Job Description

We come from many countries, cultures, races, ethnicities, abilities and nationalities. We bring our passions including singing, biking, swimming, dancing, cooking, volunteering, parenting, coaching and much more! We are proud of our nearly equal balance of men and women and strengthened by our non-binary and transgender team members. Every employee belongs.

We offer challenging career opportunities, competitive benefits and an environment that recognizes and rewards performance.

Company Description

Zymeworks is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the discovery, development and commercialization of next-generation bispecific and multifunctional biotherapeutics, initially focused on the treatment of cancer. Zymeworks' suite of complementary therapeutic platforms and its fully-integrated drug development engine provide the flexibility and compatibility to precisely engineer and develop highly-differentiated product candidates.

Zymeworks is seeking a motivated professional looking to grow their career with our company. The Protein Engineering team produces, purifies, and characterizes novel protein therapeutics from discovery through to lead candidate selection and develops, optimizes and validates new methods, technologies and processes for delivering high-quality data to accelerate the advancement of pipeline programs and platform technologies.

The Research Associate will provide hands-on support for protein engineering efforts from discovery through to candidate selection of novel therapeutics. The ideal candidate will have a background in protein biochemistry and/or structural biology, be able to interact across functional groups, and capable of working in a dynamic and fast-paced environment.

This position will report to the Associate Scientist, Protein Engineering and will be based in our labs in Vancouver BC.

As a condition of employment, Zymeworks requires all employees to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and provide verification of such. To be considered fully vaccinated, all 3 doses are required.

Key Responsibilities

• Performs purification workflows to support research programs and projects
• Provides analytical and biophysical characterization of antibodies and other protein therapeutics, including designing, planning and executing experiments, either independently or in collaboration with teammates
• Analyzes and reviews data, draws conclusions and makes recommendations for future investigations.
• Troubleshoots methods and suggests novel and impactful changes.
• Writes procedures for methods requiring significant technical understanding, data manipulation and calculations. Identifies opportunities to improve existing methods and develop new technologies for project advancement.
• Participates in study design and plans experiments to advance program.
• Prepares written reports and analysis of complex experiments.
• Participates in cross-departmental activities and presents data.
• Seeks to understand ongoing projects through attention to scientific literature, industry publications and internally generated data and employs this understanding to improve contribution to project goals.
• Maintains a clean, organized and operational lab.
• Conducts all activities in accordance with scientific standards, OH&S regulations and established policies and practices.
• Actively works to foster an environment of effective and collaborative working relationships across the organization.

Qualifications and Education

• A BSc in scientific discipline and a minimum of 2-5 years related experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Good working knowledge and hands-on experience in any of the following areas:
• Protein analytics: PAGE, CE-SDS, HPLC-SEC, cIEF, HIC, Western Blotting, ELISA, MSD, DSC, DSF, DLS, MALS.
• Binding kinetics by one of the following methods: SPR, BLI, Kinexa.
• Protein purification (e.g. protein A/G/L, IEX, IMAC, and SEC) and familiarity with AKTA (FPLC) system.
• Proven interpersonal skills with the ability to work collaboratively as a member of cross-functional team.
• Demonstrated scientific analysis and problem-solving skills.
• Good organizational skills and the ability to work effectively in a high paced, fast changing environment. Results-oriented.
• Good critical observation skills and good statistical analysis capability.
• Good oral presentation and scientific/technical writing skills.
• Ability to present data at team and inter-departmental meetings.

NOTE TO EMPLOYMENT AGENCIES: Zymeworks values our relationships with our Recruitment Partners. We will only accept resumes from those partners whom have been contracted by a member of our Human Resources team to collaborate with us. Zymeworks is not responsible for any fees related to resumes that are unsolicited or are received without contract.