Scientist/Sr. Scientist/Principal Scientist/Sr. Principal Scientist, AAV Enginee

At QLD Biotherapeutics, we develop cell and gene therapies using innovative technologies to treat devastating diseases. We are seeking a highly motivated individual to join the AAV development team, focusing on novel AAV engineering.

This position, with the title to be determined based on your experience, offers an excellent opportunity to work closely with an experienced drug discovery and development team and lead early-stage vector engineering platform development in a fast-paced and highly collaborative environment. The successful candidate will lead the efforts to design, generate, and screen novel AAV capsid variants to enhance gene delivery efficiency, specificity, and safety. This role requires deep expertise in molecular biology, virology, and high-throughput screening techniques.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Design and construct novel AAV capsid variants using rational design, directed evolution, machine learning, and other techniques.
• Optimize capsid properties to improve tissue tropism, immune evasion, and transduction efficiency.
• Lead the design, optimization, and execution of in vitro assays to validate and characterize novel constructs
• Establish in vitro assays to support research activities
• Work closely with the Team Lead to plan and execute key studies in-house and at CRO
• Present experimental designs, results and interpretations in group meetings, project team meetings and/or departmental meetings.
• Maintain detailed records of experiments in the form of electronic lab notebook (eLN) and study reports.

Qualifications:

• PhD with 5+ years of experience in Molecular Biology, Cell Biology, or Biomolecular Engineering.
• Expertise in AAV virology.
• 2+ years of hands-on experience in AAV capsid engineering, including the design and construction of capsid libraries.
• Extensive experience in data mining and bioinformatics.
• Strong problem-solving capabilities.
• Excellent organizational and communication skills with the ability to collaborate effectively.