Sosei Heptares (the corporate brand of Sosei Group Corporation) is a research-focused biotechnology group, publicly listed in Japan (TSE: 4565) and with sites in Tokyo, London and Cambridge (UK).

Our mission is to make a significant contribution to improving the quality of life and health of people around the world. To achieve this, we will discover, design and develop the most innovative and effective medicines for patients worldwide, through our world-leading patent-protected StaR® technology and platform.

Our primary focus is the discovery and early development of new medicines originating from our proprietary G Protein-Coupled Receptor (GPCR)-targeted StaR® technology and Structure-Based Drug Design (SBDD) platform capabilities. Sosei Heptares is a world-leader in the structure determination of GPCRs and has determined over 350 structures from over 40 different GPCRs. We are advancing a broad and deep pipeline of novel medicines across multiple therapeutic areas, including CNS, immuno-oncology, gastroenterology, inflammation and other rare/specialty indications.

We have established partnerships with some of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies, including Abbvie, AstraZeneca, Genentech (Roche), Novartis, Pfizer and Takeda; and additionally, with multiple emerging biotechnology companies.

Sosei Heptares has approximately 145 employees based at its new R&D research facility at Granta Park. The size of the company ensures a transparent linkage between all activities from early discovery through to clinical development

We are currently seeking a Phage Display expert to work with the Platform Technology team at Sosei Heptares. As a technical expert the successful candidate will set up phage display capabilities within the Protein Engineering team with the main focus on nanobody discovery to enable GPCR structure determination and drug discovery efforts. The candidate will be expected to work independently, and the role will include the following responsibilities:

• Design, construction and maintenance of high quality nanobody phage display libraries
• Screening phage display libraries against membrane protein targets
• Protein engineering of nanobody frameworks
• Cloning of plasmid constructs for expression
• Working closely with the Biochemistry and Biophysics teams responsible for the expression, purification and characterisation of selected nanobodies
• Supervision and training of other members of the team
• Careful documentation of experimental work

This is an exceptional opportunity to participate in pioneering science with an industry-leading Drug Discovery company.

Requirements

Our preferred candidate will have the following profile:

• PhD in a relevant area of biology
• In depth knowledge and experience of phage display technologies and screening techniques
• Experience of working with immunised libraries and preferably nanobody display
• Strong and evidenced molecular biology proficiency
• Proficiency in assay development and optimisation including HTRF-based assays
• Ability to work flexibly within a team, whilst being highly self-motivated and able to work independently;
• Analytical thinking and good problem-solving skills;
• Excellent organisational and time-management skills, including the ability to work to strict deadlines;
• Fluency in oral and written English is essential

Other skills that would be desirable:

• Experience working with other display technologies like yeast display, or ribosome display
• Experience in manipulating synthetic libraries of binding molecules
• Experience in handling purified membrane proteins
• Experience with and a working knowledge of GPCRs
• Experience in flow cytometry

The successful candidate will be employed by Heptares Therapeutics Ltd, a UK wholly owned subsidiary of Sosei Group Corporation.

We offer a competitive salary, commensurate with qualifications and experience, and benefits package including pension and healthcare schemes.

Sosei Heptares is an equal opportunities employer.

Applications should include a CV and covering letter, providing a short description of the background to their interest in the role. Please apply through our on-line jobs portal with your application in pdf format, quoting reference number 2021-SS-3PE.

The closing date for applications is 28th February 2022

Sosei Heptares does not accept speculative or unsolicited CVs from agencies. All speculative or unsolicited CVs submitted without an agreement in place will be considered Sosei Heptares' property and will not obligate us to pay a referral fee.