Protein Engineer - Biosensing

About the role

This role owns the end-to-end creation of next-generation protein biosensors that operate as the sensing layer within closed-loop biological monitoring systems. You will architect allosteric switches and signal transduction linkers that translate molecular events into readable optical or electronic signals. The position requires inventing reporter proteins and site-specific chemical modifications that interface with hardware platforms and bioelectronic readouts. You will own the design-build-test cycle, translating wet lab screening data into actionable design rules for the engineering team. You will also negotiate target product profiles that balance sensitivity, dynamic range, and manufacturability under real-world physiological constraints. In this capacity, you will mentor junior scientists and act as the primary scientific liaison with external academic collaborators and contract research organizations. Success is defined by your ability to de-risk biosensor technology and move constructs from in silico design through to cGMP-compatible manufacturing.

Key facts

What you'll do

Establish de novo design and directed evolution workflows that enable high-throughput screening of protein scaffolds for ions, small molecules, and peptides.

Design and build allosteric protein switches that couple molecular recognition events to measurable signal transduction motifs such as linkers and conformational reporters.

Partner with the hardware team to select and optimize protein constructs for compatibility with optical and electrophysiological measurement platforms.

Create and validate biosensor constructs that meet defined target product profiles for sensitivity, selectivity, and stability in biofluid matrices.

Guide the screening of natural and synthetic protein libraries using chemical intuition and quantitative modeling to prioritize candidate molecules.

Develop and maintain detailed experimental records and data pipelines to ensure reproducibility and rapid iteration across construct variants.

Write custom scripts for data analysis and interfacing with lab instruments to automate the collection and interpretation of high-dimensional screening data.

Translate device-level performance feedback into iterative design updates that refine protein scaffolds and signal transduction pathways.

Mentor junior scientists by providing technical coaching on protein engineering principles, experimental best practices, and scientific communication.

Serve as the central scientific point of contact for external academic collaborators and CRO partners to align project goals and timelines.

Conduct in-depth literature reviews to identify novel biosensing strategies and integrate relevant advances into the company's design workflow.

Own the documentation of experimental protocols and results to support regulatory readiness and future scale-up activities.

Coordinate cross-functional discussions to align protein engineering milestones with device development, data science, and manufacturing constraints.

Revamp existing design workflows by integrating experimental feedback and updating in silico models to improve prediction accuracy over time.

Define and track key performance indicators for biosensor candidates to ensure alignment with roadmap objectives and resource efficiency.

Requirements

Demonstrated strength in either an experimental-first track, relying on mining naturally occurring motifs and chemical intuition to design sensors, or a computation-first track, relying on de novo design methods to reduce experimental loops.

Strong competency in structural biology and biophysics related to optical and electrophysiological measurements for biosensing applications.

PhD in a relevant science and engineering field with demonstrated strong independent ideation and execution, or a BS/MS with extensive industry experience exceeding five years.

Quantitative judgment for designing experiments under real-world constraints, aligning roadmap goals with instrument capabilities and laboratory throughput.

Demonstrated precision in experimental work and scientific project management to deliver reliable data on schedule.

Strong technical communication skills to interface effectively across protein engineering, device engineering, physiology modeling, and data science disciplines.

Ability to write custom scripts for data analysis and to build interfaces between laboratory instruments and analysis pipelines.

Working ability in both experimental protein engineering methods and computational design tools to operate effectively in a hybrid role.

Conceptual command of allostery and protein dynamics to rationally design sensors that respond to specific molecular inputs.

Conceptual command of the electronic nose field to contextualize biosensor performance within broader molecular monitoring platforms.

2+ years of team management and mentoring experience with a track record of coordinating across chemists, materials scientists, hardware engineers, software and data scientists, vendors, and academic collaborators.

Nice to have

3+ years of industry experience in protein design and selection.

Ability to write custom scripts for data analysis and interfacing with lab instruments.

Working ability in both experimental methods and computational tools for protein design.

Conceptual command of allostery and protein dynamics.

Conceptual command of the electronic nose field.

2+ years of team management and mentoring experience with a track record of coordinating across chemists, materials scientists, hardware engineers, software/data scientists, vendors, and academic collaborators.

Practical notes

This is a full-time onsite role based in Pasadena, California. Travel requirements are minimal and primarily limited to coordination with external collaborators or stakeholder meetings as needed. The position is not eligible for visa sponsorship. Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States without sponsorship. Employment is contingent on successful completion of standard background checks. The company is a nonprofit startup incubated by Convergent Research, and the role is subject to operational changes as the organization scales.