Pioneer Hi-Bred, a DuPont business, is currently seeking a Senior Research Associate in Hayward, CA. The Senior Research Associate will use phage display and related screening technologies to identify high affinity binding peptides. The individual’s primary responsibility will be to screen libraries against a variety of targets and to characterize recovered clones for binding specificity and affinity. The individual will also be responsible for constructing additional libraries and fusion proteins to identify lead molecules for testing in plant and microbial expression systems.

Duties/Responsibilities:

Prepares plasmid constructs to express target proteins in bacterial systems. Assists with protein purification and QC using SDS-PAGE and Western blot analyses. Screens phage display libraries against purified target proteins and characterizes recovered clones by ELISA and sequence analysis. Measures the binding specificity and affinity of the recovered phage-displayed proteins by ELISA and other affinity measurement technologies. Constructs phage display libraries to investigate alternate scaffold strategies and to optimize leads which are isolated from primary library screens. Prepares fusion protein constructs of the identified protein ligands to measure their activities in planta. Conducts experiments adapting procedures as required. Plans new experiments in consultation with manager. May exercise limited technical discretion in the design, execution and interpretation of experiments. Summarizes experiments, manages and analyzes data and prepares reports. Supervises and is accountable for assigned projects and coordinates experiments with other locations. May organize and supervise work of other employees.

Qualifications:

Master’s degree in molecular biology or related field with 2 to 4 years of industry-related experience required, or equivalent amounts of education and experience. The ideal candidate should be proficient using a wide variety of molecular biology techniques, particularly in the areas of recombinant diversity systems, vector construction, bacterial protein expression, and protein analysis techniques (SDS-PAGE, Western blotting). Experience in plant biotechnology and assay development is desirable, but not required. Strong oral and written communications skills, as well as good data record keeping are essential. The candidate should be able to solve complex problems in creative and effective ways and must effectively coordinate their efforts with other members of the project team.

Apply online at www.pioneer.com/careers. Submit to job 16669BR. EOE

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