SUMMARY OF THE ROLE
1. In vitro discovery: Lead CAR construct design and engineering; characterize activity of engineered cell therapies using human primary cells and functional co-culture assays; develop and optimize assays; preferred flexibility to additionally contribute to in vivo study design and execution in partnership with in vivo pharmacology. 
2. Data and analytics: Apply a rigorous, data-driven approach to experimental design, mechanism-of-action studies, and decision-making; use appropriate analytics and visualization; document work to high standards. 
3. Cross-functional collaboration: Drive alignment with other teams including Pharmacology & Toxicology, CMC, translational science and clinical. 
4. Team and communication: Present results and recommendations to teams; mentor colleagues and foster a productive lab environment. 

REQUIREMENTS
Essential: 
Fresh PhD in immunology, cell biology, or related field; or MS with 5+ years demonstrated impact in cell therapy discovery
Skills & Capabilities 
•    Human T-cell isolation (PBMC processing, magnetic selection), activation (CD3/CD28, cytokines), and culture. 
•    Lentiviral transduction MOI optimization; electroporation for gene edits. 
•    Flow cytometry panel design, compensation/gating; advanced phenotyping including memory, exhaustion, activation, and safety markers. 
•    Functional assays: target killing (luciferase/impedance), cytokines, proliferation/persistence, serial-kill or rechallenge assays; antigen density titration and specificity testing. 
•    Molecular methods: PCR/qPCR, plasmid prep; amplicon NGS prep for edit verification and transgene integrity. 
•    Data & Tools: Proficiency with ELN, FlowJo, GraphPad; understanding of assay acceptance criteria and basic statistics. 
•    Soft Skills: Strong organization, communication, troubleshooting, and ability to manage multiple concurrent studies while mentoring juniors. 
•    Compliance: Biosafety level 2 practices, animal ethics (IACUC), research GxP awareness, and data integrity standards. 
Preferred Experience: 
•    Experience with armored CARs, or allogeneic edits. 
•    Advancing CAR-T candidates through lead optimization to preclinical packages; method transfer and qualification with PD/Analytical. 
•    Scale-up evaluations; familiarity with CQAs and comparability for gene-modified T-cell products. 
•    Excellent organisational skills, with the proven ability to deliver high quality work under pressure and against tight timelines
•    Knowledge of, and enthusiasm for, the aims and objectives of personalised healthcare