Senior Scientist Peptide Discovery

The Role

We are seeking a highly capable and proactive Senior Scientist, Peptide Discovery to join our Boston, MA team. This role reports to the Head of Gene Editing and Early Discovery and supports the experimental validation of AI-generated peptide candidates across multiple therapeutic programs — including but not limited to antifungal, antimicrobial, and cardiometabolic peptides — through cell culture-based functional, safety, and developability assays that directly inform our AI-guided peptide discovery pipeline.

Key Responsibilities

• Perform routine mammalian cell culture (e.g., HepG2, HEK293, CHO, or receptor-expressing stable cell lines).
• Design and execute cell-based cytotoxicity/viability assays (e.g., CellTiter Blue or equivalent) in 96-well format.
• Run hemolysis assays using red blood cells to assess membrane-disruptive toxicity of peptide candidates.
• Run cell permeability assays to evaluate peptide membrane interaction and barrier penetration.
• Support immunogenicity risk assessment of peptide candidates, which may include in silico T-cell epitope prediction, PBMC-based cytokine release or proliferation assays.
• Run cell-based receptor activation assays for GLP-1 and related incretin peptide candidates, including cAMP accumulation assays (e.g., HTRF, ELISA-based, or luciferase reporter formats) in GLP-1R-expressing stable cell lines.
• Support or help establish stable reporter/receptor cell lines (e.g., transfection, antibiotic selection, flow cytometry-based confirmation of receptor expression) for new peptide target classes.
• Generate and fit dose-response curves for potency (EC50) and safety (LC50, hemolytic/cytotoxic thresholds) endpoints.
• Prepare peptide stock and working solutions from synthesized peptides (crude and high-purity formulations) for cell-based testing.
• Support MIC-style fungal susceptibility assays (e.g., against Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Candida albicans, Candida auris, and Fusarium graminearum) following established protocols, as a smaller part of the overall workload.
• Maintain detailed, accurate lab notebooks and contribute to data summaries, figures, and reports.
• Collaborate with computational/AI team members to relay experimental results that inform iterative peptide down-selection across therapeutic programs.
• Independently design cell-based assay strategies (including new assay development for emerging peptide targets or developability endpoints) and propose follow-on testing based on prior results; Senior Scientists additionally mentor junior staff and help set assay development priorities.

Required Skills and Experience

• A PhD in molecular biology, biochemistry, microbiology, genetics, bioengineering, or a life-sciences related field, or an MSc with equivalent hands-on laboratory experience.
• Strong, demonstrated hands-on experience with mammalian cell culture (aseptic technique, cell line maintenance, viability/cytotoxicity assays).
• Expertise in flow cytometry using both antibody panels and fluorescent reporters.
• Experience with cell-based functional/signaling assays (e.g., cAMP, GPCR activation assays, reporter gene assays); GLP-1R experience specifically is a strong plus but not always required if you have transferable GPCR assay experience.
• Basic familiarity with microbial/fungal handling, or willingness to be trained on it (not expected to be a core strength).
• Ability to work independently on multi-step, multi-day assay timelines.
• Experience with hemolysis assays or other peptide membrane-toxicity screens.
• Knowledge of how to set up assays tracking peptide half-life in human serum, plasma, or simulated physiological fluids.
• Experience with permeability/barrier models or membrane permeabilization assays.
• Experience with immunogenicity risk assessment tools — in silico epitope prediction software, PBMC-based assays.

Advantageous Skills and Experience

• Direct experience with GLP-1R or other incretin receptor cell-based assays (cAMP/HTRF, luciferase reporter, or similar), or experience generating and working with stable receptor-expressing cell lines.
• Experience running Biacore (SPR) testing to measure exactly how fast, how tightly, and how long our peptides bind to their targets is a bonus skill.
• Experience with peptide handling/reconstitution or synthetic peptide chemistry basics.
• Exposure to high-throughput or medium-throughput screening formats.
• Any prior exposure to antimicrobial/antifungal susceptibility testing (MIC/MBC) against fungal pathogens (e.g., Candida albicans, Candida auris, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, or Fusarium graminearum) is a bonus.
• A great candidate won't just look at MIC numbers; they will want to know how it kills (e.g., cell wall disruption, membrane depolarization, or intracellular targeting). Understanding the mechanism of action (MoA) helps them design which secondary assays to run next.
• Mechanistic understanding of gene editing tools, including nucleases, base editors, transposons, retrotransposons, and recombinases is a bonus.
• Familiarity with modern software and AI tools. You don’t need to be writing code, but you should adopt an AI first mindset and we expect everyone at Basecamp Research to be intentional about how they use their time. If an AI agent can do that task, get the agent on it and save your headspace for informed discussions and effective decisions.
• Excellent communication skills with a talent for working with both technical and non-technical stakeholders. You can interface comfortably with software engineers, data scientists, biologists, product managers, and external partners, translating needs and keeping everyone in sync.
• A proactive, resourceful, and independent mindset. You take initiative to identify problems or inefficiencies and act on them. You’re the kind of person who spots an issue and rallies the right people to fix it before it escalates.
• Comfortable with ambiguity and rapid change. Our environment evolves quickly – you should thrive in a dynamic setting and be flexible in adjusting plans, while maintaining a positive, can-do attitude.
• High degree of ownership over your work. You care about outcomes and reliably follow through on tasks and take pride in delivering quality results.