaLisa, SPR/BLI, and functional activity assays.
- Strong laboratory data analysis, digital recordkeeping (e.g., Benchling), and collaborative scientific workflows.
- Outstanding analytical and problem-solving skills with meticulous attention to data quality and reproducibility.
- Effective communication skills and an eagerness to collaborate within a fast-paced, cross-functional team.
Bonus Points For
- Experience working with laboratory automation platforms and high-throughput screening workflows.
- Familiarity with additional protein characterization techniques such as CE-SDS, SEC-MALS or DSF.
- Experience with data analysis tools (e.g., Python, R, or equivalent) and automating data workflows.
Compensation
We offer competitive base compensation with bonus potential and generous early-stage equity. Your final offer will reflect your background, expertise, and expected impact.
U.S. Benefits. Full-time U.S. employees receive a comprehensive benefits program including medical, dental, and vision coverage; employer-paid life and disability insurance; flexible time off with generous company wide holidays; paid parental leave; an educational assistance program; commuter benefits, including bike share memberships for office based employees; and a company subsidized lunch program.
International Benefits. Full-time employees outside the U.S. receive a comprehensive benefits program tailored to their region. USD salary ranges apply only to U.S.-based positions; international salaries are set to local market.
About LILA
Lila Sciences is building Scientific Superintelligence™ to solve humankind's greatest challenges. We believe science is the most inspiring frontier for AI. Rather than hard-coding expert knowledge into tools, LILA builds systems that can learn for themselves.
LILA combines advanced AI models with proprietary AI Science Factory™ instruments into an operating system for science that executes the entire scientific method autonomously, accelerating discovery at unprecedented speed, scale, and impact across medicine, materials, and energy. Learn more at www.lila.ai.
Guided by our core values of truth, trust, curiosity, grit, and velocity, we move with startup speed while tackling problems of historic importance. If this sounds like an environment you'd love to work in, even if you don't meet every qualification listed above, we encourage you to apply.
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.
Similar jobs
Est. 201,000 USD
Your Impact at LILA We are seeking a Senior Principal Scientist, Small Molecule Therapeutics to lead the protein science and structural biology strategy supporting small molecule therapeutics across Lila’s discovery plat…
Est. 99,000 USD
Your Impact at LILA We are seeking a motivated and detail-oriented Sr. RA/Associate Scientist to join our high-throughput Chemistry team. In this role, you will focus on hands-on high throughput experimentation, running…
Est. 150,600 USD
Your Impact at LILA Lila Sciences is seeking a highly skilled, hands-on Automated Systems Engineer to design, develop, and implement automation solutions across a broad range of laboratory workflows. Reporting to the Aut…
Est. 194,000 USD
Your Impact at LILA We're building an AI-driven drug discovery factory that closes the loop between computational design and wet-lab experiment in days instead of months. The bottleneck for that loop is data: every compo…
Est. 259,000 USD
Your Impact at LILA Lila Sciences is seeking a Research Engineer, Scientific Computing and ML/Physics Infrastructure to help turn promising research tools into robust, scalable systems. This role bridges research and pro…
Est. 178,000 USD
Your Impact at LILA The Senior/Principal Scientist, Small Molecule Therapeutics will lead early hit identification efforts, leveraging their expertise in DNA-encoded libraries (DEL) and complementary screening technologi…
Est. 195,700 USD
Your Impact at LILA Lila Sciences is seeking a highly skilled, hands-on Automated Systems Engineer to design, develop, and implement automation solutions across a broad range of laboratory workflows. Reporting to the Aut…
Est. 179,300 USD
Your Impact at LILA Lila Sciences is seeking a Computational Biophysics Scientist to help ensure that our AI agents can use biophysics tools in ways that are scientifically correct, reliable, and useful for drug discover…
Est. 192,000 USD
Your Impact at LILA Join us in shaping the future of science! We are seeking Senior Software Engineers with full stack experience to join our Scientific System of Record Team (SSR), where you’ll collaborate with software…
Est. 216,000 USD
