Senior / Principal Laboratory Technician

Black Swans Exist GmbH; København; On-site; DKK 700,000 - 900,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

The chance to build a lab from day one

Real ownership: responsibility grows

Growing team with clinical org forming

Competitive package with 10% pension,

Warrants for all employees

Well-funded backed by Novo Holdings

Job summary

Black Swans Exist GmbH in Copenhagen seeks two experienced Senior/Principal Laboratory Technicians to help build and run our Translational Research lab. You won’t inherit protocols—you’ll help create them and shape how the lab works.

You’ll set up and run biomarker assays on patient samples, lead qPCR and DNA isolation, and drive ex vivo/in vitro assays with immune cells. This role offers real ownership in a growing biotech pursuing first-in-class biology.

Qualifications

• At least 10 years of direct experience with relevant laboratory methods.
• Expert in qPCR and DNA isolation.
• Experienced with patient samples and matrices such as plasma and serum, and with compliant processes.
• Experienced in biomarker assay development and qualification.
• Hands-on with cytokine measurements, cell line culture, primary human immune cells, immune cell isolation from blood or buffy coats, and flow cytometry.
• Sees liquid handling and automation as part of good assay development.
• Independent: you plan, run and analyse your own experiments.
• Team first, with drive and energy, and capable of leadership when needed.
• Eagerness to join a newly started company with trust, engagement and scientific rigour.
• Confident in written and spoken English.

Responsibilities

• Set up, run and qualify biomarker assays on human patient samples such as plasma and serum.
• Lead qPCR and DNA isolation work.
• Run cell-based ex vivo and in vitro assays, including primary human immune cells and cell lines.
• Handle patient samples with GDPR-compliant documentation.
• Bring liquid handling and automation into workflows to improve reproducibility.
• Plan and execute experiments independently, analyse data and report in our ELN.
• Take on big tasks and day-to-day housekeeping to keep the lab running.

Skills

qPCR

DNA isolation

biomarker assay development

flow cytometry

cell culture

immune cell isolation

cytokine measurements

liquid handling

automation in the lab

independent experimental planning

team leadership

English communication

Tools

ELN software

PCR machines

Job description

The opportunity

We are supporting a well-funded, pre-clinical precision immunology biotech in the search for two experienced Senior / Principal Laboratory Technicians to join its growing Translational Research team in Copenhagen.

The company is developing a first-in-class biological drug candidate for severe rheumatological and autoimmune diseases, with the ambition of addressing the underlying disease mechanism without broadly suppressing the immune system.

Following a substantial recent financing round, the business is expanding several functions as it prepares to move its lead programme closer to the clinic.

This is an opportunity to join at a particularly exciting stage: the science is established, the company is growing, but the translational laboratory still needs to be built.

You will not simply inherit existing protocols and processes. You will help create them.

The role

We are hiring two experienced Laboratory Technicians to help set up and run our new lab at Symbion Østerbro. You won't inherit protocols — you'll help build them. Your experience will shape how the lab works, which methods we bring in, and how we avoid the mistakes you've already learned from.

You’ll report to the Head of the Translational Research team and work closely with our scientists and our first lab technician. Depending on your experience, the role is at senior or principal level. As a principal, you take a problem — sometimes little more than a note on a post-it — and own it from experimental design to result.

What you will do

• Set up, run and qualify biomarker assays on human patient samples such as plasma and serum.
• Lead qPCR and DNA isolation work.
• Run cell-based ex vivo and in vitro assays, including primary human immune cells isolated from blood or buffy coats, cell lines, cytokine measurements and flow cytometry.
• Handle patient samples with the care and documentation they require, including sample overview processes and GDPR.
• Bring liquid handling and automation into our workflows to improve reproducibility, throughput and ergonomics.
• Plan and execute experiments independently, analyse your data and report in our ELN.
• Take on both the big, complex tasks and the day-to-day housekeeping that keeps a lab running.

Who you are

You love hands-on lab work and want to stay at the bench, building something rather than maintaining it.

• At least 10 years of direct experience with relevant laboratory methods. Pharma or biotech experience is a strong plus.
• Expert in qPCR and DNA isolation.
• Experienced with patient samples and matrices such as plasma and serum, and with the processes that keep them compliant.
• Experienced in biomarker assay development and qualification.
• Hands‑on with some or all of: cytokine measurements, cell line culture, primary human immune cells, immune cell isolation from blood or buffy coats, and flow cytometry. We can train you in the areas you haven't covered.
• You see liquid handling and automation as part of good assay development.
• Independent: you plan, run and analyse your own experiments.
• Team first, with drive and energy, and happy to take the lead when it's needed.
• Excited to join a newly started company where trust, engagement and scientific rigour are at the core.
• Confident in written and spoken English.

What we offer

• The chance to build a lab from day one and see your work move a new treatment towards patients.
• Real ownership: responsibility grows with what you want to carry.
• A growing team of lab technicians and scientists, with a clinical organisation forming as we approach the clinic.
• A competitive package with 10% pension, a performance bonus and warrants for all employees — a genuine stake in what we build.
• A well-funded company backed by Novo Holdings and a strong investor syndicate.

Start date: from January 2027, or by agreement.