Senior Research Associate, Gene Circuit Discovery (Cell Therapy) (Contract)
Senti Biosciences
South San Francisco, CA, USA
Posted on Dec 6, 2024
Senti Bio is seeking a talented, experienced, and motivated Senior Research Associate with expertise in CAR-immune cell therapy. Working in a collaborative, cross-functional team environment, you will play an integral role in designing next-generation cell therapies for cancer by developing new gene circuits to address solid tumor indications, leveraging Senti’s technologies such as multivalent activating CARs, inhibitory CARs that protect healthy tissues from off-tumor toxicity, synthetic promoters, and tunable cytokine armoring. We are seeking individuals with a passionate drive to make “smarter” therapeutics using Senti’s Gene Circuits platform and have the energy and boldness to thrive in a startup environment. A successful applicant will apply their knowledge of chimeric antigen receptors, immuno-oncology, and/or synthetic biology to develop and execute a logical program of sophisticated in vitro experiments designed to investigate, characterize, and engineer next generation CAR-immune cell therapies.
Responsibilities
- Communicate closely with members of the team to acquire a clear understanding of project goals, priorities, and key research questions, delving into scientific details to achieve clarity and alignment.
- Design experiments to efficiently address project goals, performing in depth profiling of engineered cells, including cytotoxicity, phenotype, exhaustion, and cytokine release using cell culture-based assays, ELISA/Luminex, and multicolor flow cytometry.
- Document experiments by generating timely records and archiving data using Senti’s software-based documentation platform.
- Analyze data by applying expertise in software such as Prism, Excel, and FlowJo to create clear, presentation-quality figures that address experimental goals.
- Interpret data by translating experimental results into concrete, actionable answers to key project questions, leveraging a molecular understanding of CAR-immune cell therapy.
- Report findings regularly to the project team using written, visual, and verbal skills. Communicate detailed results, plans, and priorities to other team members with written documents, visually compelling slides, and well-structured presentations.
- Collaborate with your colleagues at Senti by mentoring and training junior staff within the group and coordinating with members of other research teams within Senti in order to troubleshoot problems and develop new assays.
Qualifications
- BS or MS degree in Molecular and Cell Biology, Bioengineering, Immunology, Oncology, or similar field.
- 5+ years of related industry or academic research experience and/or training
- Demonstrated, expert-level proficiency with cell line and immune cell tissue culture and sterile technique
- Working knowledge of CAR-immune cell therapy research, including familiarity with the field and scientific background, and substantial hands-on experience with essential experimental workflows, including virus production, immune cell transduction, and cell-based assays with tumor cell lines.
- Proficiency with in vitro analysis instrumentation, such as flow cytometers, ELISA/Luminex, and Incucyte, including relevant analysis software.
- Demonstrated ability to work both independently and as part of a multi-functional team, including strong planning, documentation, communication, and presentation skills.
Salary and Benefits
- The base salary range for this role is $50-70/hr. Starting pay is determined by multiple job-related factors including a candidate’s skills, education and experience level, benchmark, and internal parity.
- Empathetic, supportive, and collaborative colleagues and work environments
- This is a contract opportunity and the benefits are available after 90 days of employment.