AV and the AFRLBiological Materials and Processing Research Teamareseeking a Protein Engineer to spearhead thedirected evolution and screening pipelinesof proteins for high-affinity ion coordination. This rolewillgeneratediverse protein libraries, develop robust high-throughput screening (HTS) assays, and isolate variants with selectivity and affinity for specific Rare Earth Elements

The candidate willserve as the primary technicalliaisonto the Computational Design Team, ensuring a seamless, data-driven feedback loopThe core mission of thisrole istolead the translation, production, and screening of computationallydesigned proteins, strategicallyutilizingresultstooptimizesubsequentroundsof directed evolution.Additionally, this role willmanage scale-up strategy forprotein productionand integration intopilot-scale commercial applications.

Key Responsibilities

• Project Leadership & Roadmap Management:Define project milestones, manage timelines, andallocateresources effectively to ensure the wet-lab team meets overarching program goals. Serve as the primary point of contact for project stakeholders.

• Mentorship & Technical Oversight:Providedaily technical guidance, mentorship, and career development support to junior and mid-levelscientistsand technicians, fostering a collaborative and high-performing lab environment.

• Strategic Integration of Computational Designs:Oversee the high-level bridge between dry-lab and wet-lab operations; collaborate with the computational biologyleadtoestablishframeworks for translating candidate designs, scaffolds, and libraries into physical, high-diversity protein libraries.

• Advanced Library Construction & Directed Evolution:Architect the experimental design for generating protein/peptide libraries usingstate-of-the-artmolecular biology techniques, ensuring quality control and diversity standards are met.

• HTS & Selection Architecture:Lead the development, automation, and validation of robust HTS assays (such as cell-surface display or plate-basedfluorimetricassays) to screen designs for highly selective Rare Earth Element (REE) binding.

• Data Integration & Loop Closure Leadership:Analyze complex screening datasets toidentifydeep sequence-activity relationships. Establish formal feedback mechanisms to deliver high-quality experimental data back to the computational design team tovalidatepredictive models and guide the next, smarter round of directed evolution.

• Process Optimization & Scale-Up Strategy:Direct the refinement of screening pressures (pH, competing transition metals, lanthanide concentrations) to mimic industrial bio-purification conditions. Oversee the evaluation of candidate protein variant "hits" at pilot-scale levels.

Required Qualifications

• Education & Experience:Ph.D. in Chemistry, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Bioengineering, Biophysics, or a related field with 4+ years of post-graduate experience in high-throughput protein engineering. (Candidates with an M.S. and 8+ years of experience, including a proventrack recordof technical leadership, will be considered).

• Leadership Experience:Minimum of 2 years of experience formally or informally leading technical projects, managing workflows, or supervising laboratory personnel in an academic or industrial biotech setting.

• Protein Engineering Expertise:Deep, authoritativeexpertisein designing,optimizing, and characterizing proteins and biologics usingstate-of-the-artmolecular biology and HTS techniques. Proven ability to translate engineered proteins into robust, scalablesolutions for real-world applications.

• TechnicalExpertise:High-throughput Recombinant protein production in E. Coli andorpossible yeastsurface display

• Citizenship: U.S.Citizenship is required due to government facility access requirements.

Preferred Skills

• Project Management Frameworks:Familiarity with project management methodologies (e.g., Agile, Scrum, or traditional Gantt-based tracking) to manage timelines and deliverables.

• Laboratory Leadership & Characterization:Experience interpreting and overseeing biophysical characterization techniques (ITC, SPR, Fluorescence) tovalidateexperimental data and guide project direction.

• AutomationHigh-Throughput ScreeningExperience with high-throughput liquid handling robots or automated screening workflows.Demonstrated experience developing and running robust selection/screening assays (e.g., yeast/phage display, plate-based fluorescence, or cell-free translation systems).

• Bio-Interfacial Modeling:Knowledge of how proteins behave when tethered to solid surfaces (e.g., resin or silica).

• Wet-Lab Library Generation:Hands-on expertisein advanced molecular biology for library construction (e.g.,GoldenGatecloning,GibsonAssembly, site-saturation mutagenesis, error-prone PCR).

• Protein Purification:Familiarity with affinity tag based recombinant protein purificationusing an FPLC.

• Process Scale-Up Execution:Demonstratedtrack recordof successfully supporting or leading the scale-up of commercial/industrial protein applications from laboratory- to pilot-scale.