Scientist I, Conjugation Development

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Job description

Join our Mission to Protect Humankind!

Vaxcyte is a clinical-stage vaccine innovation company engineering high-fidelity vaccines to protect humankind from the consequences of bacterial diseases, which have serious and costly health consequences when left unchecked. Working to eradicate or treat bacterial infections such as invasive pneumococcal disease, Group A Strep, periodontitis and Shigella is just the beginning. Our path to success is clear and well-defined, and Vaxcyte is set up to go the distance.

WHAT we do is every bit as important as HOW we do it! Our work together is guided by four enduring core values:

RETHINK CONVENTION: We bring creative and intellectual diversity to every facet of the work we do in order to innovate and re-innovate the way vaccines are delivered.

AIM HIGH: We embody our collectively audacious goal to courageously make the most complex biologics ever attempted to protect humankind.

LEAD WITH HEART: Everyone leads at Vaxcyte with a kindness-first, inclusive approach to collaboration and vigorous debate that advances our business objectives.

MODEL EXCELLENCE: The magnitude of our challenge requires our shared commitment to demonstrating integrity, accountability, equality and clarity across communications and decision making.

Summary:

Vaxcyte is looking for a Scientist I, Conjugation Development who will contribute to the development of a robust process for generating the company's proprietary pneumococcal conjugate vaccine. Specifically, this will include synthesis, purification, and analytical characterization of chemically modified polysaccharides and polysaccharide-protein conjugates. The ideal candidate will have an excellent understanding of analytical chemistry principles and significant laboratory experience. The successful candidate will be expected to optimize and troubleshoot the synthesis and purification procedures independently with minimal guidance. The candidate will also contribute when needed to a range of related areas such as analytical development and stability studies. Responsibilities will additionally include record management, data presentation at group meetings, and contributing to the authorship of laboratory protocols and development reports.
Essential Functions:

• Optimize and troubleshoot multi-step syntheses of protein-polysaccharide conjugates.
• Purify polysaccharides and conjugates using a variety of methods including dialysis, size-exclusion chromatography, and tangential flow filtration (TFF).
• Analyze polysaccharides and conjugates with methods including colorimetric assays, HPLC assays, and SEC-MALS.
• Maintain highly organized records to enable optimization and assessment of reproducibility.
• Track inventory of reagents critical to conjugation development, and make purchases to replenish when necessary.
• Attend team meetings ready to provide updates on conjugation development progress.

Requirements:

• B.S. in chemistry, biochemistry, or related field with 8+ years of relevant industry experience; MS with 5+ years of relevant industry experience, or Ph.D. with two years of relevant industry experience.
• Experience with laboratory-scale protein purification methods such as dialysis, diafiltration and size-exclusion chromatography. Experience with tangential flow filtration (TFF) is desirable.
• Working knowledge of analytical methods including colorimetric assays, size-exclusion chromatography (SEC), and SDS-PAGE for characterization of reaction products.
• Experience performing protein conjugation reactions is desirable.
• Experience with chemical modification of polysaccharides is desirable.
• Attention to detail and excellent organizational skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills; ability to communicate effectively both verbally and in written formats.
• Self-starter; ability to work in a fast-paced, cross-functional environment and collaborate effectively with other team members.
• Enthusiasm to learn the new skills and techniques necessary to tackle problems outside of current area of expertise.

Reports to: Group Leader, Conjugation Development

Location: San Carlos, CA

Compensation:
The compensation package will be competitive and includes comprehensive benefits and an equity component.

Salary Range: $125,000 - $130,000

Vaxcyte, Inc.
825 Industrial Road, Suite 300
San Carlos, CA 94070

We are an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status.

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