Compensation Overview

LOCATION: 

This will be an On-Site role working out of our South San Francisco, CA office

POSITION SUMMARY:   

The Scientist, FFPE RNA within the Platform group will join a tight-knit and cross-functional team of scientists and engineers who are tasked with developing a scalable and robust platform upon which the next generation of Natera clinical assays will be based. In this role, the scientist will join a team tasked with development of high-throughput RNA-sequencing assays. The Scientist will have the opportunity to explore the latest technologies in RNA sequencing while working cross-functionally with assay development scientists, bioinformaticians, and engineers to automate library preparation and analysis. We are looking for a meticulous and dedicated molecular biologist with experience in both assay development and NGS data analysis that can work effectively in a cross-functional and fast-paced environment.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES: 

• Build high-throughput RNA-sequencing assays from extraction to sequencing.
• Explore the feasibility of emerging technologies in the RNA-sequencing field.
• Design and execute studies, analyze and interpret data, decide on next steps, and communicate findings to other scientists.
• Collaborate with bioinformaticians, computational biologists, and software engineers to develop analysis pipelines.
• Collaborate with automation engineers to scale and robustify assays.
• Collaborate with laboratory directors, clinical lab scientists, and quality engineers to produce production-ready protocols. 
• Perform other duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS: 

• Bachelor’s degree in molecular biology, biochemistry, or closely related field with 6 years experience in assay development for the life science industry.
• Master’s degree in molecular biology, biochemistry, or closely related field with 3 years experience in assay development for the life science industry.
• Doctorate in molecular biology, biochemistry, or closely related field with 0-2 years experience in assay development for the life science industry.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES:

• Expertise in RNA biology.
• Proven track record of developing production-grade assays for RNA quantification and sequencing.
• Strong understanding of the chemistry underlying nucleic acid extraction, PCR, NGS library preparation, hybrid capture, and sequencing technologies.
• Demonstrated success with cross-functional collaborations. 
• Must have experience with various molecular biology techniques including but not limited to: next generation sequencing, PCR/qPCR, and nucleic acid extraction and quantification.
• Must be capable of independently planning complex studies, manually executing experiments in the lab, interpreting results, and making data-driven decisions.
• Must have experience in optimizing laboratory protocols, identifying risks, and troubleshooting issues.
• Must have good organization and time management skills.
• Must have experience performing statistical analyses in Excel or similar software.
• Must be familiar with bioinformatics software commonly used in RNA-sequencing analysis (STAR, samtools, DESeq2, etc.).
• Must have experience working in a regulated laboratory environment.
• Experience with nucleic acid extraction from blood, tissue, and formalin-fixed samples is a plus.
• Experience with liquid handlers and automation design and development is a plus.
• Experience with coding (Python or R) is a plus.