Molecular Cloning & Protein Engineering Scientist

Company: Barrington James Limited
Apply for the Molecular Cloning & Protein Engineering Scientist
Location: London
Job Description:

Seeking a highly motivated scientist to lead the engineering and development of next-generation programmable gene‑editing therapeutics. This is a hands‑on laboratory role focused on designing, building, and optimizing CRISPR‑based therapeutic constructs for precision medicine applications. The successful candidate will play a key role in advancing novel therapeutic candidates from concept through preclinical development.

Responsibilities

  • Design, engineer, and optimize Cas‑based therapeutic constructs, including conditional and programmable protein architectures.
  • Engineer proteins for enhanced specificity, activity, and control using rational design, structure‑guided engineering, and directed evolution.
  • Expand the modularity of the platform by developing constructs targeting additional disease‑relevant genes.
  • Design, clone, and validate guide RNA libraries for specificity and off‑target profiling assays (e.g., ONE‑seq, CHANGE‑seq, or related technologies).
  • Design, execute, and analyze rapid design‑build‑test cycles to improve construct performance.
  • Collaborate across molecular biology, protein engineering, computational biology, and translational research teams to advance therapeutic programs.

Required Qualifications

  • M.S. or Ph.D. in Molecular Biology, Genetics, Bioengineering, Protein Engineering, or a related field.
  • At least 5 years of hands‑on experience in molecular cloning using techniques such as Gibson Assembly, Golden Gate Assembly, and Gateway cloning.
  • Extensive experience designing and engineering CRISPR/Cas constructs, including development of novel protein functions through directed evolution or rational engineering.
  • Strong expertise in mammalian and bacterial expression vector design, construct optimization, and stable cell line generation.
  • Demonstrated ability to independently execute rapid iterative construct design and optimization.
  • Experience developing and utilizing fluorescent and/or luminescent reporter assay systems.
  • Strong structural biology and wet‑lab expertise, with experience applying structural insights to protein engineering challenges.
  • Demonstrated ownership of engineering protein function, rather than solely supporting execution of established workflows.
  • Computational experience supporting protein or CRISPR engineering, including sequence analysis, structural modeling, guide RNA design, scripting, or bioinformatics.

Preferred Qualifications

  • Experience with inducible or conditional protein systems.
  • Familiarity with base editing, prime editing, or other next‑generation genome editing technologies.
  • Experience with NGS library preparation and sequencing‑based screening workflows.
  • Background in structural biology, protein biochemistry, or computational protein engineering.
  • Experience working in fast‑paced biotechnology or therapeutic discovery environments.

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Posted: July 7th, 2026