Group Leader - Antibody Screening and Pharmacology

Reports to: Associate Director - Antibody Discovery & Protein Science

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Full time 35 hours per week (other flexible-working requests will also be considered if it meets business needs)

Location: Babraham Research Campus, Cambridge with flexibility (3 days minimum per week onsite at the laboratory site).

Visa sponsorship: Cancer Research UK can consider visa sponsorship for this vacancy. If this applies to you, please ensure that this is clearly marked on your application.

Recruitment process: Initial telephone screening interview, followed by onsite F2F assessment for successful candidates.

At Cancer Research UK, we exist to beat cancer.

To support our mission, we are looking for a passionate and dedicated Group Leader to lead the Antibody Discovery Cell Screening Team, overseeing antibody screening, pharmacology, candidate triaging, and data-driven selection to advance pre-clinical drug candidates.

As the world’s biggest medical research charity, we’ve helped bring fourteen new cancer drugs to market. However, there is still an urgent need to bring more effective treatments to patients faster.

Cancer Research Horizons (CRH) is CRUK’s internal translation engine. CRUK’s established drug discovery teams operate under one organisation and leadership team. Our unique combination of cancer biology expertise and access to CRUK’s world-class academic network, coupled with cutting edge technology platforms and clinical expertise enables us to 1) bring new treatments to patients faster and 2) tackle the biggest challenges in discovering cancer drugs by seeking out more radical ideas and embracing risk in our bid to achieve success.

Based at sites in Cambridge, the CRUK Scotland Institute in Glasgow, and Newcastle University, Cancer Research Horizons employs :180 staff from both industrial and academic backgrounds

What will I be doing?

Key accountabilities include:

• Lead and develop the Antibody Discovery Cell Screening Team, setting the vision and providing scientific and strategic leadership in antibody drug discovery and immunology.
• Oversee the design, execution and optimisation of pharmacological assays to evaluate antibody efficacy, mechanism of action and candidate potential.
• Define and implement screening and triaging strategies, integrating developability, binding and functional data to support informed candidate selection.
• Apply experience in delivering pre-clinical candidates to establish critical experiments, success criteria and decision points for program progression.
• Drive scientific and technical innovation through new technologies, methodologies, external collaborations and partnerships.
• Contribute to the strategic leadership of the Antibody Discovery & Protein Science team and the wider research strategy.
• Manage team expertise, capacity and resources to support portfolio governance, decision-making and capability development.
• Ensure alignment with N3CR principles and CRUK policies, working closely with relevant stakeholders and funding teams.
• Represent the team across therapeutic projects, cross-site initiatives and external scientific communities.
• Communicate and collaborate effectively with internal and external stakeholders to influence decision‑making and drive outcomes.
• Promote scientific excellence through publications, presentations, advisory roles, and the training and development of colleagues.
• Foster an inclusive culture where equality, diversity and inclusion are embedded in decision‑making.

What are we looking for?

• PhD in Immunology, Pharmacology, Molecular Biology, or a related scientific discipline.
• Significant industry experience in antibody drug discovery, spanning hit identification, lead optimisation and candidate delivery.
• Proven leadership capability, with a strong track record of building, developing and inspiring high-performing teams within matrixed research environments.
• Expertise in candidate triaging, assay development and interpretation of complex data from automated and high-throughput screening platforms.
• Strong understanding of antibody developability and multiple antibody modalities, including bispecific antibodies, ADCs and T-cell engagers.
• Ability to make data-driven decisions, prioritise across multiple projects and apply translational and in vivo pharmacology expertise to programme progression.
• Demonstrated success in delivering scientific and strategic impact across diverse research portfolios through leadership and innovation.
• Established external scientific profile, evidenced by publications, conference presentations and a strong professional network.
• Agile, collaborative and proactive approach, with the ability to thrive in a fast-paced and evolving environment.
• Awareness of, and ideally experience applying, emerging AI technologies within drug discovery. (Desirable).

Our organisation values are designed to guide all that we do.

Bold: Act with ambition, courage and determination

Credible: Act with rigour and professionalism

Human : Act to have a positive impact on people

Together: Act inclusively and collaboratively

We’re looking for people who can believe in and embody these organisation values and can use them to drive forward progress against our mission to beat cancer.

What will I gain?

We create a working environment that supports your wellbeing and provide a generous benefits package, a wide range of career and personal development opportunities and high-quality tools. Our policies and processes enable you to improve your work-life balance, take positive steps in your career and achieve your personal wellbeing goals.

You can explore our benefits by visiting our careers web page.

We operate an anonymised shortlisting process in our commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion. CVs are required for all applications; but we won’t be able to view them until we invite you for an interview. Instead, we ask you to complete the work history section of the online application form for us to be able to assess you fairly and objectively.

For more updates on our work and careers, follow us on: Linked In, Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube.

Our vision is to create a charity where everyone feels like they belong, benefits from and participates in, the work we do. We actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and cultures, in particular those from ethnic minority backgrounds who are currently under-represented.

Unfortunately, we are unable to recruit anyone below the age of 18, so that we can protect young people from health & safety and safeguarding risks.

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