Position Summary:

We are looking for a Senior Research Associate to join the Cell Therapy Analytics Team to advance early-stage cell-based unit operations for cell therapy applications using Tessera’s novel Gene Writing and Gene Rewriting technology. You will work collaboratively across multiple teams within Tessera to produce and characterize primary Immuno-oncology cell banks. Working with the Immuno-Oncology Process Sciences Analytical team, you will leverage your experience in primary T-cell and PBMC cultures to characterize cell banks used across research and development to inform cell-based Immuno-oncology efforts with Tessera’s platform Gene Writing technology. You will be part of a team that characterizes and reports how gene writing impacts various immune, and/or hematopoietic cell subsets. You will work closely with the IO process team to help execute analytics to inform scale-down and scale-up models to generate these cell therapies with the goal to bring these therapies to clinic.

Key Responsibilities:

• The candidate will support development and production of hematopoietic primary cell banks for use in Cell Therapy, Gene Writing platforms.
• Support characterization assays to inform the biology and process understanding of Gene Writing.
• Work collaboratively with process and analytics teams to execute developed analytics to inform in-process phenotypic and functional characterization of gene edited cells
• Independently perform and screen new assays for analytical method selection
• Assist in interpretation and troubleshooting of analytical assays in various platforms including, flow cytometry, ELISA/MSD, qPCR and ddPCR. Collect and interpret data, prepare experimental reports, and present findings to the IO Process team.
• Support the development of protocols, test methods, and analytical sampling plans.

Basic Qualifications:

• BS with 5+/MS with 3+ years of experience in Immunology, Immuno-oncology, cell and gene therapy or related field is required .
• Experience with research and/or manufacturing scale cell and tissue culture techniques with primary cells or established cell lines is required.
• Excellent technical, written, multi-tasking, and oral communication skills.
• Has a passion for collaboration and is a dynamic individual hungry to join a thriving, early-stage biotech environment.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with cell therapy based unit operations, such as CliniMACS, CliniMACS Prodigy, Rotea, Cue, etc.
• Experience developing cell based, functional potency assays is a plus.
• Knowledge and experience with non-viral gene delivery and gene editing.
• Experience with flow cytometry is preferred.
• Experience in cell assay development and characterization is a plus.
• Experience with ELISA/MSD, qPCR, ddPCR, Incucyte, luciferase-based plate readouts and/or high speed cell sorting is a plus.