Forward Deployed Scientist
Role Overview
You work with customers to help them design better proteins and get more out of every experiment, sitting between their design models and our lab.
In London, a large share of that work is with ARIA. Adaptyv has been selected for ARIA's second cohort of Activation Partners, and ARIA, the UK's Advanced Research + Invention Agency, is funding our new automated lab in London: the UK's first AI-native automated wet lab.
ARIA backs ambitious research programmes across areas such as engineering human immunity, protein-based materials and synthetic plants. The teams it funds, called Creators, often need experimental capabilities that do not yet exist. You'll work directly with those teams to define what needs to be built, develop the assays, and bring them onto our automation platform.
Our goal is to help the next 100 UK biotechs and neopharmas get started by the end of 2028.
Key Skills for This Role
Full Job Posting
About the Role
You work with customers to help them design better proteins and get more out of every experiment, sitting between their design models and our lab.
In London, a large share of that work is with ARIA. Adaptyv has been selected for ARIA's second cohort of Activation Partners, and ARIA, the UK's Advanced Research + Invention Agency, is funding our new automated lab in London: the UK's first AI-native automated wet lab.
ARIA backs ambitious research programmes across areas such as engineering human immunity, protein-based materials and synthetic plants. The teams it funds, called Creators, often need experimental capabilities that do not yet exist. You'll work directly with those teams to define what needs to be built, develop the assays, and bring them onto our automation platform.
Our goal is to help the next 100 UK biotechs and neopharmas get started by the end of 2028.
What You'll Do
Lead scientific projects with customers. Translate biological questions into clear protein design and experimental strategies, including targets, success criteria, constructs, controls and assays.
Guide protein design strategy. Help teams choose the right approaches for the problem, from de novo and diffusion-based design to protein language models, structure prediction and physics-based methods.
Turn data into decisions. Analyse binding, expression, stability and other assay data with customers and determine what the next round of designs should test.
Develop new experimental capabilities. When an ARIA programme needs an assay that does not yet exist, work with the Creator team and our scientists to develop it, validate it and bring it onto the automation platform.
Shape future ARIA programmes. Work with ARIA Programme Directors to understand the experimental capabilities upcoming Creator cohorts are likely to need and help us prepare for them.
Build long-term scientific partnerships. Become a trusted scientific counterpart to the teams you work with, and bring what you learn back into our product, science and platform roadmap.
What We're Looking For
Strong protein science foundation. A degree and/or hands-on experience in protein design, computational biology, biochemistry, structural biology or a related field.
Biophysical characterisation experience. Deep hands-on experience with SPR, BLI, nanoDSF or related methods is required.
Fluency in modern protein design. You understand the major approaches used in the field, their strengths and limitations, and how to apply them to real design problems.
Strong quantitative instincts. Comfortable working with Python, notebooks and basic statistics to analyse noisy experimental data and reach clear conclusions.
Excellent scientific communication. Able to work closely with researchers, understand what they are trying to achieve and explain trade-offs clearly.
Comfort with ambiguity. You can take an underspecified scientific problem, form hypotheses, design the right experiments and iterate when things do not work.
High ownership. You take responsibility for scientific outcomes rather than simply handing work from one team to another.
Experience in assay development, lab automation or working with external scientific partners is a plus.
Details
Location: London, UK (on-site), with travel to customers and ARIA Creator sites, and regular time at our Lausanne lab.
Type: Full time
Start date: ASAP. Our London lab comes online in 2027.
Application deadline
We are reviewing applicants on a rolling basis.
Qualifications
- Strong protein science foundation. A degree and/or hands-on experience in protein design, computational biology, biochemistry, structural biology or a related field.
- Biophysical characterisation experience. Deep hands-on experience with SPR, BLI, nanoDSF or related methods is required.
- Fluency in modern protein design. You understand the major approaches used in the field, their strengths and limitations, and how to apply them to real design problems.
- Strong quantitative instincts. Comfortable working with Python, notebooks and basic statistics to analyse noisy experimental data and reach clear conclusions.
- Excellent scientific communication. Able to work closely with researchers, understand what they are trying to achieve and explain trade-offs clearly.
- Comfort with ambiguity. You can take an underspecified scientific problem, form hypotheses, design the right experiments and iterate when things do not work.
- High ownership. You take responsibility for scientific outcomes rather than simply handing work from one team to another.
- Details
- Location: London, UK (on-site), with travel to customers and ARIA Creator sites, and regular time at our Lausanne lab.
- Type: Full time
- Start date: ASAP. Our London lab comes online in 2027.
- Application deadline
- We are reviewing applicants on a rolling basis.
Preferred Qualifications
- Experience in assay development, lab automation or working with external scientific partners is a plus.
Responsibilities
- Lead scientific projects with customers. Translate biological questions into clear protein design and experimental strategies, including targets, success criteria, constructs, controls and assays.
- Guide protein design strategy. Help teams choose the right approaches for the problem, from de novo and diffusion-based design to protein language models, structure prediction and physics-based methods.
- Turn data into decisions. Analyse binding, expression, stability and other assay data with customers and determine what the next round of designs should test.
- Develop new experimental capabilities. When an ARIA programme needs an assay that does not yet exist, work with the Creator team and our scientists to develop it, validate it and bring it onto the automation platform.
- Shape future ARIA programmes. Work with ARIA Programme Directors to understand the experimental capabilities upcoming Creator cohorts are likely to need and help us prepare for them.
- Build long-term scientific partnerships. Become a trusted scientific counterpart to the teams you work with, and bring what you learn back into our product, science and platform roadmap.
- Strong protein science foundation. A degree and/or hands-on experience in protein design, computational biology, biochemistry, structural biology or a related field.
- Biophysical characterisation experience. Deep hands-on experience with SPR, BLI, nanoDSF or related methods is required.
- Fluency in modern protein design. You understand the major approaches used in the field, their strengths and limitations, and how to apply them to real design problems.
- Strong quantitative instincts. Comfortable working with Python, notebooks and basic statistics to analyse noisy experimental data and reach clear conclusions.
- Excellent scientific communication. Able to work closely with researchers, understand what they are trying to achieve and explain trade-offs clearly.
- Comfort with ambiguity. You can take an underspecified scientific problem, form hypotheses, design the right experiments and iterate when things do not work.
- High ownership. You take responsibility for scientific outcomes rather than simply handing work from one team to another.
- Experience in assay development, lab automation or working with external scientific partners is a plus.
- Location: London, UK (on-site), with travel to customers and ARIA Creator sites, and regular time at our Lausanne lab.
- Type: Full time
- Start date: ASAP. Our London lab comes online in 2027.
- Application deadline
- We are reviewing applicants on a rolling basis.
About Adaptyv
Apply for this job in 1 click
Skip the repetitive application forms
Install the Base Career Chrome Extension and autofill job applications across major job boards with your profile.
Trusted by over 500,000 job seekers on Base Career
More from this employer
More jobs at Adaptyv
Software Engineer, Backend
London, GBR
Head of UK Lab Operations
London, GBR
Head of UK Operations
London, GBR
Software Engineer, Product
London, GBR
Scientific Account Executive
, USA
UK Ops & Programme Manager
London, GBR
Scientific Account Executive
London, GBR
Scientific Account Executive
, USA