ArsenalBio, a privately held, clinical-stage programmable cell therapy company engineering advanced CAR T therapies for solid tumors, is seeking a talented Senior Scientist II, High-Throughput Assays to work onsite based in our South San Francisco office.
ArsenalBio’s mission is to develop efficacious and safe cellular therapies for patients with chronic diseases, initially cancer. With our programmable and computationally driven approach, our team is engineering living medicines to attack cancer’s inherent multifaceted nature and overcome the challenges of addressing solid tumors with cell therapy.
Driven by a collective of diverse experts across immunology, synthetic biology, molecular biology, automation and computational biology, we are united in purpose to deliver radical breakthroughs for people with cancer, and prioritize the team’s outcomes over individual goals to achieve our company mission – together.
We are seeking a highly motivated and experienced Senior Scientist to lead our assay optimization efforts aimed at scaling up our automated discovery screening. This person will report to the Associate Director of Automation and High-throughput Assays, and will be responsible for developing a comprehensive understanding of our production automated T cell engineering, coculture and readout workflows, design and execute experiments to characterize and optimize these workflows, and perform data analysis on large scale datasets. A successful candidate will serve as the bridge of communication between the scientific groups and the downstream engineering and operations teams, and will maintain a process engineering mindset to proactively identify experiments to bridge gaps in our processes. This role will involve partnering with cross-functional teams, including Automation Engineering, Automation Operations, Assay Engineering, Synthetic Biology, Immunology, Flow Cytometry, NGS, Molecular Biology, Software and Computational Biology to drive the development of next-generation drug products for solid tumors.
What You Will Do:
- Design and execute experiments, spanning a range of low to high-throughput experiments, to benchmark and scale up T cell based assays from upstream discovery teams. Ensure that all assays are optimized for performance, reproducibility, and scalability
- Partner with the Automation Engineering and Assay Engineering teams to onboard new workflows onto our automated systems, and optimize existing ones, including but not limited to cell based assays and molecular biology workflows.
- Collaborate with Automation operations team to facilitate tech transfer of production workflows, both automated and manual wet lab processes.
- Proactively identify aspects of our automated workflows to further test and optimize for e.g. reagent stability, titration, time saving, cost saving etc.
- Perform data analysis on large datasets independently and in collaboration with the Computational Biology team. Identify patterns in data, present data clearly to cross functional stakeholders to start constructive discussions, and follow up with clear action items for future experiments.
- Collaborate with Flow Cytometry and Early Discovery teams to execute flow cytometry experiments, analyze flow data, troubleshoot flow panels on high throughput instruments, and perform equivalency studies across different instruments.
- Dive into problems with a process engineering mindset. Develop innovative solutions to overcome obstacles using available resources.
- Maintain close relationships with scientific stakeholders to keep up to date on new assay technologies to uptake in the automation group
- Develop and maintain a culture of scientific excellence, innovation, and collaboration within the High Throughput Assay team and across the organization
- Provide exceptional scientific leadership and mentorship to scientists and research associates
What Will You Bring:
- Ph.D. in a relevant scientific discipline with at least 5-8 years of industry experience or an equivalent combination of education and experience
- 2+ years of experience in T Cell based assay development in the pharmaceutical or biotech industry, with a strong track record of success in developing high-throughput assays for cell culture workflows and/or cell therapy discovery workflows.
- Deep understanding of experimental design principles and best practices for research and documentation.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills; proficient in Python or R for complex data analysis and visualization
- Ability to quickly adapt to new technologies and new collaborators. Ability to quickly learn new skills and knowledge on the job, demonstrate productivity, and deliver high-quality results
- Ability to communicate experimental design and data analysis concisely and effectively to targeted audiences.
- Strong planning, organization and prioritization skills with flexibility to adapt to changes.
- Meticulous execution in cell culture lab, and ability to train and mentor others on tissue culture and aseptic techniques.
- Experience with multiparameter flow cytometry, ELISAs, and high throughput assays using luminescence, fluorescence or UV-Visible absorbance. Experience with general molecular biology techniques
- People management experience is a plus.
- Experience with standalone low to medium throughput automation equipment. Experience with integrated automated systems and scheduling software (Cellario, GBG etc) is a plus.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams and external partners. Demonstrated ability to work well in a highly collaborative team environment
- Strong leadership skills, with the ability to motivate and inspire team members to achieve scientific excellence and innovation
What We Will Offer You:
An opportunity to work with the best talent in the field of cell therapy, and be part of ONE TEAM to advance therapies to patients who need it most.
ArsenalBio has a generous and comprehensive benefits package that includes but is not limited to medical, dental, and vision as well as mental health resources, virtual and telehealth options, coaching, infertility treatment, parental leave and health savings accounts. We also offer flexible work schedules and flexible time off, which includes two extra “Arsenal Days of Rest” every quarter for employees to recharge.
We have a robust mentorship program, and comprehensive development tools to help employees take control of their career paths and grow into their best selves. ArsenalBio believes in investing in the well-being of our employees - both at work and at home, as they are our greatest asset. They bring scientific talents in molecular biology, immunology, pharmacology, protein chemistry, computational biology, automation, genome engineering, software and other fields to make the future happen now.
We are committed to hiring the best talent from diverse backgrounds. A diverse workforce engenders richness of thought, creativity and discovery. We invite individuals who embrace intellectual achievement to bring their unique personal and professional journeys and together we will build transformative cell therapies for cancer patients.
We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.
The estimated base salary offer for the preferred primary location of San Francisco Bay area ranges from $146,900–$180,000. Salary ranges for other locations may vary from this range. Base pay offered may vary depending on job related knowledge, experience, education, and location. In addition to these factors, we believe in the importance of pay equity and consider internal equity of our current employees as part of any final offer.
To all recruitment agencies: ArsenalBio does not accept agency resumes. Please do not forward resumes to our jobs alias, or ArsenalBio employees. ArsenalBio is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited resumes.
