Senior Director/Vice President, Antibody Discovery and Engineering
BigHat Biosciences
Sales & Business Development
San Mateo, CA, USA
USD 250k-300k / year + Equity
Posted on Aug 14, 2025
We are seeking a highly experienced individual for a position as Senior Director/Vice President of Antibody Discovery and Engineering. This position will report to the Chief Executive Officer and will be responsible for driving strategy for antibody discovery, design, optimization and characterization of antibody-based therapeutics, including multispecifics and other advanced modalities.
- Department
- Lab Science
- Employment Type
- Full Time
- Location
- San Mateo, CA
- Workplace type
- Onsite
- Compensation
- $250,000 - $300,000 / year
- Reporting To
- Peyton Greenside
Key Responsibilities
- Lead External Programs function, and manage a team of scientists working on BigHat’s partnered therapeutic programs
- Serve as a scientific leader of discovery and optimization efforts at BigHat, guiding teams to best leverage experimental and computational differentiators of the Milliner platform across all therapeutic and partnered programs
- Drive innovative antibody technologies that advance therapeutic pipelines and that expand BigHat’s ability to design and optimize differentiated therapeutics
- Work closely with scientists and leaders in DS/ML, Protein Sciences, and Platform groups to ensure program teams are collaborating effectively towards clinic-ready therapeutics
- Be a thought leader in developing novel approaches for the discovery and optimization of antibody therapeutics for BigHat’s internal pipeline and partnered antibody therapeutics
Skills Knowledge and Expertise
- Ph.D. in molecular biology, biochemistry, or related discipline, plus >15 years’ experience in antibody and protein engineering within the academic or biopharma/biotech sectors
- 10 years managerial experience
- Extensive experience in antibody discovery using both in vivo and in vitro approaches
- Proficiency with various protein display systems, such as yeast, bacteria, phage, and mRNA display
- Skilled in library creation, selection, and enrichment analysis
- Deep knowledge of antibody structure function relationships and awareness of computational and/or machine learning-based approaches to discover and optimize proteins, including utilization of protein design tools
- Deep expertise in biologics discovery and optimization from discovery to pre-IND
- Experience working with diverse antibody formats such as complex multispecifics, T-cell engagers, antibody fragments, antibody-drug conjugates, etc.
- Strong strategic vision and experience in developing and executing strategic plans aligned with organizational goals
- Accountable, meticulous with attention to detail, and able to multitask
- Strong teamwork and proactive communication skills
- Self-motivated and able to work independently in a cross-functional team environment
- Must be willing to work onsite 5 days a week
Total Rewards
The salary estimated for this position is $250,000 - $300,000 + bonus + options + benefits. Compensation will vary depending on job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Actual compensation will be confirmed in writing at the time of the offer.
What BigHat Offers:
What BigHat Offers:
- Range of health insurance plan options through Anthem and Kaiser (monthly credit if benefit waived)
- Dental, and vision coverage through Guardian
- Additional well-being benefits through Nayya, OneMedical, Wagmo, Rula, and more
- 401(k) with company match
- DTO, two weeks of company-wide shutdown, and 12 company holidays
- Paid parental leave
About BigHat Biosciences
BigHat Biosciences designs safer, more effective biologic therapies for patients using machine learning and synthetic biology.
BigHat integrates a wet lab for high-speed characterization with machine learning technologies to guide the search for better antibodies. We apply these design capabilities to develop new generations of safer and more effective treatments for patients suffering from today’s most challenging diseases.
BigHat integrates a wet lab for high-speed characterization with machine learning technologies to guide the search for better antibodies. We apply these design capabilities to develop new generations of safer and more effective treatments for patients suffering from today’s most challenging diseases.
BigHat is a Series B biotech outside San Francisco with a team-oriented, inclusive, and family-friendly culture. Our broad pipeline of wholly-owned and partnered therapeutic programs span many disparate indications with high unmet need, such as cancer, inflammation, and infectious disease. BigHat has raised >$100M from top investors, including Section 32, a16z, and 8VC.
Our Hiring Process
Stage 1:
Applied
Stage 2:
Initial Conversation | Head of Talent
Stage 3:
Initial Conversation | Hiring Manager
Stage 4:
1st Technical Screen
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