Senior Research Associate - Technology Development

Profluent is the frontier AI lab for biology. Profluent builds powerful foundation models for all of life's molecules, unlocking solutions that transform medicine, agriculture, and beyond. Founded in 2022 and headquartered in Emeryville, CA, Profluent is backed by leading investors including Altimeter Capital, Bezos Expeditions, Spark Capital, Insight Partners, Air Street Capital, AIX Ventures, and Convergent Ventures and has raised over $150M to date.

Profluent is seeking a creative, passionate, and detail-oriented individual to join our Technology Development team and contribute to the development and application of high-throughput workflows for genome editing.

This role has two primary components: 

You will conceptualize, develop, execute, and scale arrayed assays for gene editing in mammalian cells for a well-scoped, external facing project. 

You will collaborate internally to develop and improve novel and existing assays and processes.

In both areas, you will work at the intersection of biology, automation, and data to advance cutting-edge research. You will drive impactful projects and contribute to the conception, design, analysis, and interpretation of experiments. You will bring creative, literature-informed problem-solving to early-stage conceptualization and troubleshooting, and apply a detail-oriented, data-driven mindset during late-stage optimization. As part of the team, you will excel as both an individual contributor and a collaborator, actively supporting shared goals while learning from and contributing to new technical and conceptual areas. Your adaptability and curiosity will help advance Profluent’s mission to develop transformative gene-editing technologies.

We welcome candidates from diverse backgrounds who share our commitment to revolutionizing biology, driving meaningful innovation, and making a lasting impact on global healthcare. 

This role offers a unique opportunity to shape the future of AI-driven protein design while collaborating with a dynamic, interdisciplinary team of experts in machine learning, protein engineering, cell biology, and gene editing.

Responsibilities

Develop, execute, and automate arrayed and pooled mammalian cell-based gene editing assays

Design and execute low and high throughput plasmid cloning campaigns for construction of DNA libraries

Leverage variety of readouts, including plate-based assays, flow cytometry, and next generation sequencing (NGS)

Perform mammalian cell culture and transfection

Precisely track and document experimental samples, assay data, and results

Analyze experimental data and interpret results

Present experimental results to colleagues in team and cross-team meetings

Contribute to lab maintenance and adhere to EHS standards 

Qualifications

BS and in Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Cell Biology, or a related field and 4 years or MS in in Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Cell Biology, or a related field and 2 years of relevant industry research experience 

Extensive, hands-on experience with mammalian and bacterial cell culture and molecular biology

Experience with flow cytometry 

Excellent communication skills and the ability to work collaboratively across interdisciplinary teams

Strong organizational skills to accurately track laboratory samples and experimental data

Preferences

Experience with CRISPR and/or mammalian cell-based gene editing assays

Experience with next generation sequencing wet lab and computational workflows/analysis

Experience with high throughput screening workflows

Experience with process development and and structured collaboration

Experience processing and analyzing large experimental datasets (i.e. Python or JMP)

What We Offer 

High-growth opportunity with meaningful impact on the future of protein design

Competitive compensation package with equity participation

401(k) with a strong employer match

Comprehensive benefits including health/dental/vision insu …