Senior Scientific Director, Protein Engineering
Neurocrine Biosciences
August 12, 2026
Remote friendly (San Diego, CA)
United States
Clinical Research and Development
About The Role
Senior Scientific Director, Protein Engineering provides scientific and strategic leadership for Neurocrine’s protein engineering and biologics discovery capabilities. Leads a team of protein engineers and expands technical expertise/platforms to enable next-generation biotherapeutics.
Your Contributions
Scientific Leadership
- Lead and provide strategic direction for the Protein Engineering function; set scientific priorities for the biologics portfolio
- Guide programs from target assessment through lead generation, optimization, candidate selection, and transition into development
- Drive innovation in antibody and protein engineering technologies
- Evaluate and implement emerging technologies, platforms, and computational approaches
Organizational Leadership
- Lead, mentor, and develop protein engineering talent; recruit additional scientific talent
- Foster a collaborative, innovative, inclusive scientific culture
- Build capabilities via investment in new technologies, workflows, and expertise
- Establish/maintain collaborations with CROs, academics, and technology providers
Drug Discovery & Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Partner cross-functionally to advance biologics programs through discovery and IND-enabling studies
- Lead candidate selection, developability assessment, and optimization strategies
- Provide data-driven recommendations for governance and portfolio decisions
- Ensure protein engineering work aligns with timelines, quality standards, and objectives
Requirements
Required
- PhD (10+ years) OR Master’s (20+ years) OR Bachelor’s (22+ years) in relevant discipline
- Demonstrated scientific leadership advancing antibody/protein therapeutics from discovery through IND-enabling development
- Extensive expertise in protein/antibody engineering and structure-function relationships
- Expertise in protein conjugation, multispecifics, ADCs, or other next-gen biologics
- Experience leading high-performing scientific teams and building protein engineering capabilities
- Deep knowledge of biologics discovery workflows (molecular design, lead optimization, developability, candidate selection)
- Strong construct design, recombinant expression (mammalian/microbial), purification, biochemical/biophysical characterization
- Knowledge of antibody discovery technologies (e.g., display platforms, affinity maturation, engineered scaffolds)
- Experience managing CRO/external collaborations; strong publication/patent record
- Excellent scientific communication; ability to translate strategy into executable plans
Preferred
- Experience developing therapeutic antibodies/biologics in neuroscience, endocrinology, immunology, or inflammation
- Computational protein design, ML-enabled engineering, or AI-assisted design
- High-throughput screening, protein display, developability assessment
- Familiarity with LC-MS characterization
- Knowledge of regulatory expectations for IND submission
Senior Scientific Director, Protein Engineering provides scientific and strategic leadership for Neurocrine’s protein engineering and biologics discovery capabilities. Leads a team of protein engineers and expands technical expertise/platforms to enable next-generation biotherapeutics.
Your Contributions
Scientific Leadership
- Lead and provide strategic direction for the Protein Engineering function; set scientific priorities for the biologics portfolio
- Guide programs from target assessment through lead generation, optimization, candidate selection, and transition into development
- Drive innovation in antibody and protein engineering technologies
- Evaluate and implement emerging technologies, platforms, and computational approaches
Organizational Leadership
- Lead, mentor, and develop protein engineering talent; recruit additional scientific talent
- Foster a collaborative, innovative, inclusive scientific culture
- Build capabilities via investment in new technologies, workflows, and expertise
- Establish/maintain collaborations with CROs, academics, and technology providers
Drug Discovery & Cross-Functional Collaboration
- Partner cross-functionally to advance biologics programs through discovery and IND-enabling studies
- Lead candidate selection, developability assessment, and optimization strategies
- Provide data-driven recommendations for governance and portfolio decisions
- Ensure protein engineering work aligns with timelines, quality standards, and objectives
Requirements
Required
- PhD (10+ years) OR Master’s (20+ years) OR Bachelor’s (22+ years) in relevant discipline
- Demonstrated scientific leadership advancing antibody/protein therapeutics from discovery through IND-enabling development
- Extensive expertise in protein/antibody engineering and structure-function relationships
- Expertise in protein conjugation, multispecifics, ADCs, or other next-gen biologics
- Experience leading high-performing scientific teams and building protein engineering capabilities
- Deep knowledge of biologics discovery workflows (molecular design, lead optimization, developability, candidate selection)
- Strong construct design, recombinant expression (mammalian/microbial), purification, biochemical/biophysical characterization
- Knowledge of antibody discovery technologies (e.g., display platforms, affinity maturation, engineered scaffolds)
- Experience managing CRO/external collaborations; strong publication/patent record
- Excellent scientific communication; ability to translate strategy into executable plans
Preferred
- Experience developing therapeutic antibodies/biologics in neuroscience, endocrinology, immunology, or inflammation
- Computational protein design, ML-enabled engineering, or AI-assisted design
- High-throughput screening, protein display, developability assessment
- Familiarity with LC-MS characterization
- Knowledge of regulatory expectations for IND submission