Careers

Published: 20/10/2020

Job description:

Confo Therapeutics, a spin-out of VIB and VUB, is a drug discovery company built around a disruptive technology which enables it to address ‘undruggable’ GPCRs. The company is building a portfolio of transformative medicines in various disease areas. Confo Therapeutics is currently located on the Etterbeek campus of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and on the Technology Park in Zwijnaarde/Ghent. More information about Confo’s technology and strategy can be found on www.confotherapeutics.com.

For the expansion of our drug development team in Ghent we are currently looking for a (m/f):

CMC Development Program Manager, Small Molecules (Ghent, Belgium)

Your responsibilities:

• Lead Chemistry, Manufacturing and Controls (CMC) activities for Confo small molecule development projects
• As a member of the development team reporting to the Chief Development Officer, work with the team and with CMC consultants and designated contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) to facilitate successful project execution, achievement of key deliverables and of budget and FTE goals
• Collaborate cross functionally with internal and external stakeholders such as Discovery, Regulatory Affairs, Toxicology, Medical / Clinical and Quality
• Lead and contribute as appropriate to internal and external scientific / CMC discussions
• Provide CMC support to project teams by:
  • Building project timelines and managing the critical path
  • Translate strategies into CMC operational plans
  • Developing CMC project budgets and budget forecasts
  • Developing and analyzing scenarios, risk assessment and mitigation planning
  • Participate in consultant and CRO selection activities
  • Develop, liaise with and manage resources (FTE, CRO and consultant budgets)
  • Team governance support as required
  • Support monthly, quarterly and major financial budget cycles

Your profile – Technical Skills:

• PhD or equivalent in a scientific discipline, or/and at least 7 years of relevant experience in the pharmaceutical industry and drug development is essential
• Knowledge of and experience in small molecule drug development, specifically CMC functions, is essential, including e.g. familiarity with drug substance (essential) and/or drug product development, analytical development and stability programs, clinical trial materials, manufacturing, and quality and regulatory requirements
• Experience in Project Management is essential
• Biologics CMC experience is a plus
• Experience in clinical development and clinical supplies is a strong plus
• MS Project knowledge is a strong plus

Your Profile – Personal Skills

• Works towards a trusting team environment by practicing transparent and open communication to facilitate team alignment around corporate and project goals
• Interacts constructively with internal and external collaborators, including consultants, vendors and team members
• Demonstrates adaptability and is a quick learner, contributes beneficially to establishing a fast-paced, entrepreneurial and multicultural environment

Our offer:

• A competitive compensation package with extensive benefits
• An entrepreneurial and stimulating working environment in a growing and ambitious biotech company
• Travel may be required e.g. to visit CMC sites

Do you have the right qualifications and are you up to the challenge of joining our entrepreneurial team? Then forward a short motivation letter and your CV with description of your technical expertise to careers@confotherapeutics.com.

Published: 30/08/2020

Job description:

Confo Therapeutics, a spin-out of VIB and VUB, is a drug discovery company built around a disruptive technology which enables it to address ‘undruggable’ GPCRs. The company is building a portfolio of transformative medicines in various disease areas. Confo Therapeutics is currently located on the Etterbeek campus of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and on the Technology Park in Zwijnaarde/Ghent. More information about Confo’s technology and strategy can be found on www.confotherapeutics.com.

For the expansion of our drug discovery team in Ghent we are currently looking for a (m/f):

(senior) Research Associate Screening development team

Your responsibilities:

• Work on the development of new screening assays to extend the Confo technology platform
• Validate assays on new targets towards drug discovery
• Run assays to support ConfoBody® characterization and drug discovery programs using different techniques such as cell based assays, surface plasmon resonance (SPR), HTRF, AlphaScreen, radioligand displacement assays, …
• Analyze and interpret your own research data and create reports using established software tools and systems
• Provide high-quality data on time and report results within electronic lab notebook
• Communicate your experimental progress to line management and/or project teams
• Handle multiple projects in parallel with overlapping deadlines

Your profile:

• Degree of Professional Bachelor in Laboratory Technology or Biotechnology (Laboratory Technician A1), Bachelor or Master in Industrial Sciences (Industrial Engineer), Biochemistry, Biotechnology or equivalent
• Experience in a related field in biotech or pharma environment is a strong plus
• Experience in cell culture handling and performing protein binding assays and/or cellular assays would be an advantage
• Highly collaborative, self-motivated, team-oriented, problem-solving skilled individual
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, highly integrated team environment where accuracy, accountability and timeliness are essential
• Ability to keep accurate and complete records of all scientific experiments according to established procedures.
• You are fluent in English and can communicate research results to the team and cross-functional stakeholders across the company

Our offer:

• A competitive compensation package with extensive benefits
• An entrepreneurial and stimulating working environment in a growing and ambitious biotech company

Do you have the right qualifications and are you up to the challenge of joining our entrepreneurial team? Then forward a short motivation letter and your CV with description of your technical expertise to careers@confotherapeutics.com

published: 30/07/2020

Job description:

Confo Therapeutics, a spin-off of VIB and VUB, is a drug discovery company built around a disruptive technology which enables it to address ‘undruggable’ GPCRs. The company is building a portfolio of transformative medicines in various disease areas. Confo Therapeutics is currently located on the Technology Park in Zwijnaarde/Ghent and on the VUB campus in Brussels. More information about Confo’s technology and strategy can be found on www.confotherapeutics.com.

