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About Us

PentaBind is the first aptamer discovery company using AI and a fully-integrated wet laboratory to design a new generation of alternative oligo therapeutics. Our pioneering platform already improves the experimental search space by 300x, generating therapeutic aptamers for urgent clinical needs within oncology, rare and neurodegenerative diseases.

We are a VC-backed pre-seed startup with a lab in White City, supported by Twin Path, Entrepreneur First, KQ labs among others. Currently a team of 8, and growing to 14 people in the next 12 months. See our video pitch here (https://docsend.com/view/c47hx5re555ibnij), and our founder video story here (https://docsend.com/view/a7gzjub2ppnnzawr). PentaBind has been shortlisted as New Startup of the Year by Cancer Research Horizons, and also as Deep Tech Investment of the Year by the UK Business Angels Association, a prestigious award sponsored by the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Our Vision

Learn about our vision, our culture and what to expect here (https://www.pentabind.com/about).

About this Role:

This position will focus on the design and development of both a small-molecule SELEX and a proprietary aptamer selection pipeline, in the context of an early-stage AI drug discovery company. The SELEX pipeline will be an integral part of our AI-wet-lab feedback loop. The position may also offer outstanding opportunities to work on state-of-the-art high-throughput platforms, automation and other biophysical studies. This role is ideally suited for a motivated experimental scientist who is passionate about pharmaceuticals and technology.

Key Responsibilities:

• Design, execute, and troubleshoot biochemistry and molecular biology experiments
• Perform and optimise SELEX experiments, NGS and RT-PCR
• Perform and develop our proprietary aptamer selection workflow
• Suggest your own ideas, formulate plans and strategy proposals to present to the CTO and senior management
• Maintain excellent documentation of laboratory work
• Analyse, interpret, and present results to present to colleagues in regular meetings
• Collaborate with the RD ML and Bioinformatics teams
• Maintain laboratory operations, stock control, SOP management, and regulatory compliance
• Help shape the hiring strategy for the RD team, train or supervise future employees

Ideal Candidate:

• Have obtained, or currently finishing, a Ph.D degree in a relevant discipline 
• Experience with small molecule SELEX
• Experienced in molecular biology, biochemistry, and/or assay development
• Hands-on experience with PCR, nucleic acid QC, protein QC (e.g., SDS-PAGE) and analysis
• English language speaking, listening and writing fluency
• Excellent organisational, data-archiving and presentation skills 

Desired Candidate:

• Experienced in biophysical characterisation of nucleic acid-protein or nucleic acid-ligand interactions (e.g., BLI, ELISA, FP) is a plus 
• 1+ years industry experience or in partnership with industry (e.g., startup, Pharma)
• Publication in a major scientific journal with molecular biology/biochemistry contributions is a plus

If you are interested in this opportunity, please apply here (https://www.pentabind.com/careers) along with your CV.