Bioinformatician / Computational Scientist – NGS and AI Driven Antibody Discovery
About the role
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The Steyaert laboratory is internationally recognized as a leader in the discovery and engineering of nanobodies for applications in structural biology, molecular pharmacology, and drug discovery.
To keep up with new trends and opportunities, we are seeking a highly motivated bioinformatician to support and further develop an advanced nanobody discovery platform that integrates next‑generation sequencing (NGS), quantitative repertoire analysis, and AI‑based structural modeling. The successful candidate will play a central role in extracting biological and structural insight from large‑scale immune repertoire data and in translating these insights into rational, model‑driven prioritization of high‑quality nanobody candidates.
Working at the interface of immunology, protein engineering, and computational biology, the bioinformatician will contribute to the implementation, automation, and scaling of NGS‑enabled analytics and AI‑driven nanobody–antigen structure prediction and scoring workflows. The position offers a unique opportunity to help define next‑generation methodologies for antibody discovery by unifying deep sequencing with large‑scale structural AI.
Key responsibilities
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- Analyze deep NGS data from immunized nanobody libraries and successive selection rounds.
- Develop and maintain pipelines for sequence annotation, storage, enrichment tracking, and family‑level analysis.
- Quantitatively compare sublibraries across selection rounds to identify and prioritize enriching nanobody families.
- Integrate sequence‑ and structure‑based profiling tools to assess developability and sequence liabilities.
- Implement and benchmark AI‑based nanobody–antigen structure prediction tools (e.g. AlphaFold‑based frameworks) using family‑aware, ensemble modeling strategies.
- Run large‑scale structural predictions and interface scoring on HPC infrastructure.
- Rank nanobody candidates using structure‑based affinity and interface stability metrics (FoldX, Rosetta, PRODIGY).
- Contribute to automation and scaling of the full pipeline from NGS data to ranked structural models.
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Qualifications
- MSc or PhD in bioinformatics, computational biology, or related field.
- Strong experience with NGS data analysis and scripting (Python/R).
- Familiarity with immune repertoires, protein sequence analysis, and HPC environments.
- Interest in antibody/nanobody discovery and protein–protein interactions.
- Experience with structural bioinformatics or AI‑based modeling is a plus.
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- A competitive salary and benefits package
- An international and collaborative research environment
- Ability to contribute to a strategically critical transformation
- Opportunities for career development
You will join an experienced team with over two decades of leadership in nanobody discovery and immune repertoire exploitation. The position offers the opportunity to help shape a next‑generation discovery paradigm that combines high‑quality immunization strategies, deep sequencing, and AI‑driven modeling to identify nanobodies with advanced functional properties beyond affinity alone. Your work will directly contribute to building a flexible, scalable, and internationally competitive platform for nanobody discovery and design.
Given the lab’s strong engagement in technology transfer through spin\-off creation, you will work at the interface of academic research and venture development.
How to apply
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Please complete the online application procedure (https://jobs.vib.be/apply/135102\) and include a motivation letter along with a detailed CV.
In case of questions, don't hesitate to reach out to recruiting@vib.be .
https://steyaertlab.sites.vib.be
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