Research Scientist, Life Sciences (Large Molecules, Antibody Design)

Location: Fully on-site in the San Francisco Bay Area, United States

Annual salary: $300,000–$320,000 USD

Company

Anthropic develops reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems and applies AI to biological research through its Life Sciences team.

What you will do

• Design and engineer therapeutic antibodies across target and epitope selection, format choice, humanization, affinity maturation, Fc engineering, and candidate selection.
• Define screening cascades covering binding kinetics, epitope binning, species cross-reactivity, cell-based functional assays, and developability.
• Plan antibody programs from lead optimization through IND-enabling pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, toxicology, and CMC handoff.
• Coordinate antibody production, characterization, and in vitro and in vivo studies with contract research organizations and academic partners.
• Evaluate AI-designed antibodies, drive experimental readouts, and feed results back to AI research teams.
• Maintain high-quality documentation of sequences, protocols, raw data, and failure modes, and communicate findings across biology, AI, and life sciences groups.

Requirements

• PhD in biochemistry, protein engineering, immunology, molecular biology, or a related field.
• Demonstrated therapeutic antibody discovery and engineering experience, including helping take at least one antibody from discovery through candidate selection and IND-enabling studies.
• Working knowledge of antibody IND requirements across pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, toxicology, and chemistry, manufacturing, and controls (CMC).
• Ability to navigate ambiguity, define problems in a rapidly evolving research environment, work independently, and collaborate across functions.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.

Nice to have

• 5+ years of therapeutic antibody experience beyond the PhD.
• Experience advancing more than one antibody program into IND-enabling studies or the clinic, including contributions to pre-IND or IND documents.
• Hands-on antibody expression, purification, and biophysical characterization experience.
• Experience directing antibody production, assays, and in vivo studies at contract research organizations.
• Structural biology, computational protein design, or coding skills, such as Python for sequence and assay data analysis or structure prediction and protein design tools.
• Experience using AI or ML tools in the life sciences, plus publications or patents demonstrating scientific impact.

Culture & Benefits

• Collaborative, cross-functional research environment focused on large-scale AI and life sciences research.
• All staff are currently expected to work from an Anthropic office at least 25% of the time; this role requires more time and is fully on-site.
• Competitive compensation, optional equity donation matching, generous vacation and parental leave, flexible working hours, and office collaboration space.
• Visa sponsorship is available, although sponsorship cannot be successfully provided for every role and candidate; immigration-lawyer support is offered.
• Anthropic is a public benefit corporation headquartered in San Francisco.

Hiring process

• Review Anthropic's guidance on candidate AI usage during the application process.
• For legitimate recruiting communication, verify that recruiters contact candidates from @anthropic.com addresses or identify vetted recruiting agencies; recruiters will not request money, fees, or banking information before the first day.