Day to day, the successful candidate will carry out in silico de novo peptide design, set up and run the computational design pipeline, and generate peptide sequences for synthesis and evaluation by wet lab team members.
Key Responsibilities
Peptide Design & Computational Pipeline
- Set up and maintain the computational design pipeline, using generative AI tools such as RFpeptide and BoltzGen.
- Perform physics-based filtering of designs via molecular dynamics simulations (e.g. Amber, Schrödinger, or GROMACS) and docking (e.g. Rosetta FlexPepDock, HADDOCK, AutoDock CrankPep) to refine and prioritise candidates.
- Provide high-confidence peptide sequences for synthesis and wet lab validation.
- Interface with internal biophysical and peptide chemistry teams to coordinate peptide synthesis and wet lab testing.
- Translate experimental feedback into iterative improvements to peptide designs.
- Develop working knowledge of RNA therapeutics, oligonucleotide medicinal chemistry, and the principles of ligand-based delivery.
- Collaborate with wet lab colleagues to bring a computational perspective to shared problems.
- Act as a low-ego, self-starting contributor able to drive projects forward independently while staying closely aligned with the wider team.
- Keep clear documentation of designs and results.
- Present computational and experimental work internally and, when appropriate, externally.
- Educate leadership on emerging peptide design methods and advocate for their adoption.
- Communicate progress, results, and design rationale to wet lab peers and to leadership, keeping the design-build-test cycle moving.
- Work closely with the legal team to provide the information needed for intellectual property protection.