Research Associate II, Hsu Lab

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 will fully fund Core Investigator’s (PI’s) research groups, liberating scientists from the typical constraints of project-based external grants. 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 nearly 300 people. With $650M+ in committed funding and a state of the art new lab facility in Palo Alto, Arc will continue to grow quickly in the coming years. About the position We are seeking a Research Associate II to join the Hsu Laboratory at the Arc Institute. In this position, you will contribute to developing the next generation of platform technologies for genome engineering and biological programming, and gain expertise in molecular biology, protein engineering, and technology development. You will have the opportunity to work with world-leading scientists in relevant fields, including CRISPR technologies, computational biology, machine learning, and single-cell genomics. This position offers a unique chance for a highly motivated and curious researcher to develop cutting-edge molecular technologies. Some of the relevant projects extend from our recent work in systematically characterizing new enzyme families for genome design and editing, including programmable bridge recombinases (Nature 2024) and large serine recombinases, (Nature Biotechnology 2022) as well as AI guided protein design (Science 2024). This is a great stepping stone for candidates looking to enroll in a top PhD program in the future, as you will be involved in designing projects from the ground up and co-authoring papers (past RAs in the lab have been admitted for PhD studies at Harvard, UC Berkeley, UCSF, Stanford, MIT, etc.). The ideal candidate must have a strong background in molecular biology and will learn to apply their skills to building novel molecular technologies. About you - You love science and learning. Whether it’s gaining knowledge in new fields of scientific research or learning a new lab technique, you never stop being curious and routinely enjoy stepping out of your comfort zone to learn new things. You can work fast and are detail-oriented. You are careful and diligent about good documentation practices and keeping things organized while moving at a rapid pace. You explicitly wish to use this experience to gain entry into a PhD program and are able to provide a minimum 2-year commitment to build a portfolio of work to support you in that endeavor. You love to collaborate and help others. Science is a team effort, and you pride yourself in taking the initiative to help. You are a problem solver. Building new technologies comes with issues you need to troubleshoot. You pride yourself in your ability to troubleshoot complex problems in the lab. In this position, you will - Contribute to the discovery, development, and engineering of bridge recombinase systems. Utilize a wide array of high-throughput molecular biology techniques, such as Gibson and Golden gate assembly, DNA/RNA isolation, cDNA synthesis, qPCR/dPCR, NGS sample preparation, and more Independently conduct tissue culture and transfection-based experiments, including flow cytometry and molecular readouts Perform high throughput screening of libraries of RNA and protein variants Assist with research planning, execution, analysis, troubleshooting, and data interpretation with a high degree of independence and continued support from the rest of the team Analyze and present data at subgroup meetings and seminars Maintain an organized and detailed lab notebook Requirements - BS/MS or equivalent professional experience in cell & molecular biology, biochemistry or bioengineering - BS degree, 2+ years of relevant experience or with a MS degree, 0-2+ years of relevant postgraduate experience Candidates with less experience but with requisite skills are encouraged to apply - Extensive experience with standard molecular biology techniques, including cloning, PCR, qPCR, NGS library preparation, and nanopore sequencing Proficiency with mammalian cell culture and transfections. - Experience with primary cells or iPSCs is a plus - Biochemistry experience (protein purification, in vitro transcription/mRNA purification) is a plus Bioinformatics software experience is a plus (Geneious/SnapGene, Pymol/Chimera, Python) Highly motivated, curious, and a team player The base salary for this position is $75,900. This amount does not include benefits or other forms of compensation. #J-18808-Ljbffr