Senior Scientist, Production

Adaptyv; Vaud; On-site; CHF 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Adaptyv is seeking a senior scientist to own assay quality, data QC and production troubleshooting across the entire experimental pipeline in Lausanne. The role is hands-on but also grows the team, applying R&D methods to production-ready protocols.

The production team runs 150+ experiments per month across expression, BLI, SPR, thermostability and enzyme activity. You will diagnose root causes, develop robust controls and SOPs, and mentor junior scientists to scale reliable, high-quality

Qualifications

• PhD in protein biochemistry, biophysics, or related field.
• 3–5 years in production or development role in CRO, foundry, or high-throughput lab.
• Hands-on experience with expression in E. coli, mammalian, or cell-free systems.
• Experience with purification (IMAC, SEC) and biophysical characterization (BLI, SPR).
• Experience with high-throughput workflows and 96-well plates.
• Proven mentoring experience.

Responsibilities

• Troubleshoot production failures across the full pipeline.
• Develop and document SOPs for new assays as the portfolio expands.
• Mentor a growing production team.
• Work at the intersection of biology, automation, and QC.
• Own the relationship between assay science and throughput.

Skills

Protein production

High-throughput workflows

Mentorship

Troubleshooting

R&D to Production

Education

PhD in protein biochemistry/biophysics

Tools

96-well plates

Liquid handling

BLI

SPR

IMAC

SEC

Job description

Adaptyv is building an automated lab that lets AI agents run biology experiments.

We're entering the era of agentic science where AI models can now design novel proteins, propose hypotheses, and iterate on experimental results. But they can't run the experiments themselves - that's still a manual, months-long process. We're building the infrastructure that gives AI agents access to the physical world.

We are one of the fastest growing biotech companies, trusted by leading biopharmas, frontier AI labs, and the techbio companies pushing the field forward. This is a rare chance to help advance some of the most important work happening in biotech today.

Our automated lab is powered by a deep software + hardware stack: lab instruments worth millions of USD reverse-engineered into API-controllable hardware, dozens of devices orchestrated through complex workflows, full observability on everything that happens in the lab, processing pipelines for messy physical-world data, and AI systems that troubleshoot production results and accelerate assay development.

We’re growing rapidly and are hiring for talented people to scale and support the massive demand for AI-driven wet lab experimentation.

About the Role

This is not a lab technician position. This is a senior scientist who owns assay quality, data QC and controls, and production troubleshooting across the entire experimental pipeline.

The production team runs 150+ experiments per month across expression, BLI, SPR, thermostability, and enzyme activity. When something goes wrong (failed expression, anomalous binding data, instrument artifacts), this person diagnoses the root cause and fixes it. As the assay and instrumentation portfolio expands, this person translates new R&D methods into production-ready protocols, builds robust methods that junior technicians can execute reliably, and designs comprehensive controls that enable automated QC and data processing.

This is a player-coach position. You will still run experiments personally, especially as you integrate into the lab, but you will also elevate the whole team's capabilities.

What You'll Do

• Troubleshoot production failures across the full pipeline. A batch of proteins isn't expressing: is it the construct design, the expression system, or the media? BLI sensorgrams look noisy: is it the sensor tips, the sample prep, or an instrument issue? You figure it out, fix it, and make the cause easier to identify next time.

• Develop and document SOPs for new assays as the portfolio expands. Take methods from the R&D team and make them production-ready: robust, reproducible, and executable by junior technicians without hand-holding.

• Mentor a growing production team. Set quality standards, review data, train new hires, and build a culture where people flag problems early instead of hiding them.

• Work at the intersection of biology, automation, and QC. Collaborate with researchers, laboratory technicians, and automation engineers on protocol optimization for work cells, and with software on LabOS protocol integration.

• Own the relationship between assay science and throughput. The easy version of every assay doesn't scale, and the scalable version often sacrifices quality. You find the right tradeoff.

What We're Looking For

• Deep hands-on expertise in protein production: expression (E. coli, mammalian, cell-free), purification (IMAC, SEC), and biophysical characterization (BLI and SPR at minimum). This isn't negotiable. You need to have done this work yourself, at volume.

• PhD in protein biochemistry, biophysics, or a relevant field, plus 3–5 years in a production or development role at a CRO, foundry, or high-throughput lab. Academic postdocs count if the work was high-throughput and production-oriented.

• Experience with high-throughput workflows. You're comfortable with 96-well plates and liquid handlers, not just single-column purifications. You've optimized protocols for scale, not just for one perfect result.

• Mentorship mindset. You've managed or trained junior scientists before. You enjoy teaching and get satisfaction from watching your team grow.

• Troubleshooting instinct. When data looks wrong, your first impulse is to understand why, not to rerun the experiment and hope it works.

• Quality-obsessed but pragmatic. You care deeply about data quality, but you also understand that production has deadlines and sometimes "good enough" is the right call.

• Bridge between R&D and production. You can speak both languages: the exploratory mindset of research and the reproducibility demands of production.

Details

• Location: Lausanne, Switzerland (on-site)

• Type: Full time

• Start date: ASAP

Application deadline

We are reviewing applicants on a rolling basis.