Scientist, Molecular Biology Jobs

Outpace Bio is a drug development company reimagining cell function through protein design to make cells the future of medicine. We believe that cells are naturally programmed by evolution to make the wrong decisions in cancer and autoimmune disease, and curative cell therapies will only be achieved by overcoming the default biological mechanisms that limit their efficacy and safety. Led by co-founders of Lyell Immunopharma, our world-class scientific team is developing smart cell therapies that reprogram complex biological processes in ways that small molecules and biologics cannot. We use protein design and synthetic biology to engineer cells to make better decisions inside the patient and to productively engage the endogenous immune system. Our unique partnership model allows us to efficiently explore diverse cell therapy modalities and accelerates clinical validation so that we can bring curative therapies to patients. We value passion for science, innovation, collaboration, inclusion, and respect.

At Outpace Bio, we believe that the highest performing teams include people from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences. We are committed to building an open, diverse, and inclusive culture for all employees. Recognizing that the best candidates do not always match all criteria of the job description, we encourage you to apply if you think you would be a good fit for the role and are inspired by our mission to cure disease by pushing the boundaries of biology.

The Synthetic Biology and Biophysics team is seeking a talented and highly motivated scientist to lead our molecular biology and cloning group. In this role, you will work with a world-class scientific team developing smart cell therapies reprogrammed to make better decisions inside the patients. You will be responsible for the design, construction and optimization of DNA constructs for lentivirus production, protein engineering and protein production to drive technology development. This role will involve close cross-functional collaboration with project teams, research scientists, automation scientists, and software engineers to build and scale up our cloning capabilities. Successful candidates will have extensive hands-on experience with advanced DNA cloning techniques such as Gibson and Golden Gate assembly, the ability to translate wet lab requirements to software applications, a high level vision for data management, and experience working in a cross-functional environment.

Responsibilities (may include but are not limited to):

• Represent the molecular biology function in project teams, and lead molecular biology activities to advance projects from discovery to preclinical stages
• Develop, optimize and implement high-throughput cloning platform to ensure scalability, robustness and fast turnaround time
• Coordinate activities across various functions and implement efficient workflows from DNA to downstream (e.g. virus, protein)
• Provide support to research programs by designing, constructing and delivering molecular constructs to ensure successful execution of our ambitious ideas
• Work with automation engineers to increase throughput and robustness of workflows.
• Maintain a detailed and well-organized record of experiments in an electronic notebook Prepare technical reports, summaries and detailed protocols, and contribute to company reports as requested
• Other duties as mutually agreed upon to make this position a career building experience
• Work closely with software engineers to improve the utility and design of our in-house modular cloning software, and to organize data across multiple systems
• Collaborate cross-functionally to optimize in-house database system for constructs registration and inventory tracking
• Provide guidance to junior members and emphasize best practices

Required Experience:

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills to facilitate interactions with a highly interdisciplinary team.
• Troubleshoot process, instrumentation or software issues and recommend solutions to meet objectives
• Solid knowledge and extensive hands-on experience in molecular engineering, using traditional cloning and/or modern synthetic biology techniques, such as restriction cloning, Golden Gate assembly, and Gibson assembly
• Ability to interpret and effectively communicate complex scientific findings in one-on-one discussions, and functional and project team meetings is required.
• Detail-oriented and a positive “can-do” attitude
• Ability to work independently and multi-task in a fast-paced dynamic environment while delivering high quality work under timelines is required
• Demonstrated hands-on experience and excellency with molecular techniques, including DNA and RNA extraction, bacteria handling, PCR genotyping, gel/capillary electrophoresis, plasmid amplification and preparation, and sequencing analysis
• Familiar with Benchling, Geneious or other software for plasmid design and sequence analysis
• PhD in Molecular Biology, Synthetic Biology, Cell Biology, Bioengineering, or related scientific field, with at least 2 years of experience, or equivalent.
• Exceptional organizing skills and up-to-date record keeping capabilities

Preferred Experience:

• Experience building large, multiplex DNA libraries (>10^7 variants)
• High-throughput cloning workflows involving >96 constructs
• Experience designing and cloning lentiviral vectors, including vectors for CAR T cellsSubstantial knowledge of the relationship between molecular constructs and production/function
• Experience with automation using liquid handling robots such as Echo, Biomek, Hamilton, Tecan etc
• Experience with NGS platforms such as MiSeq, nanopore

Outpace Bio is committed to a diverse workforce. Employment decisions regarding recruitment and selection will be made without discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, gender, age, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, genetic information or characteristic, gender identity and expression, veteran status, or other non-job related characteristics or other prohibited grounds specified in applicable federal, state and local laws.

Full Time Employees (and their eligible dependents) may enroll in Outpace's medical, dental, vision, life insurance and 401k plan. In addition, employees may receive stock option grants to be outlined in their offer of employment. Outpace Employees enjoy flexible PTO, paid sick leave and twelve paid holidays throughout the calendar year. Outpace also offers a generous paid parental leave policy to all regular full-time employees

Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States. If you are legally authorized to work in the United States now, or in the future without any form of sponsorship, we encourage you to apply.