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 design, purifies, and characterizes novel protein therapeutics from early discovery to lead candidate selection. We develop new methods, technologies and processes to accelerate the advancement of multispecific pipeline programs and platform technologies. The Research Associate will provide hands-on support in early discovery phase and novel therapeutics optimization through design, production and screening of multispecific libraries.

This position will report to our Scientist in 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

• Design, plan and execute experiments to screen libraries of multispecific antibody-based therapeutics through activity assays.
• Participate in protein purification and analytical characterization of lead molecules.
• Assist in molecular biology workflows to design mammalian display libraries.
• Troubleshoot methods, suggest improvements and develop new technologies for project advancement.
• Write standard operating procedures for methods requiring significant technical understanding, data manipulation and calculations.
• Analyze data, draw conclusions and participate in cross-departmental activities.
• Maintain a clean, organized and operational lab.
• Conduct all activities in accordance with scientific standards, OH&S regulations and established policies and practices.
• Actively work to foster an environment of effective and collaborative working relationships across the organization.

Qualifications and Education

• A BSc in a relevant scientific discipline (biochemistry, immunology, etc.) and a minimum of 2-3 years related experience or a Master's degree with an equivalent combination of education and experience

Skills and Abilities

• Hands-on experience in flow cytometry, cell sorting, high-throughput assays and mammalian cell culture.
• Experience in molecular biology (e.g. PCR, cloning via restriction enzyme, Golden Gate or Gibson Assembly) and library preparation.
• Experience with the following techniques is an asset:
• Protein purification (affinity, protein A/G/L, IEX, and SEC).
• Protein characterization, (e.g. PAGE, CE-SDS, ELISA, SPR, BLI, KinExA, MSD, UPLC-SEC)
• Automation
• Ability to work collaboratively as a member of cross-functional team.
• Good organizational skills and the ability to work effectively in a high paced, fast changing environment. Result-oriented.
• 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.