Principal Scientist - Analytical Method Development

About PopVax

PopVax is a clinical-stage, Indian full-stack biotech using generative AI to build first-in-class and best-in-class vaccines for infectious diseases, targeted cancer therapeutics, and personalized autoimmune therapies.

Our mission is funded by Vitalik Buterin's Balvi Fund, the Gates Foundation, the US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), Renaissance Philanthropy, and Good Ventures, with individual investments from Enveda founder Viswa Colluru and Tesla self-driving AI pioneer Dhaval Shroff.

We conduct our R&D work and GMP manufacturing at our integrated RNA Foundry in Hyderabad, India, in support of our Million Lives Mission to develop vaccines and therapeutics over the next decade with the potential to cumulatively save 1 million lives each year.

Our pipeline includes a broadly-protective COVID-19 vaccine, currently in a Phase I trial in Australia, first-in-class vaccines against Hepatitis C, Strep A and adult TB, as well as precision cancer therapies against pancreatic and liver cancer. We intend to take at least 5 novel vaccine and therapeutic candidates into clinical trials over the next two years.

About The Role

At PopVax, most of what we work on is new: de novo designed proteins and therapeutics, engineered antigens for novel vaccines, mRNA, novel ionizable lipids and lipid nanoparticles. Some were designed on a computer only weeks before they arrived in the lab. Our protein design teams routinely change sequences, structures, formats, and formulations as they learn from experiments. Each iteration creates a deceptively simple problem: how do we actually know what we made

That is where you come in.

We're looking for a Principal Scientist to build the analytical methods to answer that question. More often than not, a method buried in an academic paper can be adapted. And sometimes the molecule will behave in a way that makes the obvious method useless, and you will need to work out a better one from first principles.

Your job is not to run an HPLC or execute an existing protocol. It is to understand the molecule, decide what needs to be measured, determine how to measure it, and turn that approach into a rigorous and reproducible method that can eventually follow the molecule from early R&D into manufacturing, QC, and the clinic.

If you have spent your career developing methods for new proteins, peptides, nucleic acids, nanoparticles, or other emerging therapeutic modalities, you will find the problems here familiar. If this sounds like you, in your application tell us about a method you developed where your first approach failed, and what you tried next.

This role is based on-site at our RNA Foundry in Hyderabad and reports to our Chief Science Officer.

Responsibilities

You will own analytical method development across a fast-moving pipeline that spans various modalities. You are not expected to arrive proficient in all of them, but you should be comfortable with breaking a new analytical challenge into a series of clear questions, drawing on literature and colleagues, designing experiments, and refining the methods as the data come in.

You Will

• Develop and optimize fit-for-purpose analytical methods for de novo designed proteins and therapeutics using HPLC/UHPLC, LC-MS/MS, electrophoretic methods, SDS-PAGE, spectroscopy, and other appropriate techniques.
• Select and apply appropriate assays to characterize product-specific attributes, including identity, purity, integrity, concentration, aggregation, degradation, impurities, and biological activity or potency where relevant.
• Adapt methods from academic literature, regulatory guidance, and industry practice to new molecules and modalities and build new ones from first principles.
• Troubleshoot analytical methods and investigate unexpected or conflicting results.
• Work closely with protein design, molecular biology, formulation, process development, manufacturing, and QC teams as molecules and processes evolve.
• Take methods from initial development through optimization, qualification, validation, and transfer to QC.
• Lead and mentor analytical scientists and establish strong standards for experimental design, documentation, and data integrity.
• Support stability studies, GMP manufacturing, regulatory submissions, and regulatory inspections as programs progress into the clinic.
  
  

Minimum Qualifications

• PhD in Analytical Chemistry, Biochemistry, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Biotechnology, or a related field, with 5+ years of relevant industry experience.
• A demonstrated track record of developing analytical methods for novel biologics or emerging therapeutic modalities, not only executing or transferring established methods.
• Deep expertise in HPLC/UHPLC method development, including SEC, IEX, and RP-HPLC.
• Strong LC-MS/MS experience.
• Hands-on experience with complementary techniques such as capillary electrophoresis, SDS-PAGE, agarose gels, and spectroscopy.
• Strong understanding of biomolecular characterization, separation science, critical quality attributes, and analytical troubleshooting.
• Experience leading analytical scientists and setting analytical strategy across multiple R&D programs.
• High standards for experimental rigor, documentation, and data integrity.
  
  

Preferred Qualifications

• LC-MS/MS for peptide mapping, sequence confirmation, impurity identification, or lipid characterization.
• Experience taking methods through qualification, validation, and QC transfer, with knowledge of ICH Q14 and Q2 and GMP requirements.
• Experience in analytical method development for radiochemistry and radioligand/radiopharmaceutical programs, including cold optimization and radioanalytical method development.
  
  

Pay And Benefits

We pay in the top 1% for comparable roles in India, and your exact salary will depend on your skills, experience and qualifications. You'll also receive stock options, and we'll help you relocate to Hyderabad. Our comprehensive health insurance covers you, your spouse and your children, including pre-existing conditions, and you can add your parents. You'll also get accidental and term insurance, and free access to doctors 24x7.