Scientist I/II - In Vitro Safety

About the Company

T-Therapeutics is a next-generation T cell receptor (TCR) T cell engager (TCE) company developing novel therapeutics. The company harnesses T cell biology to create safe and effective treatments for cancer and autoimmune disease. The company is developing a pipeline of first-in-class drugs that are intended to become transformative medicines, reshaping the clinical landscape for patients with cancer or autoimmune diseases.

A venture backed company, T-Therapeutics’ experienced team combines world-leading expertise in biopharmaceutical drug development anchored in a culture of creativity and collaboration.

About the Opportunity​

We are seeking a highly adaptable Research Scientist I/II to join our Safety Profiling team. We are building our capabilities to profile and assess the activities and preclinical safety of our TCR-T cells and T-Bridge® T cell engager bispecific molecules. This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to the development of advanced medicines that can impact the lives of patients around the world.​

In this role you will be responsible for:​

• Culture, maintenance and characterisation of primary and immortalised cells and tissues, including routine testing and QC​
• Developing and troubleshooting physiologically relevant in vitro cell culture models and immunoassay conditions to enable early-stage drug safety profiling and translational development 
• Cloning of target antigens or pMHC complexes and engineering cells to knockout (CRISPR/Cas9 etc) or overexpress target antigens by transfection methods
• Sample preparation and analysis of multi-parameter flow cytometry panels for sorting and analysis of cells of interest 
• T-cell functional assays using cultured cells/tissues as targets
• Independently analysing and precisely documenting experimental data (using ELN software)
• Interpreting findings and presenting scientific updates to cross-functional drug discovery teams and the wider organisation
• Reporting of results and recommending suitability of target cells for assays
• Establishment, review and maintenance of accurate standard operating procedures (SOPs), ensuring BSL-2 safety compliance, and assisting with lab equipment upkeep
• Working across multiple projects with different priority requirements and demonstrating scientific excellence in a fast-paced multi-disciplinary environment

You will also have the opportunity to be involved with:​

• Quantitative RT-PCR profiling of target cells, including from tumours, primary cells, immortalised lines, and engineered cell lines​
• Phenotypic characterisation and profiling of primary target cells and immune cells
• ​NGS based gene expression profiling of target and off-target genes​Maintenance of our growing cell gene expression profiling archive​

About You​​

• Bachelor’s Degree with typically 5 years of relevant industry experience, OR Master’s Degree with typically 2-4 years of relevant industry experience OR PhD with 0–3 years of relevant academic or biopharma industry experience.

You will have:

• Robust experience with in vitro cell culture (sterile/aseptic techniques, handling primary and challenging cell types) and cell-based assay development
• Experience with isolation and culture of PBMCs and human immune cells, especially T cells, from blood or leukopaks
• Experience in designing, validating and troubleshooting cell-based functional assays and/or immune cell culture/co-culture assays (e.g. cell stimulation and activation, cytokine profiling, cytotoxicity and target cell depletion)
• Cell engineering experience, including knockout, knock-in or knockdown of genes
• Proficiency in immunoassays including multi-colour flow cytometry and ELISA
• Attention to detail, creativity and problem solving skills, and the ability to learn new techniques
• Proven flexibility to deal with changing timelines and work priorities in a fast-paced research environment ​
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• The ability to work in a team environment with good collaboration skills, requiring minimum supervision for established protocols and routine methods

Ideally you will have:

• Demonstrated skills in assay development using primary cells and preferably in T-cell killing assays with a variety of endpoints, including Incucyte or ExCelligence
• Knowledge or experience of DNA/RNA handling and other molecular biology techniques such as PCR, qPCR and Western blotting
• Experience in MSD, HTRF, ELISpot, flow-based binding assays or high content imaging
• Prior experience in complex in vitro systems, e.g. spheroid or organoid models

Company Benefits

T-Therapeutics offers employees a wide range of benefits. These include 28 days' holiday (excluding bank holidays), a generous pension contribution, life insurance, health insurance and a health cash plan.

You will have the opportunity to contribute to innovative drug development, in an open environment, able to learn all aspects of drug development. T-Therapeutics is also committed to enabling staff to grow professionally in a variety of ways as well as providing the chance to develop cutting-edge technologies.