Associate Director, Molecular Engineering
Location
Palo Alto, CA | United States
Job description
About Arc Institute
The Arc Institute is a new scientific institution that conducts curiosity-driven basic science and technology development to understand and treat complex human diseases. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Arc is an independent research organization founded on the belief that many important research programs will be enabled by new institutional models. Arc operates in partnership with Stanford University, UCSF, and UC Berkeley.
While the prevailing university research model has yielded many tremendous successes, we believe in the importance of institutional experimentation as a way to make progress. These include:
- Funding: Arc provides centralized, long-term funding to liberate scientists from the typical constraints of project-based external grants or short-term venture funding cycles
- Technology: Biomedical research has become increasingly dependent on complex tooling. Arc Technology Centers develop, optimize, and deploy rapidly advancing experimental and computational technologies in collaboration with Core Investigators.
- Support: Arc aims to provide first-class support-operationally, financially, and scientifically-that will enable scientists to pursue long-term high-risk, high-reward research that can meaningfully advance progress in disease cures, including neurodegeneration, cancer, and immune dysfunction.
- Culture: We believe that culture matters enormously in science and that excellence is difficult to sustain. We aim to create a culture that is focused on scientific curiosity, a deep commitment to truth, broad ambition, and selfless collaboration.
Arc has scaled to over 100 people in its first year. With $650M+ in committed funding and a new, state-of-the-art lab facility in Stanford Research Park, Arc will continue to grow quickly to several hundred in the coming years.
About the position We are seeking an Associate Director to develop and lead Arc's Molecular Biology Platform within the Institute's Genome Engineering Technology Center (GETC). The GETC aims to pioneer methodologies to advance the capabilities of the genome, transcriptome, and epigenome engineering toolbox, and as a critical part of the team, this role is designed for an individual who is excited by high-throughput, scalable systems that will enable breakthrough science. This position is integral for executing the Arc scientific strategy of understanding of complex diseases. The Associate Director, reporting to the Senior Director of the GETC, will build a team focusing on two areas: First, they will lead platform development to enable high-throughput molecular biology, including plasmid design and cloning, gRNA and saturation mutagenesis libraries, and lentivirus and AAV generation. The second pillar of this team's mission will be to spearhead R&D on genome engineering enzyme evolution, using the platform capabilities they have enabled.
About You - You are a driven molecular biologist committed to innovation and breakthrough science, particularly in the field of molecular engineering.
- Your approach is practical and results-oriented; you're focused on creating systems and processes that aren't just cutting-edge but also robust/reproducible, reliable and scalable.
- You understand the importance of collaboration and thrive when working with a diverse team of scientists and engineers.
- Your excitement about your work is infectious, and you're adept at fostering that same enthusiasm within your team to solve complex problems.
In this position you will - Spearhead Arc's Molecular Biology Platform, focusing on standardized and high-throughput approaches for molecular biology and biochemistry (e.g. arrayed and pooled library cloning, variant library generation, viral production, etc.)
- Lead the development and optimization of gene editing technologies using protein engineering methods such as deep mutational scanning or directed evolution
- Serve as the molecular biology domain expert at Arc, collaboratively contribute to Arc's research initiatives, and promote a seamless interface between the Platform and other Technology Centers
- Develop a molecular biology reagent repository & integrate it into the institute LIMS
- Manage and mentor the Platform team to foster their growth and scientific excellence
- Utilize lab automation (existing equipment includes liquid handlers, colony picker, and acoustic droplet dispenser) to enable scalable SOPs for the Platform
- Ensure the dissemination of high-impact research findings, protocols, and methodologies both within the Arc community and to the broader scientific world
Job Requirements - A doctoral degree (PhD) or equivalent in Molecular Biology, Bioengineering, Genetics, or a related field, with 8+ years of relevant post-graduate experience.
- A minimum of 1-2 years of management experience
- Proven track record of innovation and expertise in the field of molecular biology, biochemistry, genetics, or related fields
- Strong communication skills, capable of engaging diverse audiences, crafting SOPs, and authoring scientific publications.
- Enthusiasm for tackling complex, multi-disciplinary projects in a fast-paced and intellectually stimulating environment.
- Familiarity with the computational aspects of modern molecular biology and genomics, and the ability to work closely with computational biologists.
- Experience with automation preferred
The base salary range for this position is $147,000 to $198,900. These amounts reflect the range of base salary that the Institute reasonably would expect to pay a new hire or internal candidate for this position. The actual base compensation paid to any individual for this position may vary depending on factors such as experience, market conditions, education/training, skill level, and whether the compensation is internally equitable, and does not include bonuses, commissions, differential pay, other forms of compensation, or benefits. This position is also eligible to receive an annual discretionary bonus, with the amount dependent on individual and institute performance factors.
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