Full-Time
Senior Director/Vice President
Antibody Discovery and Engineering
Posted on 8/14/2025
BigHat Biosciences
51-200 employees
ML-guided antibody discovery and engineering
No salary listed
San Mateo, CA, USA
In Person
On-site requirement: five days a week.
 Biology & Biotech (4) |
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- Ph.D. in molecular biology, biochemistry, or related discipline, plus >15 years’ experience in antibody and protein engineering within the academic or biopharma/biotech sectors
- 10 years managerial experience
- Extensive experience in antibody discovery using both in vivo and in vitro approaches
- Proficiency with various protein display systems, such as yeast, bacteria, phage, and mRNA display
- Skilled in library creation, selection, and enrichment analysis
- Deep knowledge of antibody structure function relationships and awareness of computational and/or machine learning-based approaches to discover and optimize proteins, including utilization of protein design tools
- Deep expertise in biologics discovery and optimization from discovery to pre-IND
- Experience working with diverse antibody formats such as complex multispecifics, T-cell engagers, antibody fragments, antibody-drug conjugates, etc.
- Strong strategic vision and experience in developing and executing strategic plans aligned with organizational goals
- Accountable, meticulous with attention to detail, and able to multitask
- Strong teamwork and proactive communication skills
- Self-motivated and able to work independently in a cross-functional team environment
- Must be willing to work onsite 5 days a week
- Lead External Programs function, and manage a team of scientists working on BigHat’s partnered therapeutic programs
- Serve as a scientific leader of discovery and optimization efforts at BigHat, guiding teams to best leverage experimental and computational differentiators of the Milliner platform across all therapeutic and partnered programs
- Drive innovative antibody technologies that advance therapeutic pipelines and that expand BigHat’s ability to design and optimize differentiated therapeutics
- Work closely with scientists and leaders in DS/ML, Protein Sciences, and Platform groups to ensure program teams are collaborating effectively towards clinic-ready therapeutics
- Be a thought leader in developing novel approaches for the discovery and optimization of antibody therapeutics for BigHat’s internal pipeline and partnered antibody therapeutics
BigHat Biosciences designs and develops antibody therapies by combining machine learning with synthetic biology. Its Milliner platform integrates a wet-lab workflow with AI to discover, engineer, and fully characterize hundreds of recombinant antibodies each week, enabling rapid development of safer and more effective treatments for hard-to-treat diseases such as certain infections and cancers. Unlike traditional antibody discovery, Milliner provides end-to-end screening, purification, and characterization in a high-throughput, weekly workflow, speeding up the path from concept to candidate. The company differentiates itself through its integrated platform that couples ML-driven design with synthetic biology experimentation, a focus on challenging diseases, and a culture that emphasizes work-life balance. Its goal is to deliver faster, safer antibody therapies to patients by expanding access to rapid discovery and engineering capabilities for healthcare providers and patients alike.
Company Size
51-200
Company Stage
Series B
Total Funding
$99.3M
Headquarters
San Carlos, California
Founded
2019
Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- Synaffix ADC technology license expands pipeline into high-value oncology market segment.
- Series B $124M funding at $180M pre-money valuation enables platform scaling and hiring.
- Big pharma collaborations generate milestone payments and potential royalties on approved therapeutics.
What critics are saying
- CEO Mark DePristo resignation disrupts strategy execution during critical partnership scaling phase.
- Competitors Generate Biomedicines and AbCellera raise larger Series C rounds with superior valuations.
- Big pharma partners may internalize Milliner technology post-collaboration, eliminating licensing revenue streams.
What makes BigHat Biosciences unique
- Milliner platform synthesizes, purifies, and characterizes hundreds of antibodies weekly.
- Integrated wet lab with machine learning accelerates protein engineering versus traditional methods.
- Partnerships with Merck, J&J, AbbVie, and Amgen validate platform across multiple indications.
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6 month growth
↓ -2%1 year growth
↑ 2%2 year growth
↑ 4%BigHat Biosciences raised $124 million in Series B funding led by S32 on April 28, 2025, with a pre-money valuation of $180 million. Participants included Amgen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Quadrille Capital, Gaingels, GRIDS Capital, Axial, Quain Investments, Andreessen Horowitz, 8VC, AME Cloud Ventures, and Kevin Moore.
Co-founder Mark DePristo has stepped down as CEO of Bighat Biosciences Inc. and is succeeded by fellow co-founder Peyton Greenside, who was president and CSO.
The Danish company Adcendo and Chinese company Multitude Therapeutics entered into a $1 billion deal to develop ADCs for the treatment of cancer; and in August, the FDA lifted a partial hold on a Phase 1 trial evaluating an ADC candidate developed by MediLink Therapeutics and BioNTech for the treatment of advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer and breast cancer.
BigHat obtains access to Synaffix's site-specific ADC technology platform, and plans to combine Synaffix technology with its advanced ML antibody design platform to develop a new ADC pipeline
Similarly, AbbVie is collaborating with BigHat Biosciences to develop next-generation antibody therapeutics using the Milliner platform, focusing on oncology and neuroscience.