Tasks

We have demonstrated the possibility to improve the sensitivity of olfactory receptors by a factor of 10 to 100 by targeting as little as one or two residues. Some of these results have been directly driven by modeling and rational design approaches. The evidence suggests the improvements could be several orders of magnitude better and applicable to most receptors. Therefore we seek an enthusiastic scientist to lead Koniku’s efforts in engineering olfactory receptors, and associated proteins, to achieve unprecedented sensing performances. We are looking for a protein design engineer, to do the following:

• Work with the experimental results of the mutagenesis and screening teams to determine important functional residues for OR function, and develop a comprehensive predictive model for a small subset of olfactory receptors-ligand combinations.
• Help synthetic biologists re-engineer proteins involved in olfactory signalling pathways, including the design of chimeric constructs, alteration of protein-protein interaction domains and controlling trafficking-targeting of proteins in the cell.
• Use bioinformatics and statistical tools to extract meaningful correlations between olfactory receptor sequences and function in collaboration with data scientist.
• Work with biologists to create a fast optimization loop between modeling, predictions, and experiments.
• Collaborate with existing industrial and academic partners. Initiate strategic collaborations with academia.
• Contribute to company wide software development standards, software documentation standard and quality control.

Qualifications and skills

• A PhD in Biochemistry, Structural Biology or Bioinformatics with a focus on protein design.
• 3+ years laboratory experience, preferably in the industry, in engineering proteins.
• Perfect knowledge of bioinformatics tools and online databases (Blast, MSAtools, GeneBank, PDB, etc…).
• Experience in rational design of proteins using visualisation, modeling and molecular dynamics simulation tools.
• You can quickly trouble-shoot technical difficulties, maintain excellent scientific records and clearly communicate your results to a non-scientific audience. We expect you to do some travel to our secondary sites and clients for extended periods as necessary (4 weeks total per year) – US, Europe, Asia and Africa.
• You are keen to lead and mentor junior biologists and engineers with clarity.
• Integrity and a can do attitude.

Offer

Our offer includes:

• additional performance bonuses and stock options awarded.
• comprehensive health benefits, catered meals served on site.
• paid time off, choice between several vacation policy.
• Earliest start date is immediately.

Application Process

Please send us:

• a cover letter about what motivates you – no more than half a page.
• a short description of the professional accomplishments you are most proud of and how you have approached technical challenges in the past.
• a complete CV including a detailed publication list and your PhD thesis if applicable.
• three references and their contact information. Please include one from your most recent job – if you can not provide it please explain why.
• Optional – a detailed statement on your ideal work environment.

Additional Requirements

To conform to ITAR regulations, applicant must be a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident of the U.S., protected individual as defined by 8 U.S.C. 1324b(a)(3), or eligible to obtain the required authorizations from the U.S. Department of State.

Equal Opportunity Employer; We hire for individual competence, retain on results, advance for excellence – no exceptions.

Send directly to cv@koniku.com

Note: Please do not expect a response for every job application, while we try our best to respond to every application or inquiry, ultimately we are unable to give detailed feedback to every application. We deeply appreciate your understanding.

Please click here to apply.