R&D Scientist at Berkeley Lights in Emeryville, CA

Here at Berkeley Lights, we think cells are awesome! Cells are capable of manufacturing cures for diseases, fibers for clothing, energy in the form of biofuels, and food proteins for nutrition. So the question is, if nature is capable of manufacturing the products we need in a scalable way, why aren't we doing more of this? Well, the answer is that with the solutions available today, it is hard. Berkeley Lights is here to change all of that! Our extremely sophisticated proprietary technology and Beacon® and LightningTM systems accelerate the rate researchers can discover and develop cell-based products in a fraction of the time and at a fraction of the cost of conventional, legacy research methods. Using our tools and solutions, scientists can find the best cells, the first time they look.

Our goal is to continue to collaborate with customers to drive the adoption of our technologies, making cell-based products and therapeutics more easily accessible the world over! You will play a major role here in the creation and development of these technologies, and our success will depend on you! We have been changing how the world develops cell-based products since 2011, and now our family of around 200 employees welcomes you to consider joining us on this incredible journey.

As an R&D Scientist, you will work at the very beginning of the product cycle. Our products are likely comprised of new processes and assays interrogating either cells or cellular products on BLI platforms.

You will be working in our Innovation Lab, which allows room for new breadboard designs, but also provides the infrastructure to handle cells ranging from human to microbial. Our BLI platforms are open to modifications in both software and hardware.

The R&D Scientist will be required to screen through various concepts with an open mindset to evaluate all risks and identify the best path forward. Using models and computational simulations will be encouraged where possible. Project assignments will change frequently, therefore it is best to have a broad expertise in a variety of disciplines. With that being said, the key to success in this role will be a strong background in synthetic biology as well as a sound foundation in molecular biology. Planning and executing experiments for high throughput or in a microfluidic setting is expected.

You will need to communicate with specialists across many different disciplines at the company to collect knowledge to feed into new concepts, models, and designs. When necessary, you may need to perform extensive literature/publication searches.

Responsibilities

• Adapt synthetic biology protocols and processes to be executed on a BLI platform within a BLI microfluidic device; characterize differences in outcomes and validate results.
• Gain thorough and detailed understanding of the underlying mechanisms for each assay to be performed on the BLI platform.
• Culture and assay cells of various types.
• Be creative with the whole picture in mind when generating concepts to resolve challenges.
• Script processes using Python.
• Analyze results from high throughput experiments.
• Contributions to the invention of core intellectual property (from conception through validation), white papers, and external publications.

Qualifications

• Extremely experienced and creative with synthetic biology processes usually performed in smaller volumes like gene editing, protein/product purification, protein quantification and characterization.
• Exposure to other high throughput or microfluidic platforms
• Broad knowledge on assays of cells and their products
• Cell culture and handling of microbial organisms
• Microscopy
• Working knowledge of modern molecular and cell biology techniques.
• Solid data analysis skills; generate insights into larger datasets.
• Programming experience in Python desired
• Ability to thrive in early stage technology development with demanding schedules and deliverables.
• PhD with 0-3 years of experience in biophysics and/or biology