For the expansion of our drug discovery team in Ghent  we are currently looking for a(m/f):

Senior Scientist Structural Biology

Confo has a unique technology which makes use of antibody fragments or “ConfoBodies®” to stabilize G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) in a particular conformation of interest as a superior starting point for protein structure determination. Recently, Confo secured an exclusive license to the Megabody™ technology. Megabodies enable to produce high resolution cryo-EM structures of membrane proteins, overcoming current protein size limitations and potential preferential orientation issues in the study of GPCRs via cryo-EM.

Your responsibilities:

• Biophysical, X-ray and EM experiments to produce GPCR structural biology results: provide experimental structural input and support to drive NCE projects to achieve milestone goals
• Working closely with medicinal chemists and biologist to help advance the project and technology platforms
• Supervising and coaching one or more research associates
• Leading the integrated discovery activities of projects as a core member of project teams
• Coordination and management of drug discovery projects: in a project leader role, you will be expected to maintain focus and provide direction to the team members with clear project plans and defined timelines, maintain productive relationships with project team members and communicate progress against goals in a multidisciplinary setting:  chemistry, biology, pharmacology, and modeling

Your profile:

• PhD or equivalent experience in a related field, with at least 3 years of experience as post-doc or in a company
• Extensive technical skills in purification, sample preparation for and design and implementation of crystallization trials as well as demonstrated experience in crystal optimization techniques for membrane proteins
• Demonstrated experience in sample preparation and optimization for cryo-EM studies on membrane proteins
• Demonstrated expertise in data collection and interpretation of both X-ray crystallography and cryo-EM co-structure data to support NCE optimization
• Experience with protein biophysical characterization ((F-)SEC, IR, thermostability) and screening (thermal shift, SPR) is a plus
• Highly collaborative, self-motivated, team-oriented individual
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, highly integrated team environment where accuracy, accountability and timeliness are essential
• You are fluent in English and can communicate research results to the team and cross-functional stakeholders across the company

Our offer:

• A competitive compensation package with extensive benefits
• An entrepreneurial and stimulating working environment in a growing and ambitious biotech company
• Excellent career development opportunity, with exposure to all aspects of R&D in the company, with external collaborators and partners

Do you have the right qualifications and are you up to the challenge of joining our entrepreneurial team? Then forward a short motivation letter and your CV to careers@confotherapeutics.com

Published: 01/06/2020

Job description

Confo Therapeutics, a spin-off of VIB and VUB, is a drug discovery company built around a disruptive technology which enables it to address ‘undruggable’ GPCRs. The company is building a portfolio of transformative medicines in various disease areas. Confo Therapeutics’ headquarters are located on the Technology park in Zwijnaarde/Ghent and the company has a second exploitation site on the Etterbeek campus of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. More information about Confo’s technology and strategy can be found on www.confotherapeutics.com.

For the expansion of our ConfoBody® discovery capacities in Confo’s Ghent site, we are recruiting an enthusiastic (m/f):

Scientist – ConfoBody Discovery

Your responsibilities

• You are responsible for the design, execution and troubleshooting of parallel antibody discovery projects from start to finish, mining immune and non-immune repertoires
• You supervise and efficiently coordinate (a team of) Research Associate(s)
• You are key in the design and establishment of innovative enrichment and screening strategies to identify and improve conformation-sensitive ConfoBodies
• You assist in converting best practice to SOPs and train stakeholders accordingly
• You will be the project leader of technology proof of concept and/or drug discovery programs
• You define project deliverables and communicate progress aligned with the drug discovery project teams

Your profile

• PhD or equivalent with at least 4 years of relevant industry experience with profound hands-on experience in antibody display methodologies (phage or ribosome display or alike)
• You will design and clone combinatorial antibody (VHH) libraries for multiple downstream applications such as improved repertoire display, affinity maturation and others
• Experience with antibody discovery to integral membrane proteins (transporters, ion channels and GPCRs) is an asset
• You have demonstrated supervision skills and think team-oriented, promoting cross-team interactions
• You are a self-motivating enthusiastic team player with excellent interaction skills who enjoys a high pace “start-up” atmosphere, shows eagerness to learn and likes troubleshooting
• You are fluent in English and effectively communicate research results to the cross-functional stakeholders across the company

Our offer

• A competitive compensation package with extensive benefits
• An entrepreneurial and stimulating working environment in a growing and ambitious biotech company
• Excellent career development opportunity, with exposure to all aspects of R&D in the company

Do you have the right qualifications and are you up to the challenge of joining our entrepreneurial team? Then forward a short motivation letter and your CV to careers@confotherapeutics.com.