Senior Data Scientist I - Computational Protein design

About the Department
The Protein Engineering department is part of Novo Nordisk's Computational Drug Design (CDD) area where we apply and develop state-of-the-art capabilities in structure-based modelling and AI/ML approaches for drug design. Scientists within CDD collaborate seamlessly with teams across the globe to invent better molecules faster. With an unbiased approach to drug modalities, in-house access to the newest screening techniques, and world-class experimentation, we have a wealth of opportunities to impact our pipeline and ultimately save and improve patient lives. We work in multidisciplinary, highly collaborative discovery teams both locally and across Novo Nordisk's global network to invent novel medicines by applying advanced computational techniques and developing innovative computational methods. We also engage in external collaborations to ensure access to cutting edge research and technology.
The Protein Engineering team is focusing on the design of biopharmaceutical proteins such as protein minibinder and protein replacement therapies, using Molecular Modelling and Machine Learning approaches. We collaborate closely with our experimental colleagues in early research to improve and accelerate the design of new drug candidates. With a team of scientists located in Denmark, United States and potentially also United Kingdom, we strive to deliver the latest advancements in protein therapeutics to benefit patient health and global medicine.
The Position
The Senior Data Scientist I will contribute to the research team's effort towards exploring and creating new technology and being a world leader in data science within our fields. A key part of the role will be to work within the drug development projects in early research and support the development of new drug candidates as well as the initiation of new drug pipeline projects. This requires close collaboration with other research scientists in multidisciplinary teams and solving very ambitious scientific goals. The position also requires close collaboration with our data science and machine learning colleagues across the global sites of the 'Digital Science & Innovation' area as well as to contribute to the onboarding and development of new computational drug design methods. For this position, we are looking for someone with experience and interests in de novo design of protein minibinder, and/or protein engineering of enzymes and other biopharmaceutical proteins.
***Please note we are open to hiring at more senior titles commensurate with experience***
Relationships
The Senior Data Scientist I reports to the head of Protein Engineering. Internal partners include data scientists, specialists, engineers, software developers, technology scouts & partnership developers, system engineers, designers, anthropologists, medical doctors, IT professionals, and others across US and Denmark.
External relationships include commercial and academic collaboration partners.
Essential Functions

• Apply computational methods to guide the design of biologics, including de novo design of proteins and optimization of biopharmaceutical properties of proteins and enzymes via structure- and ML-based methods
• Apply predictive models for biologics design, including developability engineering and experimental design of high-throughput variant libraries.
• Influences the research pipeline by proposing new compound design projects that support the strategic in-house research agenda

Physical Requirements
up to 10% overnight travel required, potentially international
Qualifications

• Master's degree, or PhD is preferred. Bachelor's degree required. Degree within a computational chemistry or biology discipline, such as Computational Protein Design or Molecular Modelling preferred
  • A master's degree with 3+ years' relevant experience, or PhD with little to no years' relevant experience, OR Bachelor's degree with 5+ years' relevant experience can be considered
• Relevant experience includes some combination of:
  • Research experience in the field of protein therapeutics/design within industry or academics (industry preferred)
  • Knowledgeable in applying structure-based computational drug design techniques, preferably for protein minibinder, enzymes, or other biopharmaceutical proteins.
  • Experience with protein modelling software such as Rosetta, Schrodinger and/or MOE.
  • Experience working in Python (or other scientific programming language) to curate and analyze data
  • Experience in working in multidisciplinary teams and working environment(s)
  • Ability to perform in-depth data analysis and present results and conclusions to project and leadership teams
  • Excellent written and oral communication skills
  • Detail oriented with strong presentation and documentation skills
• Preferred experience includes:
  • Drug discovery experience in the field of biologics
  • De novo protein design
  • Experience with QSAR analysis and Machine Learning for property predictions or design of compounds
  • Experience working with cloud compute services such as AWS S3, EC2 or Azure

We commit to an inclusive recruitment process and equality of opportunity for all our job applicants.
At Novo Nordisk we recognize that it is no longer good enough to aspire to be the best company in the world. We need to aspire to be the best company for the world and we know that this is only possible with talented employees with diverse perspectives, backgrounds and cultures. We are therefore committed to creating an inclusive culture that celebrates the diversity of our employees, the patients we serve and communities we operate in. Together, we're life changing.
Novo Nordisk is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, protected veteran status or any other characteristic protected by local, state or federal laws, rules or regulations.
If you are interested in applying to Novo Nordisk and need special assistance or an accommodation to apply, please call us at 1-855-411-5290. This contact is for accommodation requests only and cannot be used to inquire about the status of applications.