Research Associate, Vector Engineering

Are you ready to play a key role in Gordian's discovery pipeline by producing the AAV vectors that power every one of our in vivo screens?

You will operate as a key member of the team producing AAV for all of Gordian, reliably executing laboratory protocols, learning quickly, and contributing to projects that improve important workflows. You will balance multiple projects at once, which makes excellent documentation and communication across teams essential, and you will build the habits that drive success at Gordian: curiosity, coachability, strong execution and deep ownership of outcomes.

About the Role

Your primary mission as Vector Engineering research associate is to play a key role in the execution and workflows responsible for producing AAV for all of Gordian. You'll contribute to the production of AAV vectors through adherent and suspension HEK293 cell transfection techniques and a suite of scalable AAV purification techniques (iodixanol ultracentrifugation, depth filtration, TFF, FPLC).

In your first month, you will shadow team members to learn the Vector team's adherent and suspension production protocols, documentation standards, and workflows. You will take on routine lab tasks such as media prep and media changes with care and attention to detail, with no labeling errors or sample swaps and clear, detailed records in our ELN. You will learn how the Vector team interfaces with the groups that request AAV, and help our HFpEF and CKD programs by producing critical AAV vector.

Within three months, you will independently run core production tasks such as HEK293 cell splits, transfections, and harvests, and perform purification steps such as iodixanol ultracentrifugation and FPLC with limited supervision. You will have expanded your understanding of AAV biology, particularly the serotypes Gordian uses and how they are produced and purified. You will own weekly media forecasting and routine reagent ordering with no outages, and calculate AAV requirements for project requests by referencing historical production data in Gordian's databases. You will communicate progress, blockers, and handoffs clearly, surface risks early, and close loops without repeated prompting. You will also have identified a concrete process improvement and will be designing and executing a mini-project to address it, such as testing protocol optimization ideas.

At the six-month mark, you will independently execute all existing Vector SOPs with little or no supervision, faster than when you started, while maintaining excellent record keeping and communication. You will be the sole owner of two Vector areas of responsibility, TC hood organization and shaking-incubator maintenance, with no lapses in coverage. You will have completed your first mini-project, a meaningful improvement that helps the team move faster, communicate better, or execute more robustly, and will be bringing further ideas to the Vector team's weekly meetings.

And You

You want a chance to do your best work, immerse yourself and excel, alongside people who will inspire you and whom you'll be excited to spend your days with.

You want to play a key role in an early-stage startup: a fast-paced environment full of both uncertainty and new challenges, demanding relentless resourcefulness, but full of opportunities and excitement.

You are organized and detail-oriented, with a history of managing multiple time-sensitive projects at once, collaborating across teams, and keeping a thorough lab notebook.

You have a background in biology and hands-on serological pipetting experience, and you are capable of making an accurate serial dilution.

You are curious, coachable, and driven: you take initiative, dig into problems, and own your outcomes.

You can articulate how this role fits into your long-term plans and why Gordian's mission matters to you.

Bonus points if you have:

• Tissue culture experience
• Wet lab experience such as transfections, qPCR, Western blot, or SDS-PAGE
• Experience with flow systems such as FPLC, TFF, or depth filtration
• Previous experience with AAV, lentivirus, or gene therapy

The Details

Gordian aims to provide everything you need to thrive. Beyond our community and science, you'll have enough equity to be a true stakeholder in the company, competitive salary, full health/dental/vision/life insurance, 401k with match, onsite lunch paid for 3 days a week, an onsite gym, whatever vacation you need to be at your peak, remote work flexibility, and access to world-class mentors and advisors to support your professional growth. Our building is in the heart of the biotech capital of South San Francisco.

The pay range for this role is:

66,000 - 100,000 USD per year (South San Francisco)