Scientist, Cell Biology & Antibody Engineering

Medra, San Francisco

The role

We are looking for a Scientist to join our team and to develop and execute antibody screening and characterization on the Medra Physical AI platform. You will support our tissue culture operations, design and run in vitro and cell-based assays to characterize antibody candidates, and contribute to building out the lab capabilities that make all of this possible — from new assay formats to the automated workflows that execute them at scale.

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Scientist, Cell Biology & Antibody Engineering

Medra, San Francisco

Posted pay

$135K–$170K

a year

Compared with similar jobs

This base pay is below the median for data science jobs in the Bay Area with no level in the job title.

Median: $174K a year
Other jobs in the group: 109

We compare the middle of each posted range. This is base pay as posted. The group does not include this job.

Location: San Francisco
Work type: Onsite
Level: Not given
Experience: 6+ years
Posted: Apr 30, 2026
Last check: 2 h ago
Job type: Data science

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Medra

Open tech jobs: 9
With posted pay: 100%
Median posted base: $142K–$207K

About Medra: funding, hiring and pay

Medra

About Medra: funding, hiring and pay

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The role

What you will do

Design, execute, and interpret antibody screening and characterization campaigns across the full funnel — from high-throughput primary hit triage through orthogonal confirmation
Develop and run cell-based binding and functional assays using flow cytometry to characterize antibodies, VHHs, and other binder formats
Run biophysical characterization on antibody candidates — including SPR and BLI for affinity and kinetics, and epitope binning — and interpret results to inform go/no-go
Execute developability assays to assess manufacturability and liability risks early — including thermal stability (DSF/DSC), aggregation and monomericity (HPLC-SEC), hydrophobicity (HPLC-HIC), polyspecificity/non-specific binding, and expression titer — and help triage candidates based on integrated characterization data
Maintain and engineer mammalian cell lines (e.g., Expi293, ExpiCHO, HEK293, CHO) and establish cell-based characterization and functional assays
Build out new lab capabilities end-to-end: scope the need, evaluate technologies, qualify instruments, write SOPs, and prepare validated workflows for autonomous execution
Partner with roboticists and software engineers to translate manual assay workflows into reliable, high-throughput autonomous protocols on the Medra platform
Maintain rigorous experimental records in electronic lab notebooks (ELN) and communicate results clearly to internal and external stakeholders

Let’s Talk If You Have

Ph.D. in cell biology, immunology, biochemistry, or a related discipline with 2+ years of industry experience, or a B.S./M.S. with 6+ years of deep, hands-on industry experience.
Strong background in mammalian cell culture and sterile technique, with a track record of maintaining healthy, reproducible cell lines for assay work
Deep hands-on expertise in flow cytometry, including high-throughput formats and panel design
Demonstrated experience designing and executing cell-based functional assays for antibody characterization (binding, potency, mechanism-of-action, or similar)
Working understanding of antibody structure, function, and the therapeutic antibody discovery process
Comfort establishing target-overexpressing cell lines and evaluating/implementing new assay technologies
Strong documentation habits, attention to detail, and the ability to drive multiple workstreams in parallel
A scrappy, can-do attitude — you figure things out and get things done

(OPTIONAL) Bonus Points If You Have

Experience screening antibodies against challenging target classes (e.g., GPCRs, ion channels, multi-pass membrane proteins)
Experience with alternative binder formats — VHHs, bispecifics, Fc-fusions, ADCs, or non-Ig scaffolds
Hands-on experience with lab automation and liquid handling platforms
Experience expressing and purifying antibodies in HEK293/CHO systems
Track record of developing and qualifying new assays or platforms from scratch

Scientist, Cell Biology & Antibody Engineering

The role

Scientist, Cell Biology & Antibody Engineering

The role

The team

What you will do

Let’s Talk If You Have

(OPTIONAL) Bonus Points If You Have

What We’re Building

Pay and benefits

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Medra

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