Senior / Staff Scientist – Binder Discovery at Ephla Bio · San…

The Opportunity

We're seeking a highly skilled scientist to lead internal binder discovery efforts that power our therapeutic campaigns, with the eventual goal of owning these workflows at Ephla. This scientist will run discovery campaigns end-to-end by executing conventional panning alongside our proprietary off-target screening, and then performing biophysical characterizations of binder and therapeutics candidates.

The ideal candidate is a wet-lab expert in molecular biology and display technologies, able to expand this remit to include target discovery and/or functional assays, and looking for strong growth opportunities. You'll work closely with our computational and ML teams to generate data at scale to train models, and to assess ML designed libraries for lead generation. Experience with TCR-mimicking biologics—especially TCRm binder discovery—is a major plus.

What You’ll Do

Molecular biology:

• Design cloning strategies for protein/antibody libraries (scFv / Fab / VHH)
• Build large, diverse, QC-validated display libraries through PCR, cloning, and high-efficiency transformation

Selections & screening

• Execute conventional phage and yeast display panning campaigns to identify high-affinity, specific binders
• Run affinity maturation campaigns on lead candidates
• Execute mammalian cell assays on binder candidates in collaboration with our HTS lead

Affinity measurements & candidate ranking

• Measure binding affinities and specificity using ELISA, flow cytometry, BLI/SPR, etc.
• Combine sequencing, affinity, and specificity data into ranked candidate lists for the next stage of characterization

Who You Are

• PhD in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Protein Engineering, or a related field, with 3+ years of relevant lab experience in academia or industry
• Hands-on experience with display technologies (phage, yeast, or related) for protein or antibody engineering, including panning campaign design and execution
• Hands-on experience with binding-assay platforms (ELISA, flow cytometry, BLI/SPR) and recombinant protein expression and purification
• Molecular biology bench skills: cloning strategy design, mutagenesis, plasmid design, library construction at scale
• Excellent experimental design, record keeping, and bench troubleshooting
• Strong communication and collaboration skills in a fast-paced, interdisciplinary environment

What Sets You Apart

• TCR-mimicking antibody discovery
• Experience with mass spec proteomics, X-ray crystallography, and/or cryo-EM structure determination
• Experience with lab automation (fluid dispensers, semi-automation, full automation)
• Experience with protein production and purification
• Prior collaboration with machine learning or computational protein design teams

About Ephla Bio

Ephla Bio is an interdisciplinary team of engineers, immunologists, and bench scientists, focused on unlocking peptide–HLA targets for next-generation precision immunotherapies. We offer a high-trust environment where scientists own their work end-to-end and build tools that directly shape patient outcomes.