Your position
1. Own the computational and structural design cycle for ion channels and light-sensitive membrane proteins (concept - design hypotheses - in silico screening - selection of candidates for testing), in close interaction with experimental and translational collaborators.
2. Define clear design objectives and success criteria and translate designs into practical construct and assay plans.
3. Develop and apply learned-model–assisted protein design workflows (structure prediction, inverse folding/sequence design, sequence scoring, and generative proposal methods) and integrate them with experimental feedback across iterative design cycles.
4. Execute a targeted experimental validation workflow (limited hands-on bench work): some routine mammalian cell culture, DNA cloning/construct handling as needed, transfection/transduction, and small-scale expression testing in HEK/CHO (or equivalent).
5. Coordinate and interpret functional readouts generated with the team (e.g., electrophysiology, imaging, biochemical assays), using results to iterate designs.
6. Communicate progress and results clearly in internal updates, written documentation, and project meetings; contribute to conference presentations and manuscripts as appropriate.
7. Maintain accurate records and effective day-to-day communication with your supervisor and collaborators.
Your profile
8. PhD (or equivalent experience) in computational biology, protein engineering, structural biology, biophysics, biochemistry, molecular/cell biology, or a closely related field.
9. ≥3 years of post-graduate (or equivalent) experience with at least two of the following:
10. computational/structure-based protein design (especially membrane proteins or ion channels),
11. learned-model–assisted protein design workflows (e.g., structure prediction, inverse folding/sequence design, protein language-model–based sequence scoring, and generative sequence/structure proposal tools),
12. generative or library-based design and screening strategies (incl. directed evolution),
13. molecular biology for rapid design–build–test cycles (cloning, construct design, expression optimization),
14. metagenomic mining/discovery pipelines and annotation,
15. quantitative functional screening (microplate assays and/or electrophysiology/imaging readouts).
16. Strong motivation to develop and refine methods, primarily in silico, with a light but competent experimental component.
17. Highly organized and precise; comfortable managing multiple design iterations with rigorous documentation and version control.
18. Solid programming and data-analysis skills (e.g., Python) and experience working with structural biology and protein-design software/toolchains (e.g., Rosetta; structure-prediction workflows such as AlphaFold-derived or equivalent; inverse-folding/sequence-design and generative design tools; MD/analysis toolchains).
19. Practical competence with mammalian cell culture and sterile technique; familiarity with BSL1/BSL2 environments.
20. Evidence of impact in protein design (e.g., first-author work, open-source contributions, released methods, or demonstrated engineered-function outcomes).