Your Impact at LILA We are seeking a Staff Software Engineer to join our Scientific System of Record Team and help build the next-generation AI-driven scientific platform. You will focus on developing user interfaces, se…
Est. 240,000 USD
Your Impact at Lila Lila is building a platform where AI and automation co-evolve to solve the hardest problems in medicine. Within Life Science AI (LSAI), the Foundation Models team builds foundation models that learn a…
Est. 224,000 USD
Your Impact at LILA Join us in shaping the future of science! We are seeking Staff Software Engineers with backend experience to join our Lab Software Team (LaS), where you’ll collaborate with software engineers, lab sci…
Est. 177,000 USD
Your Impact at LILA Join us in shaping the future of science! We are seeking Senior Software Engineers with backend experience to join our Lab Software Team (LaS), where you’ll collaborate with software engineers, lab sc…
Est. 232,000 USD
Your Impact at LILA Lila Sciences is building the software platform that makes automated scientific discovery possible. At the heart of that platform is data: raw outputs from laboratory instruments, experimental model r…
Est. 124,000 USD
Your Impact at LILA Lila Sciences is hiring a Software Engineer to develop the next generation of Lab Instrument Integration Software, which is a foundational component of our AI-enabled laboratory. We are looking for se…
Est. 150,000 USD
Your Impact at LILA Join us in shaping the future of science! We are seeking a Software Engineer II with backend experience to join our Lab Software Team (LaS), where you’ll collaborate with software engineers, lab scien…
Est. 232,000 USD
Your Impact at LILA The Staff/Principal DevOps Engineer will drive the design, implementation, and optimization of our infrastructure and delivery platforms. This role bridges platform engineering, site reliability, and…
Est. 179,300 USD
Your Impact at LILA Lila Sciences is seeking a Scientist, Computational Chemistry, Drug Discovery to help guide, evaluate, and improve AI-driven drug discovery workflows. This person will bring practical computational ch…
Est. 192,000 USD
Your Impact at LILA Scientists shouldn't have to context-switch between a dozen tools to go from hypothesis to result. We're building the platform that makes this a reality — and we need engineers who want to solve probl…
Est. 216,000 USD
Your Impact at LILA Join us in shaping the future of science! We are seeking Senior Software Engineers with backend experience to join our Data Platform Team (Data), where you’ll collaborate with software engineers, lab…
Est. 220,000 USD
Your Impact at LILA Lila Sciences is hiring a Director of Product, Life Sciences (Chemistry): a strategic, cross-functional product leader who shapes the vision, roadmap, and execution for platforms that accelerate the d…
Est. 99,000 USD
Your Impact at LILA Lila Sciences is seeking a Senior Research Associate / Associate Scientist, Characterization to join the Materials Science team within the Autonomous Science Platform. This role focuses on operating,…
Est. 207,000 USD
Your Impact at LILA We are seeking a Senior Software Engineer to join our Applied AI group and help build the next generation of our AI-driven scientific platform. In this role, you will design and optimize the backend s…
Est. 276,000 USD
Your Impact at LILA Join us in shaping the future of science! We are seeking Principal Software Engineers with backend experience to join our Data Platform Team (Data), where you’ll collaborate with software engineers, l…
Est. 345,000 USD
Your Impact at LILA As Lila scales its AI Science Factories globally, the VP of Engineering will create and sustain an engineering model for a unified, scalable platform for autonomous experimentation. This role will be…
Est. 150,600 USD
Your Impact at LILA Lila's Research Operations team runs the automated lab workflows that power our science. As a Shift Supervisor, you own the reliable execution of those workflows across your shift, serve as the techni…
Est. 194,000 USD
Your Impact at 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 t…
Est. 276,000 USD
Your Impact at LILA Scientists shouldn't have to context-switch between a dozen tools to go from hypothesis to result. We're building the platform that makes this a reality — and we need engineers who want to solve probl…
Est. 129,000 USD
Your Impact at LILA Lila Sciences is seeking Platform Scientists, Soft Materials Focus to ideate, prototype, and transfer new experimental concepts for AI Science Factories targeting complex and soft material systems. In…
Est. 262,900 USD
Your Impact at LILA The Director, Molecular Discovery is responsible for ensuring our autonomous science platform reliably and repeatedly delivers validated small-molecule drug candidates against designated targets at in…