Protein Biochemist Development

Oxford Nanopore Technologies is headquartered at the Oxford Science Park outside Oxford, UK, with satellite offices and a commercial presence in many global locations across the US, APAC and Europe.

Oxford Nanopore employs from multiple subject areas including nanopore science, molecular biology and applications, informatics, engineering, electronics, manufacturing and commercialisation. The management team, led by CEO Dr Gordon Sanghera, has a track record of delivering disruptive technologies to the market.

Oxford Nanopore’s sequencing platform is the only technology that offers real-time analysis, in fully scalable formats from pocket to population scale, that can analyse native DNA or RNA and sequence any length of fragment to achieve short to ultra-long read lengths. Our goal is to enable the analysis of any living thing, by anyone, anywhere!

The Role

Our Biologics Development team is responsible for the improvement and performance of all biological components contained within our sample preparation kits and flowcells. We are seeking highly motivated individual with great lab-based skills to join the team as a Protein Biochemist. As part of the wider R&D division we work collaboratively to deliver new chemistries from conception to customers.

The role, based at the company's Oxford headquarters, will support the development of new nanopore sequencing products, focussing on delivery of improvements to fundamental performance metrics improving outcomes and utility for users of the ONT platform.

The successful candidate will be responsible for the design, purification and analysis of key protein components that form the backbone of the RNA and DNA sequencing chemistries as well as any future nanopore sensing applications. In a highly collaborative role, you will enjoy interacting with various stakeholders, across the R&D and product divisions in a multi-disciplinary environment.

What We're Looking For

We are looking for a motivated and detail-oriented person who will have experience in the following areas:

• Good understanding of the biochemical properties of proteins including DNA/RNA handling enzymes and/or membrane proteins.
• Hands-on experience of recombinant protein expression from bacterial systems
• Experience in lab-scale purification of proteins using a variety of chromatographic methods with AKTA (or similar) purification systems.
• Exposure to techniques for the biochemical/biophysical characterisation of purified proteins such as SDS-PAGE, LC-MS, EMSA, western blot or fluorescence-based activity assays.

Having experience in one or more of the following areas is a plus:

• Knowledge of Oxford Nanopore's technology, its features and how DNA/RNA nanopore sequencing works.
• Structure-based design of protein variants for specific purposes.
• Familiarity with, Python, R or command line programming for data science.

Responsibilities include:

• Carrying out expression and purification of protein variants aimed at improving the performance of our nanopore sensing applications
• Devising improvements to expression and purification methods to improve quality, yield and utility.
• Characterisation of proteins using both classical biochemical techniques and using nanopore based single molecule assays.
• Robust and thorough data analysis of any conducted experiments and accurate reporting to the wider team and division.
• Design of improved protein variants through rational, structure-based design as well as more recent ML approaches.

The successful candidate will hold a BSc/Msc in biochemistry, chemistry or a related field including 1 year of independent laboratory experience either as part of, or post qualification. Characteristics we are looking for in a successful candidate include a strong attention to detail, a high level of organisation and effective communications skills, both written and verbal. The role is suited for a dedicated individual eager to learn and grow, who will be provided with extensive training and mentorship to support their development.

We offer outstanding benefits to include an attractive bonus, generous pension contributions, private healthcare and an excellent starting salary. Based within beautiful, landscaped surroundings with tree-lined walks, water features and a lake, all of which make for a wonderful working environment.

If you are looking to utilise your skills to really make a difference to humankind, then consider joining our team and apply today!

Please note that no terminology in this advert is intended to discriminate on the grounds of a person's gender, marital status, race, religion, colour, age, disability or sexual orientation. Every candidate will be assessed only in accordance with their merits, qualifications and abilities to perform the duties of the job.

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Oxford Nanopore’s goal is to bring the widest benefits to society through enabling the analysis of anything, by anyone, anywhere. The company has developed a new generation of nanopore-based sensing technology enabling the real-time, high-performance, accessible and scalable analysis of DNA and RNA. The technology is used in more than 100 countries to understand the biology of humans and diseases, plants, animals, bacteria, viruses and whole environments.

Oxford Nanopore was founded in 2005 as a spin-out from the University of Oxford and now employs over 1000 employees around the world.