Scientist I, Protein Engineering.

Location: Boulder, CO

Reports To: Principal Scientist, Protein Engineering

About Us

Alta is reinventing how the world sources critical minerals — using protein-based chemistry to extract rare earth elements and other essential materials from challenging feedstocks with unmatched selectivity. By dramatically reducing the cost and environmental impact of mineral separation, Alta is making it possible to unlock new sources of supply for 21st-century technologies. As global demand accelerates, securing these materials has become one of the most urgent challenges facing U.S. competitiveness and national security. Backed by top investors and government partners, Alta is growing fast and hiring mission-driven scientists and engineers to help us scale our platform and transform the future of mining.

Role Summary

Alta is seeking a Scientist I in Protein Engineering to join our Applied Biology team. This role will be responsible for developing and implementing assays for data-driven protein design campaigns towards discovering and validating enhanced binding specificity. This role will be a key contributor to building high-throughput screening capabilities and developing assays for ion binding and bioconjugation.

A successful candidate will have expertise in developing and executing assays that support protein discovery workflows in small molecule, ion, or metal binding proteins. The candidate will collaborate with data scientists, strain engineers, analytics, and chemistry groups to generate robust and reliable assays that scale. The individual will join a group of collaborative scientists with diverse skill sets and must have strong communication and critical thinking skills with a rigorous approach to science. The role requires full-time, on-site presence at our Boulder lab and may occasionally involve off-hours work.

Key Responsibilities

Assay Development and Execution

• Work within a team to develop and execute high-throughput assays for protein characterization including for protein quantification, bioconjugations, and binding capacities.
• Design and implement microtiter plate workflows for directed evolution campaigns.
• Develop and onboard novel assays for protein characterization.

Data Analysis and Protein Discovery Support

• Work with scientists for rapid turnaround of testing data to aid in novel protein discovery and leverage the outcomes for additional protein design campaigns.
• Interpret test data and protein analysis data for guiding round-over-round improvements.

Collaboration and Documentation

• Collaborate with strain engineers to achieve reliable microtiter production.
• Ensure excellent practices in documentation of all protocols and experiments.

Required Qualifications

• Ph.D. in biochemistry, biophysics, molecular biology, or related fields with 1-3+ years of research experience.
• Strong hands-on laboratory skills, with a record of independently running and troubleshooting experiments.
• Expertise in developing and optimizing high-throughput biochemical assays and library-scale workflows.
• Experience in design and implementation of automated workflows.
• Experience with assay miniaturization and plate-based formats (96/384-well)
• Experience characterizing protein–ligand binding affinity and kinetics, such as those used in antibody engineering.
• Experience with assay analysis for selecting novel candidate leads.
• Deep knowledge of classic and state-of-the-art molecular biology and multiplex library-scale approaches to directed evolution campaigns.
• Demonstrated knowledge of experimental design, the scientific method, and statistical analysis.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills and ability to work within different teams.
• Strong organizational and documentation skills.
• Must be authorized to work in the US without sponsorship

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in protein discovery and directed evolution campaigns to improve protein characteristics.
• Experience with metalloproteins, protein-ion or small molecule interactions, or bioconjugate biochemistry
• Experience in bioinformatics pipelines and scripting to aid in data analysis and protein design.
• Experience with generative protein design and structural modeling.

Compensation & Benefits

The starting pay range for this position is $95,000 - $115,000, commensurate with educational background and work experience.

Benefits include:

• 401(K)
• Medical, Dental, Vision plans (or equivalent)
• Flexible Time Off
• Paid Parental Leave
• Paid Sick Leave
• Company Holidays