Research Associate II, Protein Engineering at Astellas in South San Francisco, California

Job Description:

Research Associate II, Protein Engineering

Do you want to be part of an inclusive team that works to develop innovative therapies for patients? Every day, we are driven to develop and deliver innovative and effective new medicines to patients and physicians. If you want to be part of this exciting work, you belong at Astellas!

Astellas Pharma Inc. is a pharmaceutical company conducting business in more than 70 countries around the world. We are committed to turning innovative science into medical solutions that bring value and hope to patients and their families. Keeping our focus on addressing unmet medical needs and conducting our business with ethics and integrity enables us to improve the health of people throughout the world. For more information on Astellas, please visit our website at www.astellas.com.

Astellas is announcing a Research Associate II, Biologics Engineering opportunity at their Xyphos site in South San Francisco, CA.

Purpose and Scope:

We are seeking a talented Research Associate to join our efforts in novel biologics discovery and engineering in Oncology Research. Successful candidate will lead our protein production cell culture activities and will be as key contributor in support of molecular biology, analytical characterization, and high-throughput screening/robotics development.

Essential Job Responsibilities:

• Leads cell culture and maintains established cell lines. Performs titer check with Octet, transfection and purification of recombinant proteins/antibodies using mammalian expression systems


• Supports molecular biology: Construct design, Gibson assembly, plasmid preparation, CRO management


• Performs experiments to characterize and QC proteins from both internal and external sources


• Implements / handles high-throughput (HTP) workflows from cloning, protein purification to characterization


• Designs and executes experiments independently with careful attention to detail, accurately records procedure/data/results in a timely manner and notes experiments/results that may be out of trend


• Interprets data and helps draw conclusion in the context of multidisciplinary project teams


• Helps manage internal DNA and protein database. Standardizes processes, documentation and reagent inventories


• Willingness to take on tasks and responsibilities as needed in a dynamic environment


• Collaborative mindset to work with global project teams