de Boer Lab - Research Assistant/Technician 4

ubc; Vancouver; On-site; CAD 62,000 - 73,000; Full time

Job summary

The School of Biomedical Engineering (SBME) at the University of British Columbia (UBC) is a partnership between the Faculties of Applied Science and Medicine, established in 2017. The School is a nucleus for education and training, research, and innovation in biomedical engineering, creating new knowledge, new academic and training programs, and fostering translation and innovation.

Its vision is to transform health and healthcare for all, achieved through innovative research and education at

Responsibilities

• Gene synthesis and screening.
• Designs and performs complex experiments involving DNA synthesis and testing the activities of diverse enzymes.
• Plans, organizes, and troubleshoots projects and participates in complex research activities.
• Creates functionalized beads, including with DNA and other moieties, using microfluidics.
• Purification of proteins by affinity chromatography and QC via SDS-PAGE.
• Flow cytometry/fluorescence-activated sorting.
• Writes reports, presents research results at laboratory meetings and assists with the writing of publications and grant applications.

Job description

Staff - Non Union

Job Category

Non Union Technicians and Research Assistants

Job Profile

Non Union Salaried - Research Assistant /Technician 4

Job Title

de Boer Lab - Research Assistant/Technician 4

Department

de Boer Laboratory | School of Biomedical Engineering | Faculty of Medicine

Compensation Range

$5,538.94 - $6,497.44 CAD Monthly

Posting End Date

September 17, 2026

Note: Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the Posting End Date.

Job End Date

September 20, 2027

At UBC, we believe that attracting and sustaining a diverse workforce is key to the successful pursuit of excellence in research, innovation, and learning for all faculty, staff and students. Our commitment to employment equity helps achieve inclusion and fairness, brings rich diversity to UBC as a workplace, and creates the necessary conditions for a rewarding career.

Job Summary

The School of Biomedical Engineering (SBME) at the University of British Columbia (UBC) is a partnership between the Faculties of Applied Science and Medicine, established in 2017. The School is a nucleus for education and training, research, and innovation in biomedical engineering, creating new knowledge, new academic and training programs, and fostering translation and innovation. Its vision is to transform health and healthcare for all, achieved through innovative research and education at the convergence of engineering, medicine and biology. Through collaborative, innovative, and interdisciplinary approaches and building on UBC's academic and research excellence, the School of Biomedical Engineering aspires to be a global leader in biomedical engineering research, education and translation. The SBME has two locations on Vancouver's campus, the Gordon B Shrum building and the Biomedical Research Centre (BRC). For more information about the School of Biomedical Engineering, please visit https://www.bme.ubc.ca/ .

A Research Assistant/Technician position for developing molecular tools and techniques in high-throughput enzyme characterization is available in the de Boer lab ( https://deboer.bme.ubc.ca/) . Our lab's goal is to build our understanding of the relationship between gene sequence and function, enabling us to predict how mutations affect function and to design new genes. The primary goals of this position are to develop and apply approaches for pooled gene synthesis and screening. This includes developing approaches to create libraries of DNA sequences, assembled from individual gene parts using an approach called DropSynth, and to test the function of the assembled genes with pooled parallel assays of enzymatic activities on hydrogel beads. The Research Assistant/Technician will perform highly skilled tasks such as the optimization and scaling up of DNA synthesis reactions, functionalized microbead fabrication, and other cellular and molecular biology techniques as required. Additionally, the research assistant/technician will assist lab members with their experiments when needed. An ideal candidate would enjoy learning new skills, work well both independently and as part of a team, be well-organized, have good attention to detail, be happy to contribute to multiple projects, and know when to ask for help/input.

Organizational Status

The Research Assistant/Technician will report to a senior PhD student, and the lab's Principal Investigator, and others as the lab evolves.

Work Performed

• Gene synthesis and screening
• Designs and performs complex experiments involving DNA synthesis and testing the activities of diverse enzymes.
• Plans, organizes, and troubleshoots projects and participates in complex research activities including:
• Creating functionalized beads, including with DNA and other moieties, using microfluidics
• Performing QC of DNA via running gels, sequencing, tapestation, qPCR, bioanalyzer, etc
• Manipulation of DNA via PCR, purification, enzymatic digest, ligation, cloning, etc.
• Bacterial transformation, manipulation
• Miniprep of plasmid DNA
• Purification of proteins by affinity chromatography and QC via SDS-PAGE
• In vitro transcription/translation
• Flow cytometry/fluorescence-activated sorting
• Optimization of buffer conditions/incubation times/etc
• Runs computational tools to design proteins and DNA sequences for synthesis and to analyze sequencing data (read alignment, mutation analysis, barcode counting).
• Conducts complex data analysis with minimal supervision.
• Writes reports, presents research results at laboratory meetings and assists with the writing of publications and grant applications.
• Follows established protocols for maintenance of laboratory notebook records.
• Assists in training new members.
• Acts as a resource to students and staff in laboratory protocols and equipment usage.

Lab maintenance

Maintains inventory of all lab reagents/supplies (receive/store all lab supplies, ensure adequate stocks, and maintain inventory records on electronic lab system), in coordination with lab manager.

Prepares stocks for common cell cultu