Research Associate, Protein Expression

Research Associate
The Botnar Institute of Immune Engineering (BIIE) is a non-profit research institute focusing on developing translational solutions for the treatment, prevention, and diagnostics of diseases relevant to global child and adolescent health.

We are seeking a highly collaborative and technically skilled Research Associate to join the Protein Expression Facility. In this role, you will support the rational design, high-throughput development, and optimization of our protein expression and purification platforms, directly enabling multiple cross-functional research teams to achieve the core mission of the BIIE.

We value collective impact over individual spotlights. If you bring a highly supportive attitude to the lab and thrive on shared scientific victories, you’ll fit right in.

Tasks

• Recombinant protein production. Use rational design and literature research to design protein expression. Perform cloning, vector reformatting, construct redesign, and troubleshooting. Express antibodies, Fabs, and other proteins in mammalian and bacterial systems, from small-scale screening through scale-up. Purify proteins using FPLC-based chromatography and perform Fab generation, tag removal, and biotinylation.
• Characterize proteins and perform QC. Evaluate protein purity, integrity, concentration, and function using SDS-PAGE, SEC, BLI/SPR, and other biochemical or biophysical methods.
• Develop and improve production workflows. Optimize expression hosts, media, transfection reagents, purification conditions, and protocols to improve yield, reproducibility, throughput, and cost-efficiency.
• Operate high-throughput and automated workflows. Use automated liquid handling, high-throughput miniprep systems, and plate-based workflows to support scalable production.
• Maintain production resources and laboratory infrastructure. Maintain mammalian cell lines and cell banks, manage bacterial strain inventories, and support equipment maintenance and calibration.
• Analyze and document experimental work. Analyze data, maintain accurate records, prepare technical documentation, present results, and contribute to scientific discussions.
• Collaborate across scientific teams. Work closely with multiple cross-functional teams to align priorities and deliver high-quality results. Provide regular updates and maintain open communication throughout each project, from initiation through completion.

Requirements

• Education: B.Sc. or M.Sc. in Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Chemical Engineering, or a related field.
• Molecular Biology: Solid foundational experience with molecular biology techniques, including PCR, cloning, and vector construction.
• Protein Expression & Purification: Practical experience in recombinant protein expression and purification across multiple host systems, specifically bacterial and mammalian cells.
• Project Management: Strong organizational skills with a demonstrated ability to balance and manage multiple experimental workflows simultaneously.
• Team Alignment: An approachable, supportive attitude with a strong commitment to a seamless, ego-free team dynamic that prioritizes collective success.

In addition, these skills make you even more successful in this role:

• Experience in a life science research environment.
• Experience with Benchling for documenting laboratory results and storing data

Benefits

At BIIE you will play a pivotal role in shaping how cutting-edge immunology research data is captured and utilized. You will help establish robust, reproducible protein-expression workflows and shape the development of our laboratory capabilities. We offer a competitive salary and benefits package (generous pension fund contributions, flexible working arrangements, including home office options, half-fare travelcard/Halbtax), support for professional development, and a highly collaborative, interdisciplinary working environment where your work directly accelerates scientific discovery.

The Botnar Institute of Immune Engineering is a newly founded non-profit research organization aiming to become a world leading research institute for the advanced study of immunological systems with a mission to develop translational solutions for the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease.

The scientific foundation of the BIIE is based on the intersection of three interdisciplinary subdomains: (i) systems immunology, (ii) synthetic immunology and (iii) computational immunology. The BIIE will serve as a hub for multidisciplinary science, by uniting people with diverse expertise in immunology, biomedicine, bioengineering, systems and synthetic biology, computational biology, artificial intelligence and machine learning. As part of the mission of BIIE to make a lasting impact, it will dedicate significant efforts in training early-stage researchers in this unique multidisciplinary environment, thus enabling them to become future leaders in Immune Engineering.