NATA 2405 Senior Researcher – Chemistry

View Vacancy -- NATA 2405 Senior Researcher – Chemistry Open Date
30/04/#####, 10:00
Close Date
30/05#####4, 23:55
Research Institute
NATA
Research Institute / Unit Information
Nucleic Acid Therapy AcceleratorThe Medical Research Council (MRC), as part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), have invested a total of £30m over 4 years through the Strategic Priorities Fund to establish a nucleic acid therapy accelerator (NATA) that will support state-of-the-art interdisciplinary research to solve critical issues in nucleic acid drug delivery, through focused NATA research challenges and a NATA infrastructure hub. This will be an internationally unique resource, drawing on world-leading academic expertise in partnership with innovative businesses to discover and test viable ways of delivering oligonucleotide therapies, anchoring the oligonucleotide therapy industry in the UK for many years to come.The NATA will focus on bringing together key stakeholders around the infrastructure hub while catalysing collaborative R&D activity with focused support to tackle significant barriers facing oligonucleotide therapy delivery to key organs. This investment will support capacity building in terms of equipment, upskilling and domain expertise that will be essential in developing critical mass to catalyse and de-risk the development of next generation nucleic acid medicines.The NATA has the opportunity to establish a new industrial sector attracting and developing highly skill jobs with the potential of the UK being the leader in the field where global nucleic acid therapies market is expected to be £6 billion b#####25.
UK Research and Innovation is a new entity that brings together nine partners to create an independent organisation with a strong voice for research and innovation, more information can be found at www.ukri.org
Band
MRC - 3
Location
Didcot, Oxfordshire
Contract Type
Permanent
Job Type
Science
Full Time / Part Time
Full Time
Job Description
The Role The senior scientist will be critical in supporting the NATA chemistry department by being a key member of the chemistry team supporting the design, synthesis and development of new and novel therapeutic oligonucleotides for various translational and collaborative projects. The successful candidate will both work independently and be part of project teams. This individual will be involved in the design, development and testing of novel chemical modalities for Nucleic Acid delivery. This position will also include the optimization of the synthesis of Nucleic Acid Therapeutics in the direction of maximizing their potency, minimizing side effects, and employing other beneficial features that improve their therapeutic precision and impact. Main Responsibilities Serve as a key member in optimizing current Nucleic Acid Therapeutic platform, development of new chemical modalities and production of multiple lead compounds.
Play an active role in synthesis, purification and analysis of novel nucleosides, phosphoramidites and oligonucleotides with minimal supervision.
Contribute actively to synthetic route designing, implementing new techniques and methods.
Contribute to advanced conjugation chemistry.
Recognise opportunities for the creation of intellectual property and cooperate in patent protection and exploitation.
Write and submit manuscripts for publication with the Chemistry Lead R and I.
Managing chemistry laboratory resources efficiently and troubleshooting equipment and synthetic procedures.
Conducting quality control and preparing data sheets.
Keeping excellent scientific records and implementing databases.
Presenting work internally, externally and contributing to lab meetings.
Provide regular updates on project status to the Chemistry Lead R and I.
Participate in supervising R & D activities at external contract research organizations.
Maintaining an up to date and deep understanding of relevant literature.
Work effectively with collaborators. Other Responsibilities Line management responsibilities.
Attend relevant meetings and conferences.
Support quality control duties when necessary.
Undertake any necessary training that contributes to the development of the main responsibilities.
Person Specification
Essential selection criteria PhD degree in Chemistry with expertise in synthetic organic chemistry, oligonucleotide chemistry or nucleoside/nucleic acid chemistry. Post-PhD postdoctoral or industrial experience preferred, however fresh PhDs with excellent track record will also be considered.
Extensive experience of working in a chemistry lab (academia or industry) conducting
air/moisture
sensitive reactions.
Hands-on experience with purification techniques like reverse phase, normal phase, HPLC, ion-exchange chromatography and flash column chromatography.
Proficient in characterization techniques such as LC-MS, HRMS, NMR etc (including data analysis and interpretation).
Expertise in conjugation chemistry.
Computer Literacy; should be familiar with chemistry softwares like Chemdraw and Mestrenova and search tools like Scifinder/Reaxys.
Experience in draft ing research articles
and patents for publication.
Ability to communicate scientifically, capable of critical thinking and troubleshooting when necessary. Experience in establishing, optimising and adopting operating procedures. Good communication skills, team-player, organized, eye for detail & willingness to learn. Desirable selection criteria Experience in solid support synthesis or working with an oligonucleotide synthesizer.
Knowledge in bioinformatics.
Interdisciplinary interests with an emphasis on chemical biology.
Experience in large data set analysis and database management.
The MRC is a great place to work and progress your career, be it in scientific research or the support functions.The MRC is a unique working environment where our researchers are rewarded by world class innovation and collaboration opportunities that the MRC name brings. The MRC is an excellent place to develop yourself further and a range of training & development opportunities will be available to you, including professional registration with the Science Council.Choosing to come to work at the MRC (part of UKRI) means that you will have access to a whole host of benefits from a defined benefit pension scheme and excellent holiday entitlement to access to employee shopping/travel discounts and salary sacrifice cycle to work scheme, as well as the chance to put the MRC and UKRI on your CV in the future.Our success is dependent upon our ability to embrace diversity and draw on the skills, understanding and experience of all our people. We welcome applications from all sections of the community irrespective of gender, race, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, sexual orientation, disability or age. As "Disability Confident" employers, we guarantee to interview all applicants with disabilities who meet the minimum criteria for the vacancy.UKRI supports research in areas that include animal health, agriculture and food security, and bioscience for health which includes research on animals, genetic modification and stem cell research. Whilst you may not have direct involvement in this type of research, you should consider whether this conflicts with your personal values or beliefs.We will conduct a full and comprehensive pre-employment check as an essential part of the recruitment process on all individuals that are offered a position with UKRI. This will include a security check and an extreme organisations affiliation check. The role holder will be required to have the appropriate level of security screening/vetting required for the role. UKRI reserves the right to run or re-run security clearance as required during the course of employment.
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